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I visited both locations of this tentative WHS in December 2020. The best way to visit is as an afternoon side trip from Muscat as the roads are perfect for any vehicle (the road from Al Ayn still requires a 4x4 vehicle and is not worth the hassle since the best time to visit, especially for photography, is in the early afternoon before closing time).

I planned to visit Al Hazm Fort (marked as Al Hazm Castle) first, followed by Rustaq Fort and Nakhal Fort and its several watch towers nearby (even though the latter fort and towers are not up for inscription) via a convenient loop on road 13. The Al Hazm Fort (top photos) was built in the beginning of the 18th century towards the end of the reign of Al Yarubi tribe in Oman, when Rustaq was their capital. The Al Yarubi tribe is most famously known for expelling the Portuguese from Oman. They are also responsible for constructing a number of other significant Omani forts and castles including Nizwa Fort and Jabreen Castle (which I visited towards the end of my trip in Oman in January 2021). There is a clear difference between the latter two forts and Al Hazm, namely the shift in the construction of Omani forts designed to withstand gun attacks to those designed to withstand cannon attacks, with Al Hazm being the more technologically advanced structure. Since back in the 18th century, the imam resided in Al Hazm, it features numerous …

Diamantina, once the beginning of the Gold Trail in Minas Gerais, is now far off the beaten track. During our visit in November 2020, not only were there no foreign tourists here, but even quite a few locals - a great contrast to the crowded Ouro Preto or quite lively smaller towns like Tiradentes or Mariana.

Diamantina differs from other colonial mining towns in Minas Gerais. It is, I would say, more rugged, we also had the impression that it is situated higher in the mountains (not true, the height is almost the same as Ouro Preto). The cobblestone streets seem wider, although this may be an impression due to the lack of crowds. It is difficult for me to find the distinguishing points of this place - for sure, as Solivagant wrote earlier, the local market square stands out. We didn't manage to see the peculiarities of the city as the Diamond Museum was closed due to the pandemic. Despite the lack of characteristic memories, we liked Diamantina, but in general we like nice little towns off the beaten track. And we have to admit that the historic center is wonderfully refurbished, which is simply eye-catching and nice to explore.

You can get to the city by the good road BR-040 and 259, access from Belo Horizonte takes just over 4 hours by car. We chose the slightly longer but more interesting road MG-010, stopping on the way in the beautiful Serra do Cipo national park. For …

In my opinion Hiraizumi is rather boring. Even for someone like me who loves nature, the gardens and temples are very average and a big plain with a lake in the middle doesn't make me thing "oh wow, a world heritage site, it must be good!" or anything on that line. 

I arrived with a very early train before any of the WH sites are open and thus I took a taxi to the popular Takkoku-no-Iwaya Buddhist temple just outside of town. I remember it opens at 6:30am or something. Getting here without a taxi seemed not possible at this hour. Later on when I saw the rest of Hiraizumi I was shocked that Takkoku-no-Iwaya was the best of all and it's not inscribed. In the end I think it all comes down to some administration work and this extention will take care of it and make the overall Hiraizumi site better. I later found out that the temple was rebuilt in the 60s and nobody knew the original design so that is usually a problem as the sites should be authentic but it didn't take any pleasure away from my visit.

I visited this tentative WHS in December 2020. Nicknamed as Oman's secret Maldives spot, the Ad Dimaniyyat Islands Nature Reserve is made up of nine small islands and islets with a rich variety of healthy coral reefs, some of which are quite rare.

We booked ahead for a private tour with Blue Wave from 8am to 2pm for almost half the normal price inclusive of the 10 OMR nature reserve fee (possibly one of the only places in Oman where you're likely to need cash). Most probably rates were reduced since the companies had to rely solely on locals for their income. All the boats are practically brand new and in tip top shape with ridiculously high speed engines so you'll get to the islands in no time. Incredibly this snorkelling paradise spot is only around 70km away from Muscat and all the boats leave from the Al Mouj Marina where there also is a huge free parking lot. 

