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The Western Tien-Shan (situated in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan) is the westernmost part of the Tianshan mountain range, and the eastern part (in China) is a separate WHS under the name of Xinjiang Tianshan.

I visited one of the three components in Kyrgyzstan: Sary Chelek National Park. I did so with a private driver annex guide, whom I had hired to take me from Bishkek to Osh in 5 days. We stopped for one night each in Toktogul and Arslanbob (known for its walnut forests), and for two nights in Arkit, the gateway to Sary Chelek National Park. It’s a fairly remote site, some 100km from the next sizeable town. The winding road leading up there however is almost fully paved. During summer the park sees a lot of tourists, and numerous homestays and yurt camps have opened up.

The things to look out for when you want to experience this site’s OUV, are the wild fruit and nut forests. These were also the main goal of our hike during the first late afternoon. Although the farming village of Arkit already lies in the core zone, the proper entrance to the park lies on its outskirts. We were allowed to enter by the friendly park ranger although they already had closed for the day – we would be back the next day and pay our fees. 

This indeed is a very forested area, especially compared to the almost barren Kyrgyzstan that I had seen so far. Some …

Sankt Petersburg is a great city, and I have been to two times: as 3-days visit of a friend in 1999, and a conference trip for a week in 2008. Besides, we went also to Peterhof, which is (as many other places) the part of this WHS. Well, St. Petersburg is built in European classicist style, but it has rather non-European size: even walking along the Nevsky Avenue takes quite a long time. Thus, one day visit is really not enough, and a week would be a minimum. Another aspect is the setting of St. Petersburg, where river Neva, its canals and bridges are the added value and make the city really outstanding. We joined the boat trip, which was pleasant but rather chilly experience. I would recommend going to St. Petersburg in June during so called white nights (PHOTO taken at midnight!).

As regards the monuments, I enjoyed my visit to Hermitage museum, but I cannot say it is related to the OUV of the site. Peterhof is also very nice and worth of visit, but I had a feeling that it is a tourist trap! It is possible to go there by train or by ferry from the city center.

I grew up in communists times of former Czechoslovakia, and I put it into the context during my visits of St. Petersburg. First, all the style and decorations in the hotel I was accommodated in 2008 - it remind me my childhood! Further, I realize how …

I visited the church of Agioi Varnavas and Ilarion at Peristerona on my way from the Troodos mountains to Nicosia in August 2021.

Upon arriving at the church, we found it closed, although the opening times on the door stated that it should have been open at that moment. As it happened many times when visiting churches in Cyprus, I had to find someone who had the key or could contact the keykeeper for us. In this case it was very simple as there is a nice cafe right in front of the church so, while we ordered a good Cyprus coffee, we also asked the owner if he knew how to get the church open. He then made a call and, while we were sipping our good and really hot coffee (in a 40°C weather), the caretaker of the church showed up and opened the door for us.

The stone interior is simple as most of the ancient decorations are lost and not many wall paintings are left and it felt just like another Byzantine church like many others.

Beside the small mishap of finding the church closed during opening time, reaching the church was really easy because the town is on the main road and the church is well signposted. Overall it was a pleasant visit but, in my opinion, the five-domed church does not have anything too special to deserve the inscription in the WH list.

*Updated Late Fall 2022

I enjoyed a pleasant, less busy excursion to Cade's Cove on November 21st. Hiking to Abrams Falls was a highlight as I had the waterfall all to myself for a good 10 minutes before another hiker arrived. The temperatures were between 36 and 50 during my visit (2-10 C), there were icicles around much of the falls and river. During the first trip and this one, I was able to see a black bear. 

With some extra time I also visited a somewhat less frequented portion of the park, just past the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont. Taking the dirt road for a few miles and crossing two small one car only bridges, you arrive to the Middle Prong Trail. While the whole trail is around 8 miles, I only went 2 miles or so, but the scenery was pretty and the river had plenty of photogenic cascades.

