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Visited February 2020.

I have visited only the northern part of the potential nominated area which is not included in Els’s review, but is mentioned in the short description of the site on UNESCO website, in the Erongo Region, north of Walvis Bay and Swakopmund, southern and central coastal parts of Dorob National Park, National West Coastal Tourist Recreational Area and north-western edges of Namib-Naukluft National Park.

The most interesting areas from my point of view are Cape Cross Seal Reserve (part of the Skeleton Coast) where in January 1486 landed the first European team leaded by Diogo Cao on his way to India; he erected a padrao (stone pillar with a cross and royal coat of arms) on a hill by the coast which was to taken to Berlin in 1893; now we can see a copy of the original one; I do not know if there was a big colony of seals at that time, but today it is one of the largest colonies of brown Cape fur seals (Arctocephalus pusillus) in the world. In the past the seals were hunting in here for trade and to protect the fish stock. You can imagine the smell and the noise!

The second place that I would recommend to see is the so-called Bird Island south of Swakopmund where the wooden platforms still can be seen; they were made as a link between the coast and the island where thousands of birds leave the guano behind. 

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Deep in southern New Mexico, not far from the Texan border, a subterranean paradise extends for miles under the desert landscape. The United States established a park to protect the spectacular Carlsbad Caverns, as well as other nearby caves, including the famed Lechuguilla Cave, in 1930. Sixty-five years later these fantastic caverns were insribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site for their natural beauty and the abundant and accessible mineral deposits known as speleothems which have given researchers insights into long-standing geologic processes.

I love caves, and Carlsbad Caverns National Park has long been on my United States bucket list. Unfortunately, it is not the easiest park to get to, so on a trip to the southwest in 2019, I made a five-hour side trip from the Albuquerque Airport down to Carlsbad for a weekend visit. I'd read that it can get crowded in the summer, so to ensure that I could see the parts of the caves that I wanted to see on my day at Carlsbad, I made reservations in advance on the park website for two tours: a morning tour of the Lower Cave, and an afternoon tour of King's Palace.

The Lower Cave tour takes a small group of visitors to a section of the cave below the main famous section of Carlsbad Caverns. Here the formations are as beautiful as those in the main chamber, but the setting feels more intimate, more of an adventure (though still somewhat confining for a caver, …

On our trip around the northern coast of Scotland in summer 2019 we crossed also the area of Flow Country. The main argument about this site seems the size of untouched land that is unique in Europe and the amount of CO2 it binds. To me this seems for my taste to jump on the (very necessary) wave of the current climate consciousness.The trip along the northern coast road is attractive mainly for the rocks and beaches on the seaside. The actual flow country on the landside has a certain wild “Wuthering heights” charm: it is a huge area of rather flat moor with moss in many shades, pools and small hills. This is a very typical Scottish landscape but you can find it in smaller chunks nearly everywhere in Scotland and it is also almost everywhere else more attractive because it contrasts sharply with hills, mountains and lakes. There is little doubt that this area has an ecological importance and that it should be protected but for a traveller this has not more to offer then a walk (where it is possible) through a very wide, lonely and very wet country. That is less then almost any other landscape of this spectacularly beautiful country can offer.  Things to see:The most interesting thing during this drive is really the contrast between the landside and the seaside with gorgeous bays, cliffs and beaches. Here are a few places interesting sights in the area. They are not relevant to the OUV …

WHS#26

I visited Sucre on my trip to South America in April 2016. I did basically use Sucre as a jump-off point to see sites like Cal Orcko, Potosi, and the Salar de Uyuni. In the end, Sucre kind of fell into the background for me. It's definitely a very pleasant city, one of many great colonial cities in Latin America, but nothing about Sucre really stood out for me. The "White City" (cue my white city syndrome) just didn't impress me, nor was it any prettier than some of the other colonial cities I had visited on the trip. I had just come from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, which wasn't much less pleasant than Sucre, aside from the weather. But before this turns into a ramble, let's discuss the actual experience I had, which wasn't half as bad as it might be looking now.

Flying into Sucre from Santa Cruz was one of the most memorable flights for me because it was only 35 minutes. And in those 35 minutes, you get to see the rainforest below you slowly fade into the mountainous grasslands where Sucre is located, before finally approaching the city itself, which seems to magically appear sprawling on a hilltop. Taking a taxi to the hotel, we were exposed to a bit more of a gritty side of Sucre. A lot of the buildings that aren't so close to the main square seemed to be very rundown or not from the colonial era …

I reached Bayamo, capital of the province of Granma, in February 2001,on an overnight bus from Sancti Spiritus and quickly concluded that I was not likely to find public transport to continue my journey to the park. Ricardo, a 30-something local with access to an ancient Moskvich, sensed a commercial opportunity and, proclaiming himself to be a taxi driver, offered to take me to the park. I was happy to accept his offer.