The nature reserve is protected quite well with a network of ranger teams on site year round who are responsible for monitoring the turtle nesting beaches, conducting regular beach clean up activities and making sure that the recently increased fee of 24 EUR (10 OMR) for a maximum of 5 days is collected. Camping is allowed at designated areas so as to avoid disturbing the turtles, as is kayaking or diving. The turquoise blue waters around most of the islands are a haven for swimming, snorkelling and diving with …

This is the Czech classic, thus, it is normally stuffed with masses of tourists, and not only tourists form abroad but also the local tourists, usually during popular canoeing on the Vltava River. Despite its rather remote location close to the border forests with Austria and Germany, there are regular bus connections from Prague and local trains from regional center České Budějovice. I have been there many times already, but my list visit in May 2020 was exceptional because of the covid quarantine…

It was clearly visible how disastrous it is for touristy museum-towns, if tourists do not come. Obviously, I was not only person, who had an idea to explore the empty town of Český Krumlov, and I could spot numerous travelers from Prague strolling by the river and enjoying a sunny day. But we could not save the tourist industry, because the castle, all the hotels and pensions were shut, and the Czech tourists were attracted by few opened garden restaurants to have a beer and lunch, and not by souvenir shops and stylish restaurants (obviously shut down anyway).

Český Krumlov is exceptionally preserved because of the favorable circumstances. It was the residence town of powerful nobility from Middle Ages that prevented the area from political and economical disturbances that were quite common in other parts of Bohemia and Moravia. Thus, we can find there the historical town with square, old houses and gothic parish church of St. Vitus, the giant complex of castle built in …

Site visited in November 2020. Unlike other reviewers, we had a car, so getting there and away was not a problem at all. This is preferable means of transport if you want to enjoy the marvels of Minas Gerais (probably the most interesting in Brazil) without spending too many days there. There are many beautiful colonial towns in short distance, such as Tiradentes, Mariana, Sabara or Ouro Preto. There are also many natural parks nearby, such as Serra do Cipo or Serra do Gandarela. Congonhas itself is not that interesting, but has a decent hotel base.

The sanctuary towers over the city so even without GPS it is very easy to find. As almost everywhere in Brazil, parking is not a problem – free spots are just behind the church, near convent buildings.

Because of the pandemic, the church, like most of other Brazilian churches, is open only for masses, so we were not able to get in. More painful was that the famous sculptures of prophets are inside the closed church area, so we were only able to have a close look from behind the gate.

Fortunately, all the chapels with the scenes of the passion of Christ situated on the hill were open and our visit was satisfactory.

According to the legend, the sculptures of the prophets and several figures in the chapels were made by Aleijadinho, a genius sculptor who, suffering from a serious illness, reportedly had no fingers or toes during the …

I visited 4 out of the 5 locations of this WHS on different days (sometimes doing repeat visits too) in December 2020 and January 2021. Although I had already seen some aflaj in the United Arab Emirates while visiting the Al Ain WHS, the aflaj in northern Oman are a much more elaborate irrigation network which was critical to the development of society and the agricultural economy.

Each falaj gathers water from one or more sources and channels it via a single canal into the area where it is to be used. From the canal, the water is diverted into subcanals into the fields where it sustains the tropical fruit which grows in Oman. Even though today concrete has been used to make the aflaj deeper or to extend the old network, this does not take away the remarkable engineering skills needed in ancient times to construct the aflaj, which supply water on a continuous basis in Oman's arid environment. Recently at Salut (a tentative WHS I'll review later), archaeologists has recently excavated what is believed to be the oldest known falaj out of the approximately 4100 aflaj in Oman today, of which just over 3000 are still functioning.

The water for these aflaj comes from 3 different source types: daudi (which use the underground water table to create water flow through a tunnel to its point of use), ghaili (where the surface water mostly from floods flows into wadis that are dammed and the water is diverted …

Last weekend we watched the Werner Herzog documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams about the Chauvet cave (Decorated cave of Pont d'Arc), triggering this review since we visited the cave last summer.

Since the original cave is closed for visitors and one has to do with a replica cave, the documentary is the only way to admire the beautiful cave art. The replica cave is of course not the real deal, but we must admit that it does not feel fake and that they succeeded very well in copying the actual cave. Some time ago we also visited the Lascaux replica and we found this one the best of the two.

