Zoë Sheng

Member since August 2017

#None 0 0

I'm Zoë. I'm originally from Edmonton, Canada and then moved to Vancouver Island although spent lots of time in China where family members still reside. I also spent a few years at boarding school in England where my trips started when my parents took me around the coastal paths and what later turned out to be world heritage sites which are considered my first "ticks". Since then I traveled a lot, studied part-time in Auckland, and my "skills" of efficiency and organized planning helps a lot - meaning that old towns tend to get an overnight stay to easily explore them while churches, tombs or cemeteries that only take an hour tops to visit are really just scheduled for a quick visit. I do sometimes regret not visiting a place longer but revisits are not out of the question. However, as I don't drink alcohol, party, or require fancy nights out on the town it shortens activities in places too (if you enjoy doing this  then I'm happy for you just don't wonder why I get stuff done quicker). I also scuba dive frequently which I love the most in the world though I'm not a tec-diving nerd and keep it simple (thus Bikini Atoll is probably out). No deco diving for me unless it's a special wreck.

Personally I'm very private. I ditched Facebook over a decade ago, Instagram I only lasted for a few months and even Whatsapp I tend to mainly use for staying in touch, contacting hotels and tour guides. I'm not anti-social and usually travel in a small group if it works out, although I do enjoy solo traveling more because nobody will screw up my planning. Anyone tagging along will know "it's her way or no way". I have met two people from our community although they didn't noticed it was me at the time. I also do not know the name of one of them but maybe I'll find out eventually. I also almost ran into the Aussie couple and their dog but I was stuck in the Peruvian mountains while they were partying (joke, or assumption?!) in Cuzco.

Since 2023 I started slowing down world heritage specific traveling mainly because I have just seen so many and so much already. I'd rather spend the time with friends and my marine buddies the sharks and dolphins than seek out a mediocre church or wine county, plus the list keeps growing with lackluster titles that hardly excite me, not that I try tick off tentative sites as I can anyway but outliers and crappy stuff far away from civilization isn't going to be fun to visit.

In 2024 I had a mitral valve replacement (ugly scar now) followed by an RFA to fix my heart rate. It definitely slowed down any traveling I wanted to do and unsure how it will continue. Hopefully I'm as good as new with medication. Even scuba diving is ok!

At the time of writing I still need to visit 156 sites which doesn't seem like a lot but a few are impossible to visit, some require lengthy trips (30 days for one, two weeks for a few others) and can cost a huge sum of money. There are also those warring states that are currently off-limits (+Venezuela for security/embargo reasons). Having officially visited 151 UN listed countries these are still left with sites:

Afghanistan
Angola
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Congo, DR
Congo, Republic
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Ghana
Guinea
Haiti
Ivory Coast
Kiribati
Kyrgyzstan
Libya
Madagascar
Mali
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Niger
Nigeria
São Tomé and Príncipe
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Sudan
Syria
Togo
Venezuela
Yemen

For the rest of sites in countries I have been already:

  • Heard and McDonald Island - requires lengthy boat tour
  • Macquarie Island - cruise $$$
  • Khinalig, Azerbaijan - wasn't even tentative I think and it's quite far off the beaten track, next time I visit Azerbaijan it shall be done
  • Okavango Delta - didn't want to cram this as a 1½ day drive-by on my last Botswana trip; worth a lengthy visit for sure
  • Peninsula Valdez, thought hard about adding it into my Argentina trip but early February just wasn't good enough to guarantee Right whales and orcas and September just seems better to splurge the money
  • Brazil - still missing almost half because I backed out twice but I will get it eventually lol
  • French Austral Lands and Seas - well, that's the one you join a ~30 day cargo ship trip that will visit it along the way, "fun"
  • Marquesas Island, it's an extra trip from French Polynesia's main hub
  • Zagori Cultural Landscape, Greece - I drove through this, or past this, but I can't really count it I think. I also don't mind visiting Greece again. For now Europe stays incomplete
  • Rio Platano Biosphere Reserve, Honduras - One could tick this by taking a boat around the coast to one of the villages inside the park but visiting this properly isn't easily accomplished - I don't think visiting the villages will give an insight into the heritage of the biosphere reserve at all
  • India keeps adding tentative sites so I can make the trip more worthwhile in the future but only 3 sites remaining at the moment which isn't much 
  • Jordan - my first trip was the main things and rest, probably "meh", would need another trip.
  • Mongolia - a few sites and a couple of these are HARD to visit as they are in the middle of nowhere.
  • Sub-Antarctic Islands, NZ - cruise
  • Te Wahipounamu, NZ south island - technically have been there but I want to hike for a week+ to count this visit
  • Russia is currently off-limits to me personally
  • Aldabra Atoll used to have a $$$ cruise but I think Covid killed it (literally) so the only way to visit is taking the cruise from Zanzibar that stops there on the way. Not super expensive and seeing that you get a cruise it's a nice vacay - if you are into that. Having already done Zanzibar and the Seychelles doesn't help me but maybe fun in a small group
  • Tajik National Park (& Tugay Forests) require a lengthy road trip best done by car from Osh - however, for the last few years the countries haven't seen eye to eye so they won't let rental cars from Kyrgyzstan cross over thus one would have to go from Dushanbe and that's a hefty additional mileage!
  • Gough and Inaccessible Islands - named "inaccessible" with reason
  • Henderson Island - you need special permission to visit although joining a charter trip would include it; however, they are rare and $$$
  • Tauric Chersonese - well, Crimea is now in "Russian" territory and not sure I'm even allowed to visit
  • Zimbabwe I have only visited Victoria Falls but definitely interested in exploring the rest!
  • Palestine: would never visit the Gaza strip and now they have a site so it's probably unvisited from me for a while, mainly due to their policy to fast track the sites under warfare