It soon became clear that his girl friend and 3 other members of his extended family were also to be part of the expedition and would need to be picked up in various towns en route.

Perhaps the first thing for me to say about this site is how surprised I was that it is inscribed only for Natural Reasons. As its name suggests this is the place where Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and their fellow revolutionaries disembarked from the Granma to begin the campaign that would lead to the overthrow of the Batista regime and all that followed. This sounds like a cultural justification to me.

Close to the entrance of the park is a small and rather empty museum commemmorating the landing in 1956 and a replica of the boat itself (on wheels!).

Within the park I was able to enjoy a 2 hour guided walk, mostly thro' a kind of dry forest. I saw lots of birds, some archaeological bits and pieces and an example of the biggest cactus in Latin America.

This is …

To visit the Kii Mountain WHS, Yoshino is the closest option from Nara. I visited Yoshino in September 2019 and spent a day and a half there. Yoshino is the starting point of the Ōmine Okugakemichi pilgrimage route that ends at the Kumano Hongū Taisha Shrine. I actually planned to hike the first part of the trail up to the Ōminesan-ji Temple and wanted to stay the night there. That would have been a hike of 16 km, from 500 m sea level over two peaks up to 1700 m, exhausting but doable in one day. However, I was a week too late, the temple is only open in the warm months and was already closed at the end of September. So, I did a shorter hike to Shisuniwa peak, about halfway, and stayed in Yoshino.

Yoshino, or more precisely the mountain region Yoshino-yama, is an important centre of Shugendō, a syncretistic belief, whose practitioners seek spiritual power through ascetic practices in the sacred mountains. Asceticism and spirutuality are certainly not the first associations that arise when you step out of the cable car at the mountain station. The street through the village is lined with restaurants and shops. However, in late September, only about a third of them were open (and those that were open closed very early in the evening), but it is obvious that Yoshino is well prepared for the tourist rush in the peak seasons, such as the cherry blossom season.

There are …

Site visited in December 2009.

Jiblah is small, pretty small. And everywhere in Jiblah you’ll be asked if you’ve ever heard about queen Arwa (full name: Sayida Arwa bint Ahmed) who ruled most of today Yemen in the 11th century. What’s missing in the town? Any commemorative monument (I am not thinking about any sculpture, it is a very Muslim country) or even a board informing of her past glory… (No, I am wrong! There’s some official information and boards in the museum, Queen Arwa Museum, multi-story building dedicated to her with some displays dedicated to Jiblah Baptiste Hospital and… president Ali Abdullah Saleh (!)).

The town of Jiblah is located few kilometres south from Ibb (the biggest city in the area) where I stayed for three nights and visited Jibla twice. You can get there from Ibb by local minibuses and will be left at the entrance to the town – the small and steep alleys make the town not convenient for any kind of car traffic. On the first day I visited the Queen Arwa Mosque which remembers the times of the biggest glory of the city and its northern entrance door still has the original wooden door with some Koranic inscriptions carved on it. Before entering the mosque, ask politely somebody sitting at its door, and being non-Muslim you’ll be let in with a company of somebody appointed especially for you; it is possible to walk in the pillared courtyard and enter the main praying …

Comoe is said to be the biggest National Park in West Africa (at least it was when I visited in February 1995) but despite its size I did not find it easy to get to and even more difficult to travel in. I crossed the border from Ghana near Bondoukou and made my way slowly by local transport to Kakpin on the southern boundary of the park where I stayed at le campement.

Any hopes I might have had about informative tours of the park led by well informed Rangers were soon dashed but eventually I did join an expat Frenchman in his 4x4 for a quick whizz round some of the southern parts of the park.

In truth neither the landscape nor the vegetation was particularly attractive and in general, it seems, parks in West Africa do not compare well with those in East Africa as far as the number and diversity of wildlife is concerned.

I saw no lions, giraffes or elephants but there were warthogs, hippos, antelope, monkeys and birds with black and white hornbills prominent amongst them. The scenery was mostly scrubby trees and termite mounds though there were stretches of forest along the Comoe river.

I do not know if conditions in the park deteriorated further after I was there or if what I saw was already bad enough for it to be put on the WHS In Danger list.

I think it is probably a site only for the very committed wild-life fan (or …

Adding a beech forest to the long list of inscribed beech forests seems to be the easiest way to get a new WHS in Europe. Switzerland also wants a piece of this cake and added two beech forests to its tentative list. I visited one of them, the Bettlachberg forest during the coronavirus lock down weekend. The forest is easy to reach by car. It’s just a few minutes outside Grenchen and there is a road leading right into the forest. We parked our car next to the street and hiked up to the old castle ruin of Grenchen, within the forest. It’s a rather easy uphill hike. Doable in less than one hour and really fun on a sunny day. In the end it is just a forest and it is heard to gasp the OUV. But I have the same problem with the already inscribed parts, so why not. On a positive note, there were lots of beech trees. Much more than I saw in the forests in Bulgaria or Italy. On the other hand, it is not a virgin forest. It is clearly maintained like any other forest in Switzerland.