Nevertheless, we felt we could not tick off this site without at least visiting the real cave entrance. Starting from the Auberge du Pont d’Arc parking, we first tried the route as described by Solivagant (“Follow the edge of the vineyard for c 150m and then find a track on the left up into the forest”). The issue however was that there are several tracks to the left into the forest, so we took a different approach and followed the route as mentioned in http://baladesducrokoala.wifeo.com/vallon-pont-d-arc-et-grotte-chauvet.php. The “sentier qui commence sur des affleurements rocheux” is the signposted route which more or less starts from the road. At a certain point (quite soon), in a bend you can take a road which splits off from the main trail (“dans un virage en épingle, on trouvera un petit sentier qui file …

I did an afternoon trip to Žďár nad Sázavou in July 2020, and the reason was to go to Zelená Hora again. I visited the site many times, and I can observe how this place has been changing with time: The forest obscuring the visibility of the site was cleared, the cemetery inside the area surrounded by the ambit was canceled and gravestones removed, the church interior has been meticulously restored with other reconstructions works on the way. There are also plans to reconstruct the ambit, especially the roofs with high wooden pylons on the top of the chapels, etc.

Besides the long-term reconstruction works on the church, I have to mention the former Cistercian abbey, now the castle returned to the Kinský family. They invested a lot of money not only to taking care of the forestry and fishponds, but also to thorough reconstruction and revitalization of the former monastery complex. However, the basilica with the Well Chapel and the St. John of Nepomuk church are still properties of the Catholic Church.

The church settings, layout and interiors are truly exceptional (PHOTO). It has adopted the shape of flower with the five-fold symmetry and not the simple round or Greek cross principle. The site is stuffed by catholic and kabala symbolism as already described by others.

As I already mentioned, not only St. John of Nepomuk church is the worth-visiting site in the area. There are several guided tours in the castle. I skipped the museum …

I visited this WHS in December 2020. Even though parts of this fort have been reconstructed rather than restored since it was inscribed as Oman's first WHS in 1987, shamefully using concrete instead of mud and straw-based plaster called juss, its importance and sheer size when compared to other desert fortifications in Arab states in my opinion still justify its place on the WH list.

The original ornate features, inscriptions and also graffiti etchings on the plastered walls which can still be seen in the fort as well as in the old mosque outside the fort (near the free parking lot), together with the crumbling yet impressive fortification wall opposite the fort on the Hajar Al Gharbiyah mountains possess enough OUV when comparing this fort with the ones in the United Arab Emirates for example. Possibly the best way to appreciate the Bahla oasis town of old would be to combine it with a visit by 4x4 to Wadi Bahla, where a natural route through the surrounding rugged mountains of ophiolite leads to the town's date palms. This will give you a much better understanding of how well protected this oasis town was, even without the fort, so much so that during the Abbasid dynasty, Bahla was the seat of the governor in Oman. The fort was used as the governor's residence, the guards' headquarters and a court complex during different periods in its history undergoing multiple constructions, additions and modifications.

Personally, I was really impressed by the …

The Meuse Citadels TWHS comprises the fortified areas of the Walloon cities of Namur, Huy and Dinant. The river Meuse, which runs from France to the North Sea via Belgium and The Netherlands, used to be a natural border and offered strategic points of defense. The fortifications developed from Roman times til the 2nd half of the 20th century, when land territory warfare became of less importance.

On my day trip to Namur late January 2021 I of course visited its citadel, the major landmark of this city. There are Roman origins here as well, but the major stone wall construction started in the late Middle Ages. From the 16th century onwards these defense works were built here, among others in the 17th century under the direction of the well-known French military architect Vauban and later by the Dutch.

From the city center the Citadel is easy to access on foot via one of the bridges over the river Sambre. It is huge and a brisk walk is needed to climb up the ramp: the defense structures stand on a 100m high hill. The main grounds are freely accessible, only the former Terra Nova barracks are in use as a museum nowadays. There is also a system of underground passages (closed because of Covid).

Having walked to the very tip of the Citadel I was surprised to find a gigantic modern statue there. It is Searching for Utopia by the Belgian artist Jan Fabre. The 5m long …

October 2020 - after sleeping in Coimbra we arrived in Tomar in the Late morning. You can drive up all the way to the Convent which we didn’t know.so we were quite exhausted already. The small garden inside the fort is lovely with views at the foothills. We bought a combiticket 15€ for 3 WHS sites. Tomar has numerous rooms, courts and chapels. The architecture and flair is comparable with Alhambra. Orange trees, malioka tiles, springs, overall an authentic medieval complex. There is a golden chapel with the biggest wooden organpipe. The chapel very much reminded me of Aachen. Beware of the lady who sells her fruits outside the building. Apparently all from her garden but overpriced and overripe. But the lady is nice anyway!