*Summer 2021

Great Smoky Mountains National Park deserves a minimum of two days. Gatlinburg is the hub for most visitors (beware weekends in the Summer). I visited the National Park on a Monday and Tuesday. As a general rule in popular National Parks we make sure to get on the trails early, rest in the middle of the day, and head back out to explore around 4pm until dark. Pleasant hikes to waterfalls (such as Laurel or Grotto Falls) are really for all hiking abilities and if you have the time, make sure …

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 it) to no avail. First off it's far out near the Empty Quarter but the now-inscribed rock art at Ḥimā made me drive the outer loop anyway. There is also a wildlife sanctuary that you cannot enter beyond it that might one day be a WHS.

As you drive along the 177 there is a clear sign for the archaeological site as if it was a tourist attraction. You can see it in my picture. Once you drive off the road here though, it is suddenly all fenced off - see the second sign, with no visit center, no parking - well you can park ANYWHERE in the desert I suppose, lots of broken tires and an interesting sign to call if one needs information. Well I called and nobody answered and I kinda doubt I would have come far this way. I believe it's the caretaker's phone number who lives in the area - anyway it wasn't of much use. I took some pictures but one is just too far away to see anything - maybe flying a drone over would be the way to go to at least something - but be aware it's still quite ways off from the "parking lot" so your drone needs to have decent range so unless you have a high-end model …

I have been to Florence 4-times during last 20 years (last visit in December 2018). My opinion, or better said relationship with this world-famous site, because it is an emotional feast to be in Florence, is changing with my ageing. Originally, I was annoyed by masses of tourists and focused only on the particular landmarks, and as a result of this, Siena would be a winner in the stereotyped competition between these two Tuscany WHSs. Later on, I realized that despite Florence is relatively small town, I definitely cannot say that I visited and enjoyed everything what Florence can offer. At the latest stages, when I walked around the massive body of the Cathedral - I mean the eastern parts, or when I watched the Arne river from the top floor of Uffizi on a gloomy December morning at the right moment of the transition from fog to gentle sunlight, or when I ascended to S Miniato al Monte for Holy Mass, it was clear to me that I am lost forever...

Besides the obvious highlight such as the Cathedral with baptistry and campanile, Piazza della Signoria, S Croce, S Maria Novella, I am always enchanted by frescoes by Fra Angelico in the convent of S Marco, the appearance of S Miniato al Monte (I am happy it was included to the core zone during 2021 WHC session), the facade of Palazzo Rucellai, all the bridges of river Arno, etc.

During my last visit in December 2018, I …

While Florence is more about the treasures of art and particular landmarks, I admire Siena as the prototype of Italian medieval town, and I could imagine to live there for a certain time. What I like is that Siena is an urban landscape and cannot be reduced to Piazza del Campo and Piazza del Duomo. Do not take me wrong: the interiors of Palazzo Pubblico are wonderful, the views from Torre del Mangia breath-taking, the atmosphere of Piazza del Campo amazing, and the appearance of Duomo with the Piccolomini library is not of this world (PHOTO). But you can walk to S Domenigo, or to S Francesco, or even to any small side-street to really enjoy Siena....

I have been to Siena 4 or 5-times, but I have never stayed overnight, which I would like to do as soon as possible!

Having booked my tickets online well in advance for Monticello and making sure I had ample time in Charlottesville (both preferrable), I felt this might be an interesting first stop as we made our way South. Charlottesville, which is dominated by Jefferson's legacy is in the midst of an ongoing re-examination of the man and Historical truths long ignored (particularly for visitors pre-1999 to Monticello). Ta-Nehisi Coates (author: Between the World and Me, The Water Dancer, etc), after visiting Monticello said, “They will tell you the truth. There is a broad and growing movement to tell the truth.” When visiting Monticello, you will experience tours that highlight Jefferson the Slaver, Writer, Architect, and President. The Hemings family will be featured prominently, including both John Hemings and Sally Hemings (mother of at least six of Jefferson's children). From 1993 to 2001 was the initial period where the interpretation of Monticello began to change to tell a more complete History of Jefferson and the people who lived there. 

