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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Kebun Raya Bogor by Zoë Sheng

Kebun Raya Bogor (On tentative list)

Kebun Raya Bogor

The botanical gardens may not be in your list when visiting Jakarta and for world heritage enthusiasts you will soon move on to better places in Indonesia. I was going …

Marovo - Tetepare Complex by Zoë Sheng

Marovo - Tetepare Complex (On tentative list)

Marovo - Tetepare Complex

This one's not easy but not complicated either: get to the Solomon Islands, book a dive liveaboard that goes to the Marovo Lagoon and you are all set. In fact …

Jodensavanne by Zoë Sheng

Jodensavanne (Inscribed)

Jodensavanne

I may dislike religious sites in general but I'm extra negative about this one. It basically tries to show a "testament to Judaism in the Americas" which means that Jews …

Maloti-Drakensberg Park by Zoë Sheng

Maloti-Drakensberg Park (Inscribed)

Maloti-Drakensberg Park

Drakensberg is one of my favorite site in the world. I spent 3 days here and would have liked to spend more but in the end I only though I …

Auschwitz Birkenau by Zoë Sheng

Auschwitz Birkenau (Inscribed)

Auschwitz Birkenau

Auschwitz is certainly special and there's been much reviewed about it already that I might not feel I can add much "new". When I visited in 2016 there were guided …

Hani Rice Terraces by Zoë Sheng

Hani Rice Terraces (Inscribed)

Hani Rice Terraces

One of the top sites in China. So popular with photographers, a new hobby that grew with wealth building up in the country that you will have a hard time …

Walled City of Baku by Zoë Sheng

Walled City of Baku (Inscribed)

Walled City of Baku

It's more of a "City with some walls" and it's rightly on the endanger list because urban development has made it seem like there are just remains and ruins in-between …

Los Katios National Park by Jarek Pokrzywnicki

Los Katios National Park (Inscribed)

Los Katios National Park

So I am writing this review because it's been a while since the last one and unfortunately for you reader it doesn't have anything else to add than the previous …

Tipasa by Zoë Sheng

Tipasa (Inscribed)

Tipasa

I tend to "dig" Roman ruins and it's always a highlight on my travel plan. Algeria has a lot and most is quite nice, not so much Tipasa. On paper …

Echmiatsin and Zvartnots by Zoë Sheng

Echmiatsin and Zvartnots (Inscribed)

Echmiatsin and Zvartnots

I'm not impressed but I don't really dislike it either. It's easy to see these as they are 10 minute drive from the airport. Use one of the ride apps …

Shiretoko by Zoë Sheng

Shiretoko (Inscribed)

Shiretoko

Shiretoko has a lot to offer, at a price. You can technically get here with public transportation but getting around seems a little difficult. I drove in Hokkaido for the …

Old Town of Lijiang by Zoë Sheng

Old Town of Lijiang (Inscribed)

Old Town of Lijiang

Lijiang is a must-see for any China trip, and of course there is plenty to do while you are coming to Yunnan even from Lijiang itself. Most people do a …

Island of Mozambique by Zoë Sheng

Island of Mozambique (Inscribed)

Island of Mozambique

I had put the island on my TODO list for Mozambique but at the time I wasn't visiting for world heritage reasons. I actually went to Mozambique for scuba diving …

Tubbataha Reefs by Zoë Sheng

Tubbataha Reefs (Inscribed)

Tubbataha Reefs

I had previously (for some reason) rated this as a five star visit but I have no clue idea why. Getting back to this now only because it's been a …

China Altay by Zoë Sheng

China Altay (On tentative list)

China Altay

Unofficially an extension to Russia's Golden Mountains of Altai (which should also be extended to the nearby Mongolia) it features the southern area of this landscape. Unlike the northern, LARGE …

Archaeological Complex of Toro Muerto by Zoë Sheng

Archaeological Complex of Tor… (On tentative list)

Archaeological Complex of Toro Muerto

"El Toro" is definitely worth a visit, even if you dislike rock art or carvings. The scenery in the area is quite something and even though it's hot you are …

Sítio Roberto Burle Marx by Zoë Sheng

Sítio Roberto Burle Marx (Inscribed)

Sítio Roberto Burle Marx

Seeing that it's just outside of Rio it's hard NOT to recommended going to see but frankly I am disappointed in the site not purely because it's rather mediocre but …

Two neolithic dwellings  by Zoë Sheng

Two neolithic dwellings (On tentative list)

Two neolithic dwellings

Tentative site with probably the worst naming (I mean, think about it: it's a synopsis) but probably one of the most significant finds that Europe can offer. Next to sites …

Malpelo by Zoë Sheng

Malpelo (Inscribed)

Malpelo

After Cocos Island and a week liveaboard on the "nearby" Galapagos islands (actually Darwin and Wolf are as close to Cocos as the mainland but unfortunately commercial lines don't combine …

Caves of Maresha and Bet Guvrin by Zoë Sheng

Caves of Maresha and Bet Guvr… (Inscribed)

Caves of Maresha and Bet Guvrin

A close second with Masada as the top non-Jerusalem site in Israel, and that's because while Masada looks epic it doesn't have much else going but at the caves here …

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