The Old Town of Cáceres is also called Ciudad Monumental - the Monumental City. A little exaggerated from today's perspective, as the historic centre is well hidden in the middle of the modern city. You only realise that you have reached your destination when you stand in front of the old city wall at the Plaza Mayor (photo). This was certainly different in the Middle Ages, when the city wall and the massive towers were visible from afar.

The Plaza Mayor is the bustling centre of modern Cáceres with plenty of shops and bars. But the atmosphere changes as soon as you walk through the Arco de la Estrella and enter the core zone of the WHS, the intramuros town. The old town has been preserved almost unchanged as it was in the 16th century, there are almost no signs of modernization. It is like a journey back in time to the Middle Ages. One inevitably wonders how many people still live there today. And when I walked along the massive walls of the Renaissance palaces and looked up at the huge towers, I understood why it is called monumental.I visited the Cathedral Santa Maria, I climbed the Torre del Bujaco where you can walk a short section of the city wall, and I visited the cistern in the Palacio de las Veletas (today the city museum). However, none of this is a real highlight. The highlight of Cáceres is roaming the narrow, cobbled streets. I enjoyed exploring the …

I visited this tentative WHS in December 2020. Instead of a simple night tour as a walk-in guest as initially planned, we decided to spend 2 nights here with 2 sunrise tours and 2 night tours included, after Oman announced an exit ban just a few days before our planned departure date. This turned out to be a real treat as we increased our chances to experience hundreds of baby turtles hatching and enormous adult turtles coming ashore to dig their nests and lay their eggs.

Apparently, this year's khareef monsoon season (June to September) in Dhofar was particularly intense with constant flash floods, high winds and rough seas. Moreover, in November there was a tropical storm which developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone named Gati which wreaked havoc in the Horn of Africa and the Gulf of Aden. As always, nature seems to instictively predict and quickly adapt to such events, and local fishermen have reportedly seen hundreds of turtles mating at the surface of the water close to the Ras Al Jinz/Ras Al Hadd beaches as late as October and November. In general, turtles lay their first clutch of eggs about 3 to 6 weeks after mating.

This probably explains why this year's peak season for spotting adult turtles digging their nests and laying their eggs came much later than the usual July to September months which tend to be also the hottest! This does not mean that you won't see any turtles in the …

When I drove from Skopje to Lake Ohrid I made a stop in Prilep for a visit to Markovi Kuli. Let me start with the fact that it would be better to include it as Natural & Cultural? There is an old fort on the top and a beautiful old monastery as well. It's all within the boundaries proposed. A LARGE sign is at the foot of the mountain where you go to the fort where it clearly states it's on the tentative list :-) I drove up to the fort as far as I could with a sedan. Don't park at the sign just drive until the road gets to bad. At the top I spend an hour or so enjoying the view.

The Treskavec monastery (Holy Mother of God) is located two hills north and also within the proposed natural boundaries. It should be included as well for cultural reasons as the murals are for sure in par with the Church St. George (Sv Gjorgji) in Kurbinovo added recently to the TWHS. I would have loved to hike to the monastery from the fort (there is a trail) but as I had to go both ways due to my car at the fort and time constraints I drove there. The road to the monastery is fully paved. The church is under reconstruction I think but it could be also permanent double roofing to protect it. Beautifull murals!

If you drive from Skopje to Ohrid, make sure …

The Mitilini Castle of Lesvos

In order to visit Philippi from the island of Chios where I stayed for a month in October 2020, I took a 12-hour ferry ride from Chios through the islands of Lesvos and Limnos to Kavala. 

2 and 1/2 months after I made this trip I realized that the castle I had seen near Mitilini, the main city of Lesvos and the port of call for this ferry, was a TWHS.

Even though I didn't even set my foot on the island of Lesvos, I just wanted to share this photo I took of the Late Medieval Bastioned Fortification. 

Lesvos has been in the news in the recent years as the first place in the EU where many immigrants from the Middle East arrive. Less than 2 months before I was there, the Moria Camp, the main refugee camp 5 km away from Mitilini, was burnt by the protesting locals. But Mitilini looked quite peaceful from the ferry on this sunny day. 