The Second Introspection began in 2017:

After the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville in August 2017, the city has experienced a racial reckoning even more acute than most American communities during the past few years. In fact, the week before we arrived, the Robert E. Lee Statue was finally removed nearly four years after the infamous rally that sought to protect it. Afterwards, the city council renamed the park and other Confederate Monuments were taken down. The Robert E. Lee statue …

I enthusiastically agree with Squiffy’s assessment that the best way to view the Forth Bridge is from the water. Both the Maid of the Forth and Forth Tours are operating again in the summer of 2021 after closing during lockdown. Having crossed the bridge many times on various trains in the past, one sunny August day I decided to head up to Edinburgh to get a better look. There are regular trains from Edinburgh Waverley northward that cross the Forth Bridge but typically only local services to Glenrothes with Thornton or Cowdenbeath stop at the two stations on either end of the bridge, Dalmeny and North Queensferry. I disembarked at Dalmeny, the station on the south side before the bridge, and from there followed a narrow path through the woods from the station that passed beneath the beginnings of the rail bridge then descended a steep set of stairs onto the waterfront. Of the two companies operating tours, I had picked the Maid of the Forth for no reason in particular but, as of August 2021, both required pre-booking online due to reduced occupancy on the boats. In future they may return to offering the option to buy tickets on the day, with both having ticket offices next to the pier from which both cruises depart. Reassuringly, the pier also houses an RNLI lifeboat station so, in the unlikely event of trouble on the water, help is not far away.

The Forth Bridge is an impressive sight from any …

Where's the pristine nature? Remoteness? Θάλασσα?

In May 2011 I had the exam session in front of me, so I told mom I would switch off the phone to study and I went to the Delta. Chilia carries 60% of the water and is lazy. On the NAVROM boat from Tulcea to Periprava I got into Shrek mood (''are we there yet?''). Ukraine is across the water, phone on plane mode. The plan was ''wait and see''. We found the Lipovan priest of the village, asked where we could sleep (we were 3) and he said we could do it at his place. Periprava has 200 inhabitants and if you look on google maps, the roads are ways in the sand. Now they have one place to sleep on booking.com. Back then there was a dog who barked at us for 2 days because we weren't locals. The shower was, like in the fancy Bali photos, outdoors, with the luxury replaced by ''come now, there's warm water in the plastic barrel''. That's remote, however it's outside of the perimeter. The houses have thatched roofs and are painted in white and blue.

After we chased the sunset (a highlight of the trip), we returned to the house where the wife was waiting for us with fish (another highlight, more on that later). The next day early morning we were woken up by the rower to show us the channels and Letea sandbank, which has the northernmost subtropical forest in …

This tentative site is composed by two elements: the Salt lake, and the Ottoman mosque and tomb of Hala Sultan Tekke on the lake's shores.

The mosque is just a few minutes by car outside the city of Larnaka, near the international airport. The mosque has a good (ad free) car park and the lake can easily be visited by parking at the mosque and then taking a short path to the lake's shore. There are also other places around the lake that allow to reach the shore but they are not as easy to reach as the mosque.

When I visited in August 2021, the Salt Lake was completely dry (which is normal for the season) therefore there were no flamingos hanging around, as normally seen in winter, and it just looked like a pinkish salt plain (a small portion of the lake can be seen in my picture to the left of the mosque). However, despite of being an interesting natural oasis, it fails to really impress the occasional visitor.

The mosque and the tomb can be visited also by non-Muslim (granted that you wear long pants and your shoulders are covered) and the entrance is free. The building is nice and it's kept in pristine conditions, however it does not offer anything that is not seen in other Ottoman buildings around the Mediterranean.

All in all, a visit to Hala Sultan Tekke and the Larnaka Salt Lake could be a good way to …

The church of Panayia Chrysokourdaliotissa is a proposed extension to the serial site Painted churches of the Troodos region, which comprises already 10 churches. This church is located not far from the town of Kakopetria, where two of the inscribed churches are located and it's therefore quite easy to visit. Furthermore, the opening times are posted online and they seem to be followed.

Unfortunately, compared to the other churches, the conservation state of Panayia Chrysokourdaliotissa is not as good as only one of the inner walls is still painted while the others are covered with white plaster that probably means that the Byzantine paintings are lost. This is a shame especially because, from what is left, the quality of the original paintings seemed too be pretty high.

It is however a good place to stop while visiting the area, if you are not overwhelmed by Byzantine churches.

