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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Sarazm by Zoë Sheng

Sarazm (Inscribed)

Sarazm

Feel a bit cheated spending all morning to get here but at least it didn't cost a lot of money and the local Tajiks are very happy to see foreign …

Cocos Island by Zoë Sheng

Cocos Island (Inscribed)

Cocos Island

Cocos was my favorite liveaboard until I had dived even better locations after. Just reaching the island is a 36h boat ride from Costa Rica mainland and usually you'd think …

Lagune de Khnifiss by Zoë Sheng

Lagune de Khnifiss (On tentative list)

Lagune de Khnifiss

The lagoon of Khnifiss (also called Naila and marked so on Google map) is a small area of wetland just off the coast. This is an easy detour if you …

El Gour by Zoë Sheng

El Gour (On tentative list)

El Gour

It's always suspicious when something in the middle of a hot spot of THREE big sites is not reviewed and hardly visited. So maybe because you need a car but …

Le chapelet d'oasis de Tighmert by Zoë Sheng

Le chapelet d'oasis de Tighme… (On tentative list)

Le chapelet d'oasis de Tighmert

Dislike it, and hard to imagine any OUV although there are some SPECIAL things to see if you look hard enough.

First off the Azwafit, the owner of my …

Central Amazon Conservation Complex by Zoë Sheng

Central Amazon Conservation C… (Inscribed)

Central Amazon Conservation Complex

Amazon, heart of the planet, you'd think it's an instant 5 star visit... Not so much. The inscribed areas are rather poor, especially the ecological centers where they feed dolphins …

Tadrart Acacus by Zoë Sheng

Tadrart Acacus (Inscribed)

Tadrart Acacus

One thing I want to make clear: Tadrart Acasus and Tassili n'Ajjer, the eastern section also called Tadrart, are hardly distinguishable. If you visit the Algerian side you should only …

Sbeïtla by Zoë Sheng

Sbeïtla (On tentative list)

Sbeïtla

Sufetula ruins are quite big and some highlights as pictured but overall I found they aren't unique enough to be inscribed. Haven't we got enough Roman ruins already, better, more …

Carthage by Els Slots

Carthage (Inscribed)

Carthage

I'm not even bothering to look for fitting pictures. The site is spread out far enough that on foot you may not cover all especially as some require crossing roundabouts, …

Dougga/Thugga by Zoë Sheng

Dougga/Thugga (Inscribed)

Dougga/Thugga

To repeat the previous reviewers opening remarks: this is one of THE best world heritage sites. Why only 4 stars? Because there are so many Roman ruins on the list …

Masada by Zoë Sheng

Masada (Inscribed)

Masada

Well, almost as good as Jersulem according to the rating but just glancing through the reviews you should notice they ain't all that great.

The most breathtaking are the …

Djerba by Zoë Sheng

Djerba (Inscribed)

Djerba

Update Sep 2023: This was actually inscribed even though it wasn't recommended to be, but naturally the process these days is so chilled that pretty much anything is inscribed as …

Habitat troglodytique et le monde des ksour du Sud by Zoë Sheng

Habitat troglodytique et le m… (On tentative list)

Habitat troglodytique et le monde des ksour du Sud

Troglodytes aren't too unique, cave dwellings are already inscribed. I don't see how much more the ones in Tunisia can offer but it does make for a great visit. The …

Limes du Sud tunisien by Zoë Sheng

Limes du Sud tunisien (On tentative list)

Limes du Sud tunisien

We all love more Limes sites. Did you know there was a Limes in Tunisia? Interesting, but not interesting to look at, basically like the rest of the Limes aside …

Tassili n'Ajjer by Zoë Sheng

Tassili n'Ajjer (Inscribed)

Tassili n'Ajjer

Tassili n'Ajjer is a real gem and I couldn't rate the park less than five stars without an explanation. For now you should know: this place is not to be …

Odunpazari Historical Urban Site by Zoë Sheng

Odunpazari Historical Urban S… (On tentative list)

Odunpazari Historical Urban Site

Odunpazari is picturesque and should be on your visit regardless of world heritage status. My fav is obviously the pink corner shop. The small alleys with colorful wooden houses and …

St. Nicholas Church by Zoë Sheng

St. Nicholas Church (On tentative list)

St. Nicholas Church

Can't say I'm a fan. St. Nicholas, yes THE Nicholas of Xmas fame is supposedly buried here. Overall the church does not have enough to convince me of outstanding value. …

Archeological Site of Zeugma by Zoë Sheng

Archeological Site of Zeugma (On tentative list)

Archeological Site of Zeugma

The Turkish authorities really dropped the ball on this one. No protection for decades meant looting and damage from nature, which was obviously accelerated by building a damn that would …

M'Zab Valley by Zoë Sheng

M'Zab Valley (Inscribed)

M'Zab Valley

When you drive south on the Trans-Sahara highway and arrive at the valley you won't believe there is such a bustling town here, or rather, towns. The view is nice. …

Karatepe-Aslantaş Archaeological Site by Zoë Sheng

Karatepe-Aslantaş Archaeologi… (On tentative list)

Karatepe-Aslantaş Archaeological Site

One of my favorite spots in Turkey. It also seems to Iike a hidden gem. Previously the attempt was to inscribe along the national park which is now excluded, I …

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