Other fortifications included in this nomination that I have been to are the ones in Rhodes and Corfu. 

October 2020 - going south from Porto to Lisbon we still had a few spots to visit in between. Before going to Coimbra that day we drove into the national park of bussaco. You can buy a car ticket at the entrance booth for reasonable 5€. We drove up to the palace hotel and first had a long hike through the Tasmanian and American forests and found a mysterious cascade with water dripping downwards. Many exotic plants and trees are standing here and especially the many ferns make this spot look like a moderate-climate jungle. We did have a map but the paths are in very Bad shape so we found ourselves crawling under fallen trees or jumping over branches. Somehow we made it to the top again and still had time to circle the palace hotel. It was undergoing renovation which seems more than overdue. In the garden are wooden carved snails to ride on and a toy train, so we had some family time! The cafe has very good cappuccino and pastels de nata again. All in all a mysterious, totally Whs deserving spot which just needs a Bit more conservation. At least I could give small support.

I visited this WHS in December 2020. Shortly after entering Oman on what was supposed to be a free SHORT stay visa and receiving the green light to roam freely without the need of quarantine, I drove from Muscat towards the direction of Sur to secure my first WHS tick.

I chose to start off with Qalhat knowing that it would probably be the least interesting to see, especially because it was still closed. That said, knowing that I was probably one of the very first tourists to enter Oman after it closed down for tourism and most probably the only one interested in visiting Qalhat very early in the morning, I set out to try my luck with Zoe's option #3 (the concrete steps are visible in Els' second photo). Not only was I lucky that the security guard was still having coffee unaware that I was exploring the farthest area away from the Bibi Maryam mausoleum (practically the only guarded area) but as Martina wrote, he usually expects people to approach from the uphill road from modern Qalhat.

Moreover, once I went down the steps and headed right towards the coast I saw several rubble walls and foundations (some of which are made out of coral!). Even though there aren't any information boards yet (judging from the metal poles already standing there, these will be installed soon together with a visitor centre/facility), I could easily find my way around the remains of the ancient city which …

October 2020 - I don't remember what we expected to see in Coimbra, but I thought of a small, cozy town with Medieval and Renaissance flair. This we could definitely find on our visit at the steep slopes towards the university. Around the Se Velha church, the narrow streets and Fado-sounds from the bars are spreading a particular charme. But the rest of the town is rather ostentatious. The Rua Sophia with its renaissance Palaces reminds a bit of Genua, whereas the university itself on top of the hill is a gigantic, threatening complex. An exception is the old university building at the Paco das Escolas, which you officially only can enter with a visit guide. We just jumped the thresholds, but visiting the university building from inside, was anyway not possible due to Covid. The rest of the university building is overshadowed by Salazars fascist architecture. Especially the new library and the Medicine Faculty are pompous cubes with represantive statues of the workers and peasant state and Albert Speer-inspired lanterns. Very much reminded me of my hometown Berlin, where fascist and communist architecture are standing side by side. We had a small snack at the cafeteria of the Justice faculty, the Cafe couraca. Very cheep and the charme of warsaws milk bars just after fall of communism. We enjoyed both parts of the city and would recommend everybody to put it high on the itinerary.

Under the Roman name Emerita Augusta, Mérida was an important centre on the Via de la Plata (Silver Road), the connection between Seville in Andalusia and Astorga in the north. The ancient city had about 50,000 inhabitants, quite large for the time. Today, Mérida is only slightly larger than it was in Roman times, a cosy and leisurely town compared to other sites in Spain.I visited Mérida in May 2019 on a trip through central Spain, it was the southernmost of eleven WHS on this tour. The WHS consists of 22 locations, most of which are within walking distance of the city centre, only a few are located in the countryside outside of Mérida. The combined ticket mentioned in Els' review now costs 15 euros, still a reasonable price for five sites. The opening hours are also pleasing: from 9 am to 9 pm without siesta break, quite unusual in Spain.

The Roman Theatre (photo) is certainly the most visited monument in Mérida. It is well preserved, though the capitals of some columns and parts of the upper frieze are missing and the back wall is not complete. But you can still imagine how magnificent the structure might have looked in ancient times. Right next to it is the Amphitheatre, built for gladiator fights and struggles between wild animals. In Roman times it was probably more popular than its neighbour, at least it offered more seats for spectators. However, only the lower tiers have survived, the stones …