My most impressive site: Abu Simbel, Ilulissat Icefjord, Cocos Island

My proposal for a new site: Mariana Trench

Recent Visits
  • 1
    0
    Sept. 16, 2024
    Iguacu
  • 3
    0
    Sept. 16, 2024
    Churches and Convents of Goa, Great Himalayan National Park, Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers
  • 3
    0
    Sept. 5, 2024
    Chola Temples, Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas, Western Ghats
>

About Zoë Sheng

First name
Zoë
Member since
August 2017
Country of Origin
None
Visits
Rank
#None
WHS
0
Tentative Sites
0
Website Participation
Reviews
379
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
1067 160
Photos
N/A
Locations
N/A
Zones
N/A

Reviews by Zoë Sheng

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Tianzhushan by Zoë Sheng

Tianzhushan (On tentative list)

Tianzhushan

I like Tianzhushan (TZS), visiting in 2016, but it barely meets WHS in my opinion. It also seems to try REALLY hard to cover all criteria which I think will …

Belize Barrier Reef by Zoë Sheng

Belize Barrier Reef (Inscribed)

Belize Barrier Reef

How could I NOT like this place as both a scuba diver and nature lover!

I went to 3 places although I'm confused about the third. Does Bacalar Chico …

Volcan Masaya National Park by Zoë Sheng

Volcan Masaya National Park (On tentative list)

Volcan Masaya National Park

Nice half-day trip, nothing spectacular. Visiting Nicaragua without a volcano visit is almost sacrilegious thus making Masaya your goal is the best bet. It's just off the road leaving Grenada, …

Ruins of León Viejo by Zoë Sheng

Ruins of León Viejo (Inscribed)

Ruins of León Viejo

I think Nicaragua inscribed the wrong places and instead should focus on all the awesome natural sites around the country. Both Leóns are kinda lame. On the other hand without …

Coiba National Park by Zoë Sheng

Coiba National Park (Inscribed)

Coiba National Park

What a disappointing experience. Coiba NP had potential but it is such a letdown to come here experiencing the park. The place gets glowing reviews though so what's up with …

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda by Zoë Sheng

Franciscan Missions in the Si… (Inscribed)

Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda

This will be a short review, more of an update maybe because there are already many reviews but nothing since 2014. The Sierra Gorda biosphere alone is worth visiting so …

Las Pozas, Xilitla by Zoë Sheng

Las Pozas, Xilitla (On tentative list)

Las Pozas, Xilitla

A bit off trek but on the way from the Franciscan Missions towards El Tajin, and totally worth it. It is also really popular. I took more pictures here than …

Teotihuacan by Zoë Sheng

Teotihuacan (Inscribed)

Teotihuacan

I woke up after another cold night thinking "should I skip the pyramids and sleep more? It's easy to do it again from Mexico City on another trip". Glad I …

Archipiélago de Revillagigedo by Zoë Sheng

Archipiélago de Revillagigedo (Inscribed)

Archipiélago de Revillagigedo

Trying to pronounce "Revillagigedo" isn't easy so most people will say Socorro even though it is only one of the four islands in the archipelago, albeit it is the biggest …

Chan Chan by Zoë Sheng

Chan Chan (Inscribed)

Chan Chan

Chan Chan is super impressive on first sight. It looks great, has the feel of a great place, people highly recommend it and I really wanted to go. So why …

Sucre by Zoë Sheng

Sucre (Inscribed)

Sucre

I think Sucre gets a bit of a bad rep because it's "another colonial town" and basically it is. I still liked the town because it grows on you. It's …

Odesa by Zoë Sheng

Odesa (Inscribed)

Odesa

I actually didn't plan on going to Odessa. I love Kiev and spent a week there a few years ago almost feeling like a resident living in an apartment at …

European Paper Mills by Zoë Sheng

European Paper Mills (Part of Nomination)

European Paper Mills

Handmade paper? I'm game. I bought a small supply of lovely paper from the shop and one would think this is a gimmick but some people actually order piles to …

Tierradentro by Zoë Sheng

Tierradentro (Inscribed)

Tierradentro

It's worth coming here even though the roads are horrible for the last section and if you plan on continuing north/west be ready for a looooong bumpy ride. Slips are …

Eisinga Planetarium by Zoë Sheng

Eisinga Planetarium (Inscribed)

Eisinga Planetarium

The northern town of Franeker is a typical dutch affair, cobble streets, canals, people parking AT the side of the canals (I wonder how many cars have dropped in due …

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works by Zoë Sheng

Humberstone and Santa Laura S… (Inscribed)

Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works

2019 Removed from Danger list

whaaaaaaat?

So basically this place is crumbling to pieces and I see no maintenance done at all. In fact each building I stepped …

ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape by Zoë Sheng

ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape (Inscribed)

ǂKhomani Cultural Landscape

ǂHelloǂ

This park seems quite average at best, no elephants means "oh my god why would anyone want to come here if no elephants", right? Well I have never …

The architectural legacy of Rogelio Salmona by Zoë Sheng

The architectural legacy of R… (On tentative list)

The architectural legacy of Rogelio Salmona

The library is situated at what looks like the only empty road in Bogota. Entrance is free but you have to put your stuff into a locker to enter the …

Plantations in West Curacao by Zoë Sheng

Plantations in West Curacao (On tentative list)

Plantations in West Curacao

I went to 3 plantations in one day, and none take very long so it was on the way to one of the best beaches on the island: Grote Knip. …

The Episcopal See of Egara by Can SARICA

The Episcopal See of Egara (On tentative list)

The Episcopal See of Egara

This site was added to the tentative a short time before I was supposed to be in Barcelona. I drove to Terrassa before heading into town (yes, I drove into …

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