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
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Zones
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Reviews by Zoë Sheng

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Žatec – Landscape of Hops by Zoë Sheng

Žatec – Landscape of Hops (Inscribed)

Žatec – Landscape of Hops

Žatec is where a lot of beer comes from! I mean, the hops for the beer. They export it to like China, Ireland (Guinness apparently), all over the world. If …

Kvetera Church by Zoë Sheng

Kvetera Church (On tentative list)

Kvetera Church

Be aware that getting to this place is not easy. The rental company will most likely already forbid you to drive on the unpaved 843 road anyway but if you …

The Dunejec River Gorge in the Pieniny Mountains by Zoë Sheng

The Dunejec River Gorge in th… (On tentative list)

The Dunejec River Gorge in the Pieniny Mountains

As any regular tourist the best way for me to see the river gorge is to queue up for the very popular raft tickets. It will take you through the …

Salterns by Zoë Sheng

Salterns (On tentative list)

Salterns

These salterns, or salt farms as I refer to it, are probably the least visited place on all tourist attractions in the entire country. To visit you naturally need a …

The Four Sacred Mountains by Zoë Sheng

The Four Sacred Mountains (On tentative list)

The Four Sacred Mountains

The Five Sacred Mountains should actually be the Five Great Mountains of the sacred mountains in China. They are one of the goals any hiker has in China. Additionally to …

The President Coolidge by Zoë Sheng

The President Coolidge (On tentative list)

The President Coolidge

The SS President Coolidge was a large cruise liner later transformed for military purposes before it struck a mine in the shallow bays of Vanuatu. There is quite a lot …

Yue-Kiln Site at Shanglin Lake by Zoë Sheng

Yue-Kiln Site at Shanglin Lake (On tentative list)

Yue-Kiln Site at Shanglin Lake

Although there are more than one location for the listing the main one would be Shanglin Lake. Do not be fooled by Google Maps telling you to go to the …

Jinfushan Scenic Spot by Zoë Sheng

Jinfushan Scenic Spot (On tentative list)

Jinfushan Scenic Spot

Jinfo Mountain (Golden Buddha Mountain) is a short train/bus ride away from Chongqing. As it is rather famous in the region there are many tourists coming here and it is …

Marine Protected Areas of American Samoa by Zoë Sheng

Marine Protected Areas of Ame… (On tentative list)

Marine Protected Areas of American Samoa

American Samoa contains super lush green volcano mountains and several parts are protected by the National Park of American Samoa. They work closely together with the National Marine Sanctuary unit. …

Huong Son Complex of Natural Beauty and Historical by Zoë Sheng

Huong Son Complex of Natural … (On tentative list)

Huong Son Complex of Natural Beauty and Historical

Perfume Pagoda, as it is better known to foreigners, is really popular with Vietnamese tourists in March and April when they have religious festivals. The rest of the year it …

Djavolja Varos by Zoë Sheng

Djavolja Varos (On tentative list)

Djavolja Varos

Devil's Horns + Devil's Pool = Devil's Town!

I don't know if these rock formations, called devil's horns for a good reason, are unique in the world but I sure …

Stone Buddhas and Pagodas at Hwasun Unjusa Temple  by Zoë Sheng

Stone Buddhas and Pagodas at … (On tentative list)

Stone Buddhas and Pagodas at Hwasun Unjusa Temple

Do you know the feeling that when you visit sites and they aren't so special but have World Heritage status? You get this "meh" feeling of disappointment. Then you get …

Hua Shan Scenic Area by Zoë Sheng

Hua Shan Scenic Area (On tentative list)

Hua Shan Scenic Area

Mount Hua is really close to the famous city of Xi'an. For several years there is already a high-speed train that goes here within 30-40 minutes, amazing really. The northern …

Sado Island Gold Mines by Zoë Sheng

Sado Island Gold Mines (Inscribed)

Sado Island Gold Mines

Sado Island is a short ferry ride away from Niigata, which has good connections from Tokyo naturally, but also others such as Sapporo, Fukuoka. The main destination for Niigata is …

The Alligator Sinensis Nature Reserve by Zoë Sheng

The Alligator Sinensis Nature… (On tentative list)

The Alligator Sinensis Nature Reserve

The alligator lake is in the town of Xuancheng, or rather just at the outskirts of. There are fast trains from Hangzhou/Shanghai and possibly even Nanjing for easy access and …

Fanjingshan by Zoë Sheng

Fanjingshan (Inscribed)

Fanjingshan

Fanjingshan (literally Clean Brahma) is a gem of mountaineering not yet known to many global tourists. The nearby town of Tongren has a new airport which has a shuttle directly …

Okinoshima Island by Zoë Sheng

Okinoshima Island (Inscribed)

Okinoshima Island

Okinoshima AND RELATED SITES was just recently added to her UNESCO stable. As many already know, going to Okinoshima is not possible for but a few males and even now …

Sites of Hongshan Culture by Zoë Sheng

Sites of Hongshan Culture (On tentative list)

Sites of Hongshan Culture

The archaeological sites are not open for public (at least at the time of writing). They are not anything impressive to see either as they are just grassy hills with …

Mount Wuyi by Els Slots

Mount Wuyi (Inscribed)

Mount Wuyi

Mt Wuyi is one of the best places to visit if you want to get away from the busy similar places such as Mount Longhu where you get to see …

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