The church of Panagia Aggeloktisti is in the small town of Kiti, not far from the city of Larnaka in Cyprus and therefore it's an easy visit from the city. It is an ancient (5th-6th century) Byzantine church although most of what can be seen today, except for the mosaic on the vault over the apse, was rebuilt in the 11th century, .

Despite being a massive stone church, with well preserved wall paintings and remarkable mosaics, in my opinion it does not add much to the plethora of Byzantine churches that are already inscribed in the World Heritage List.

It is however a good way to spend half an hour away from the crowded beaches of Larnaka and it can be visited in combination with Hala Sultan Mosque and Larnaka Salt Lake (another tentative site in the area).

The 10 painted churches located up on the mountains in the Troödos Region of Cyprus are an interesting collection of richly decorated Byzantine churches, some of which date back to the 11th century, still in use (somehow) today.

Something that I realized after visiting a few of the churches in August 2021 is that, by visiting only one or two of them, one would not really grasp the full meaning of this inscription. In fact, some of the churches are isolated, small and, honestly, quite unimpressive on their own. However, as we visited more and more, the prospective drastically changed for me and I started to appreciate the uniqueness of this serial site and the thread that connects all these monuments.

A particular, although at times frustrating, features of some of the churches is that they are normally closed and you have to find the keykeeper in order to get the church open for you to visit. And this proved to be not always an easy task. The website of the Department of Antiquities (Link to the website) provides some information on the opening times and how to reach the keykeeper, but unfortunately it is not always accurate and the task can turn out to be slightly harder than imagined.

Following is our itinerary with some tips:

Driving from the Sanctuary of Aphrodite at Palaepafos (also part of the Paphos WHS) and being based in Kakopetria, the easiest itinerary for us was to split …

I visited this site around New Years 16/17 during a visit to friends in Cuernavaca. It is not an easy site to visit thoroughly since there are many monasteries and they are all slightly different but to the rushing beholder not very much. It takes an effort to appreciate the individuality of each site. In addition the monasteries are all rather bulky, they look more like fortresses then like churches and that was certainly intentional since missionary time could be dangerous and the local population might not always and everywhere be equally enthusiastic or just willing to adopt the new faith. For me it helps neither that the interior were often converted to baroque style, a fact that makes a visit to latin American churches (and sometimes in Spain and in eastern European countries) a real challenge. 

Nonetheless the number of monasteries in a relatively small area and their age are very impressive. Many have impressive facades, others interesting cloisters. Some interiors are extremely plain, others have elaborate gothic constructions. All impress by their seize. The most remarkable feature are certainly the openair chapels and it is not completely clear to me if they were build to worship more in the way the locals were traditionally used to or if the monks didn't allow the locals to enter the sacred space of the church. Perhaps both. Looking back and comparing them makes appreciate almost better then and they seem more various and interesting then I remembered them. As a …

Two unvisited WHSs in Russia remained for us: Wrangel Island and Putorana Plateau. The former is still off as far as what we're willing to spend, the latter was doable, though also not cheap, but a plan in our pipeline for a very long time. And since this year is supposed to be our final in Russia and given the extremely short window of when it is actually possible to visit as the season lasts about ten weeks of fleeting mild temperatures in summer, we started planning early.

And by we, I mean Ivan, who had a look around all Russian travel agencies and all of their tours. Putorana has started to become very popular amongst tourists and the demand surpasses offer, which doesn't make it the cheapest tour option out there, but on the other hand, you have several options: a boat tour from Svetlogorsk (so you can avoid having to get a permission from FSB to enter Norilsk), or a trip to any of the tour bases on the Lake Lama (transfer via hovercraft from Norilsk). Most of the commercial tours take place inside the buffer zone and you will most probably fly over the actual core zone area if you take the helicopter ride. We did and managed to do so. But to actually enter the core zone on foot would require even more permissions and planning as it is the zapovednik which is the most protected natural reserve category in Russia, would have to include …

