Zoë Sheng

Member since August 2017

#1 1067 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
#1
WHS
1067
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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Dunhuang Yardangs by Zoë Sheng

Dunhuang Yardangs (On tentative list)

Dunhuang Yardangs

I cannot see that much difference in the Dunhuang Yardangs and the ones IN THE SAME DESERT over at the Hami Basement, and I think this still IS the Hami …

Karez Wells by Zoë Sheng

Karez Wells (On tentative list)

Karez Wells

One thing's for sure: the Karez wells are cool, and only in a temperature way. They are in fact anything but cool to look at and in a somewhat typical …

Al-Faw by Zoë Sheng

Al-Faw (Inscribed)

Al-Faw

This non-review from my misadventures is to point out a few things. During my visit in December 2018 I had tried to visit Al-Faw (Faw/Fao however you want to romanize …

Xixia Imperial Tombs by Zoë Sheng

Xixia Imperial Tombs (Nominated)

Xixia Imperial Tombs

Once a mighty force, the Tangut Empire... wait, who?! If you have heard of the Tangut Empire before you must have either been to the tombs before, be a Chinese …

Xinjiang Yardang by Zoë Sheng

Xinjiang Yardang (On tentative list)

Xinjiang Yardang

The words "amazing" are easily spread around but a trip into the Xinjiang Yardang deserts is extremely satisfying and an adventure you shouldn't miss. I have only visited the Hami …

Heaven Pit and Ground Seam Scenic Spot by Zoë Sheng

Heaven Pit and Ground Seam Sc… (On tentative list)

Heaven Pit and Ground Seam Scenic Spot

While I try to cover all tentative sites in China excluding autonomous regions (i.e. Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia plus a couple more) you still come across something that is hard …

Slender West Lake and Historic Urban Area in Yangz by Zoë Sheng

Slender West Lake and Histori… (On tentative list)

Slender West Lake and Historic Urban Area in Yangz

Yangzhou used to be very difficult to get to, and I'm not talking about ancient times but pre-2000 even. There are now a half dozen bridges and a high-speed train …

Stoclet House by Zoë Sheng

Stoclet House (Inscribed)

Stoclet House

This is the 11th review and I'm probably the only one not rating this as 1 or 1 1/2 stars. Here is the problem: yes, Stoclet house is private, yes, …

Mt. Myohyang by Zoë Sheng

Mt. Myohyang (On tentative list)

Mt. Myohyang

I wasn't aware I had visited this tentative site until the other review showed the picture of the temple and mentioned the exhibition hall. I would think the North Koreans …

Varazdin - Historic Nucleus and Old Town (the Cast by Zoë Sheng

Varazdin - Historic Nucleus a… (On tentative list)

Varazdin - Historic Nucleus and Old Town (the Cast

There is a lot and lot of history about Varaždin, but my reasoning for not recommending to inscribe this is because it's mainly regional interest and very much like other …

Lubenice by Zoë Sheng

Lubenice (On tentative list)

Lubenice

Lubenice is a tiny village on the island of Cres, accessible by ferry only. Cres is also the name of the only town with restaurants and hotels where I met …

Vjetrenica Cave by Zoë Sheng

Vjetrenica Cave (Inscribed)

Vjetrenica Cave

You may be thinking: "yet another cave?! Caves are boring!" Well, you are right! After visiting many caves for art, rock formations, it does become boring. However, this cave is …

Yangtze Gorges Scenic Spot by Zoë Sheng

Yangtze Gorges Scenic Spot (On tentative list)

Yangtze Gorges Scenic Spot

I'm shocked to see nobody has written something about the Three Gorges before now. After trying to read the official description I'm confused about what they deem special about the …

Ancient Kamakura by Zoë Sheng

Ancient Kamakura (On tentative list)

Ancient Kamakura

Kamakura is super popular no matter WHS or not. It doesn't really need the title to be a great visit. It was more or less rejected to be one anyway, …

Diaolou Buildings and Villages for Tibetan and Qia by Zoë Sheng

Diaolou Buildings and Village… (On tentative list)

Diaolou Buildings and Villages for Tibetan and Qia

I wasn't aware that these buildings were on the T-list when I first saw them. The area west of Chengdu features lots of these, but it could be that my …

The Bony Fish Fossils of the Western Limfjord by Zoë Sheng

The Bony Fish Fossils of the … (Nominated)

The Bony Fish Fossils of the Western Limfjord

I generally don't like fossil sites. I think they are boring and I'd rather read a book about it or look at a website which probably gives me better explanations …

Fenghuang Ancient City by Zoë Sheng

Fenghuang Ancient City (On tentative list)

Fenghuang Ancient City

Fenghuang, or Phoenix Ancient City, is a great visit but in the end still a very average town. It boasts a light show that more or less covers up the …

Sistema Arrefical del Caribe Cubano by Zoë Sheng

Sistema Arrefical del Caribe … (On tentative list)

Sistema Arrefical del Caribe Cubano

As some of you who read my reviews know I'm an avid scuba diver and most of these sites make for good diving if you can reach them. But one …

Egyptian Museum by Zoë Sheng

Egyptian Museum (On tentative list)

Egyptian Museum

On my first trip to Cairo I had a hotel overlooking Tahrir Square. It was beautiful to see the museum square in the lit evening and the morning before all …

Escuelas Nacionales de Arte de Cubanacán by Zoë Sheng

Escuelas Nacionales de Arte d… (On tentative list)

Escuelas Nacionales de Arte de Cubanacán

I'm biased towards great architecture (coming second after nature) and the National Schools of Art is no exception. Also, don't you just love a site that you can park right …

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