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

Page 14 of 19
The Natural-Historical Landscape of Izeh by Zoë Sheng

The Natural-Historical Landsc… (On tentative list)

The Natural-Historical Landscape of Izeh

I camped at this site - even in winter it was nice and cold and the morning sun greeted me along with a few dozen sheep bleating. The local community …

Safi al-Din Ensemble in Ardabil  by Zoë Sheng

Safi al-Din Ensemble in Ardab… (Inscribed)

Safi al-Din Ensemble in Ardabil

My last Iranian WHS to visit and I almost missed it. The entrance to the site is not clear. I walked past it and reach what appeared on the map …

The Cultural Landscape of the Central Region in th by Zoë Sheng

The Cultural Landscape of the… (Removed from tentat…)

The Cultural Landscape of the Central Region in th

I visited the Mleiha Archaeological Museum in winter last year. It is on the way from Al Ain to the northern areas of the UAE. You can spot the high …

Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo  by Zoë Sheng

Sacred Sites associated with … (On tentative list)

Sacred Sites associated with Phajo Drugom Zhigpo

No visit to Bhutan is complete without the Tiger's Nest, officially called Taktshang but trust me no-one will remember THAT name if you have already familiarized you with the B-movie …

Sultan Bayezid II Complex by Zoë Sheng

Sultan Bayezid II Complex (On tentative list)

Sultan Bayezid II Complex

Welcome to the world heritage site of ...whaaaat wait why are there UNESCO symbols on the maps and signs? Someone surely thought they can place themselves onto the inscribed list …

Aizanoi Antique City by Zoë Sheng

Aizanoi Antique City (On tentative list)

Aizanoi Antique City

The highlight of the sites here is clearly the Temple of Zeus. It is half restored and looks impressive from the side I took a picture, with the acroterion placed …

Phra That Phanom by Zoë Sheng

Phra That Phanom (On tentative list)

Phra That Phanom

Oh my, I dislike religious-based sites so much. So when my friend from Udon Thani wanted to drive here a couple of years ago I only agreed if we stopped …

Ayvalık Industrial Landscape by Zoë Sheng

Ayvalık Industrial Landscape (On tentative list)

Ayvalık Industrial Landscape

Ayvalık is a nice seaside town at the Aegean coast. It is easy to place this onto an itinerary when you visit the Aegean area as you are very likely …

Historic quarters and monuments of Rosetta/Rachid by Zoë Sheng

Historic quarters and monumen… (On tentative list)

Historic quarters and monuments of Rosetta/Rachid

Rosetta (now called Rachid) is an hour mini-bus journey from the outskirts of Alexandria (getting into the bay area takes another 20min taxi for sure). It is mainly famous for …

Wooden Structures of Liao Dynasty  by Zoë Sheng

Wooden Structures of Liao Dyn… (On tentative list)

Wooden Structures of Liao Dynasty

I visited the "Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County" on a day trip to Yungang Grottoes starting from Datong. I know this seems like the opposite side of town but the …

ShuDao by Zoë Sheng

ShuDao (On tentative list)

ShuDao

Shudao are epic roads built during the Shu state (now roughly Sichuan and part of Shaanxi provinces). Because both areas are very mountainous the roads were built along cliff-sides. If …

Susa by Zoë Sheng

Susa (Inscribed)

Susa

Susa (Shush) isn't exactly the hottest place to stay overnight even if the guest house was just across from the museum and the restaurant around the corner made delicious food. …

Robben Island by Zoë Sheng

Robben Island (Inscribed)

Robben Island

Overall I am not happy with the selection of South African WHS, and Robben Island ranks amongst the worst. It is worse than visiting Alcatraz by miles so if you …

Ngwenya Mines by Zoë Sheng

Ngwenya Mines (On tentative list)

Ngwenya Mines

The old mines of Ngwenya, inactive since 2017, claim to be the oldest mine in the world. This is because the San people used to come here to scrape iron …

Welwitschia Plains by Zoë Sheng

Welwitschia Plains (On tentative list)

Welwitschia Plains

It's something special to stand next to one of the oldest plants in the world. Sure, trees get much older and are really epic too and I have scuba dived …

Fossil Hominid Sites by Zoë Sheng

Fossil Hominid Sites (Inscribed)

Fossil Hominid Sites

“Great, ANOTHER fossil site” I thought, as I planned my trip through ZA and mapped the WHS on my itinerary. This is one is so easy to access just at …

Liberation Heritage Route by Zoë Sheng

Liberation Heritage Route (Removed from tentat…)

Liberation Heritage Route

I find this nomination lacking any real credit for unique value to the world. Yes, Mandela was a great man, apartheid was bad (and still exists here) and one could …

Hyrcanian Forests by Zoë Sheng

Hyrcanian Forests (Inscribed)

Hyrcanian Forests

I visited 2 parts of this nomination in January 2019. Abr Forest was my first stop and it is very tourist centric, with many guest houses and hikes around “Cloud …

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains by Zoë Sheng

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains (Inscribed)

Barberton Makhonjwa Mountains

I understand now why there is no buffer zone to this site. Most of the site is on privately owned land and there is no need to protect it with …

Yıldız Palace Complex by Zoë Sheng

Yıldız Palace Complex (On tentative list)

Yıldız Palace Complex

I should have done my research before heading all the way north to find it closed as mentioned previously, and only the outside of the mosque was available for a …

Page 14 of 19