July 2021 - we decided to visit family in South Poland and combine it with visiting the remaining WHS sites in Poland.after having spend half a day in Wroclaw and the Night. We drove straight to Tarnowskie Góry taking the road via Opole.Arriving at the shaft we were lucky that a next tour would start in 15 min. Our 2 year old daughter was very excited but the unnecessary movie as well as the Long explanations in the museum were not child friendly and also for us not really necessary. Finally we got our helmets and descended  to -40m. For the rather long hike we had to rush through the corridors. Every few seconds someone hit its head or helmet at the caves ceiling to the amusement of others. We took a few photos here and there but spotted nothing really interesting. The gamechanger was the boat ride, which added a bit of a thrill to the visit. For children certainly a small adventure for Whs enthusiast rather disappointing. Back on earth we still visited the Skansen and took a fun trainride🚂. For visiting other components above ground there was just too much traffic, so we decided to sleep in nearby Chorzow and enjoy the Silesia Park to continue to krakow next morning.

This villa is a masterpiece of modern architecture and it deserves its WHS status. Actually it is one of the best sites that Czechia can offer. Well, Tugendhat is not the only structure built in the international style in Czechia, but it stands out from almost all aspects. I would propose only one other Czech modernist house to become the world heritage site - Muller Villa by Adolf Loos in Prague. Both houses shares a lot and both can be called as examples of functionalism, but they emanated completely different spirit to me:

While Tungendhat is hidden from the outside world showing only one decent floor to the street, Muller is a white cube with bright yellow windows standing proudly on the slope above the road. The interior of Tugendhat is flat, vast and sterile, somehow broken only by onyx and macassar walls (PHOTO), but at the same time it is open to the garden via the "non-existing" glass wall. Muller villa inside is very colorful and intricate being a fine example of so called Raumplan. For normal life, I would definitely prefer Muller to Tugendhat. There is also the huge contrast between Tugendhat Villa covered by astronomical budget and built for a single family, and working-class colonies built in Brno at the same time - Tugendhat as the fine example of elitist architecture!

I remember quote by Nan that Tugendhat Villa is surprisingly small. I would oppose that it is probably only "an optical illusion". The biggest …

I visited Ljubljana after Christmas 2019 to spend New Years with friends who own an apartment in the city. Already then, before inscription, the town was overrun with tourists, mainly from Italy. Slovenia is not only a beautiful country but also cheaper then Italy to make a trip there attractive for Italians. 

I am not sure how much of its attraction the city owns to Plečnik. Perhaps the generosity of open spaces in the center may his main merit. His buildings with the pyramids and columns do not necessarily blend well with the medieval and baroque architecture of the city center, they seem often a bit inserted into the surrounding buildings as if they were taken from another city and placed here. The most interesting place was for me the Plečnik museum where you get access to his home and workspace and you get information about his buildings and, almost more interesting, into projects, mainly for Ljubljana, that were never realized like a HUGE stair case that should lead from that city to the castle and a big pyramid like building for the Slovenian parliament that should get around 200 meters high. Those buildings would have the townscape much more then the existing buildings do. 

'I find the title of the nomination very odd since "timeless" is certainly not the main characteristic for Plečnik's architecture. His stylized Neoclassizism leans on the Greek and Roman classic architecture but that doesn't make it timeless. In the opposite, it feels rather …

Nice place which I visited two times only: some 20 years ago, when the site was overcrowded because of a festival and trades. For the second time in Summer 2020 I found Holašovice very tranquil and almost empty.

I should declare openly that my basic urge to travel has never been directly related to hunting for WHSs of all kinds, and this is I would call as a side effect - I mean visiting the WHSs. Thus going to Holašovice was my plan regardless its UNESCO status or despite its lack of the OUV. The village is of national importance and it represents quite unusual kind of rural village. However, it does not stand out too much, because there are tens or even few hundreds of well-preserved rural settlements in the area of South Bohemia. Among many others, I enjoyed my visit to very tiny and pleasingly tranquil village Krnín with farm houses dating back to middle ages. However, even in Holašovice we can find granaries of similar age.

I would ironically say that fortunately Holašovice was inscribed in 1998 and not recently. Otherwise I would not be surprised with serial transnational nomination (I am pretty sure that Germany can offer some cute little village...)

To sum up: I enjoyed all my visits to Holašovice even if it is very hard to find any OUV.