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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Rock Art of St. Vincent and the Grenadines by Zoë Sheng

Rock Art of St. Vincent and t… (On tentative list)

Rock Art of St. Vincent and the Grenadines

There are many petroglyphs on and around Saint Vincent. Are all accessible? Unsure, and I only visited one of them not on the list. Reason why it's not on the …

Mývatn and Laxá by Zoë Sheng

Mývatn and Laxá (On tentative list)

Mývatn and Laxá

Mývatn lake is right on the 1 loop road around Iceland and thus impossible to miss. Lots and lots of people come to the area for the hot spring baths …

City of Azúa de Compostela by Zoë Sheng

City of Azúa de Compostela (On tentative list)

City of Azúa de Compostela

Clearly lacking the understanding of outstanding universal value, this is one of those sites that should be dismissed right away. I'm not an expert, I may just be missing the …

Parque Nacional Jaragua by Zoë Sheng

Parque Nacional Jaragua (On tentative list)

Parque Nacional Jaragua

Probably the best natural site in DR (although PN del Este/Isla Saona comes close the tourist crowds made it drop to second) and quite a stretch off any big city …

Arte Rupestre Prehispanico en Republica Dominicana by Zoë Sheng

Arte Rupestre Prehispanico en… (On tentative list)

Arte Rupestre Prehispanico en Republica Dominicana

Easily the best cultural site in the DR. I only visited the Pomier caves and don't know if the other caves are accessible). To get here you will need transportation …

Historic zone of Basseterre by Zoë Sheng

Historic zone of Basseterre (On tentative list)

Historic zone of Basseterre

Noone actually expects Basseterre to be inscribed, especially with such a horribly short document that sounds more like something taken from a brochure you picked up at the airport.

Antigua Naval Dockyard by Zoë Sheng

Antigua Naval Dockyard (Inscribed)

Antigua Naval Dockyard

History of the Caribbean is not in our curriculum, and I wonder if it is on any even in the Caribbean. The main thing people know is probably pirates, and …

Primeros Ingenios Coloniales Azucareros de América by Zoë Sheng

Primeros Ingenios Coloniales … (On tentative list)

Primeros Ingenios Coloniales Azucareros de América

This is a new listing but actually consists of old ones, or at least I think it does, or should, and might not be clearly mentioning that it does. So …

Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple by Zoë Sheng

Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple (Inscribed)

Rudreshwara (Ramappa) Temple

First off I love how the ride apps in India have really made it convenient for tourists to arrange a trip out of town without hotel prices or having to …

Mistaken Point by Zoë Sheng

Mistaken Point (Inscribed)

Mistaken Point

So with this one I had finally "ticked off" all sites in NF but each one was great. I specifically say NF because the site in Labrador sucks. Mistaken Point, …

Seville Heritage Park by Zoë Sheng

Seville Heritage Park (On tentative list)

Seville Heritage Park

Haven't we got enough sites about colonization, slavery and sugar processing during the 16th to 19th?! Jamaica doesn't have many sites to offer. The mountains are already inscribed so that's …

White Sands National Monument by Els Slots

White Sands National Monument (On tentative list)

White Sands National Monument

White Sands is a marvel, an extremely underrated park, oops "National Monument", that should and probably would be inscribed instantly if not for the use of the US Army missile …

Pimachiowin Aki by Zoë Sheng

Pimachiowin Aki (Inscribed)

Pimachiowin Aki

Aki is a very odd collection of First Nation reserves, national parks, forests and plenty of other areas in-between. I had a look at the massive map provided by UNESCO …

Aasivissuit - Nipisat by Zoë Sheng

Aasivissuit - Nipisat (Inscribed)

Aasivissuit - Nipisat

Landscapes are always a bit tricky to see or understand. Hunting grounds of the Inuits even more. There is little infrastructure to get into these places. The base to explore …

Ilulissat Icefjord by Zoë Sheng

Ilulissat Icefjord (Inscribed)

Ilulissat Icefjord

"I have seen things you people wouldn't believe" is the only quote that comes to mind when I look at the epic, 40km long, blindingly white and ever-moving, ever-changing, ever-glorious …

Bradyseism in the Flegrea Area by Zoë Sheng

Bradyseism in the Flegrea Area (On tentative list)

Bradyseism in the Flegrea Area

This proposed entry has nothing to do with worshipping Tom Brady but that might have a higher chance to get inscribed.

Just outside Naples, far enough to be away …

Minoan Palatial Centres by Zoë Sheng

Minoan Palatial Centres (Nominated)

Minoan Palatial Centres

Can you believe Knossos is still not world heritage? Can you believe none of the sites in Crete are world heritage? Can you believe Greece favors Spinalonga, a leper colony, …

Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands  by Kurt Lauer

Colchic Rainforests and Wetla… (Inscribed)

Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands

I visited Kolkheti on my way to northwest Georgia (Abkhazia and Svaneti). By visited I more or less mean taking a stroll next to lake Paliastomi that borders it. There …

Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße by Zoë Sheng

Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße (Nominated)

Großglockner-Hochalpenstraße

The road is set to be inscribed either this year or the upcoming ones. I am not surprised it gets an inscription due to the abundance of butterflies in the …

La Maddalena and Islands of Bocche di Bonifacio by Zoë Sheng

La Maddalena and Islands of B… (On tentative list)

La Maddalena and Islands of Bocche di Bonifacio

I'm always up for a marine reserve. A lot more waters need protection. Most people don't realize that if the seas are screwed up the rest will go with it. …

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