It will probably be inscribed one day. I, personally, am against it. I would like this beech forest madness to stop. Further, Switzerland has with Corbusier and Pile Dwellings already too many of these underwhelming multi national WHS. The forest is only for hardcore collectors, but can easily be combined with Berne and La Chaux-de-Fonds/Le Locle.

I think these three castles make a very nice group for a WHT nomination. Of the three I have only visited Neuschwanstein and Herrenchiemsee. I will certainly try to visit Lindenhof too, if only for its camp "Venusgrotte" and its further Wagnerian connections. It seems to have the most interesting park of the three. 

These castles are certainly an oddity and this is part of the reason why they should be inscribed! Neuschwanstein needs the least introduction: Its exterior is iconic and its interior quite unusual in it pseudo Wagnerian pomp. A bit of a killer is the handling of the visitors: You get a time slot and a tour guide and then you get more or less chased through the castle because behind you there is already the next group approaching. You get to see only the parts of the castle where the rooms are decorated and furnished. Supposedly the larger part of the castle is unfinished and empty because Ludwig ran out of money!

While Neuschwanstein is a romanticized medieval castle, Herrenchiemsee is neobaroque and Ludwigs personal (and smaller) copy of Versailles. It is a similar visiting experience then in Neuschwanstein. It is a pity because the interiors are so sumptuous and odd that you would wish for more time to study them. It is at the same time absurd and moving that the whole castle is full of painting of Louis XIV whom Ludwig II admired. It is certainly the only castle in the world …

WHS#25

Oh, Rio...

I don't really know what to make of this WHS. Now don't get me wrong, I love Rio de Janeiro as much as anyone else. Yes, my visit, like my entire visit to Brazil, was a bit too short to soak everything in, so the experience would've definitely benefited from a longer stay. But I really truly don't understand the OUV of a cultural site like this. Cultural landscapes are one thing; iconic landscapes are another. I feel like Rio's natural landmarks fall under the latter more than the former, and to me, that makes for a weak, if not nonexistent, OUV. Sure, every iconic place is iconic for a reason, but not all of these reasons may be a reason to become a WHS. Niagara is a pretty iconic waterfall, but it sure doesn't hold the natural values that Iguazu or Victoria Falls do. Hollywood is one of the most iconic urban areas thanks to modern performing arts, but we aren't gonna see it on this website anytime soon (except Frank Lloyd Wright's work there, of course, and for completely different reasons). While Rio is certainly one of the most scenic cities in the world, it's not the only one. Capetown, Hong Kong, and La Paz may come to mind, and each of them had to find a way to fully utilize their land as well. In Capetown's case, its iconic natural landmark, Table Mountain, is now WHS, on its own natural merit. The …

Lalish Temple, the holiest place for the Yazidi community, has been added to Iraq’s Tentative List last week. It was one of my proposals for the Arab States Top 50 Missing, so I was very happy to see it appear in the official records as well. My support for Lalish stems from my visit to the site in March 2014. It was the highlight of my tour through Iraqi Kurdistan: an introduction to one of those mysterious, small Middle Eastern religions that somehow in isolation have survived for centuries. Only 5 months later the rest of the world came to know the Yazidis as well, however in much more unfortunate circumstances – as victims from the Sinjar massacre and the genocide of Yazidis by ISIS.

Lalish lies about an hour's drive from modern civilization (we left from Duhok). Unfortunately the place was covered in a dense fog when we arrived – apparently it has a lovely setting in a mountain valley. The rituals that are so abanduntly attached to this holy site already start when arriving in the main street leading up to the temple: even in the streets you can only walk barefoot. Socks were also allowed for us tourists, fortunately, as the ground was quite cold.

We were met by a local guide, a young boy who spoke English quite well. He is a member of one of two families who live permanently in Lalish. These families also supply the holy men of the religion of …

What on first sight looks like a random bridge, is actually an important architectural masterpiece. The Salginatobel Bridge is one of the most important reinforced concrete arch bridges in the world. Built by Swiss architect Robert Maillard and finished 1930, the bridge is recognized by architects and designers around the globe. 1991 it made it to the “World Monuments” list (much more exclusive than the WHS list. 2001 the bridge – design and engineering magazine (yes, there is a magazine for that) voted it the "bridge of the century". It might have an underwhelming look for the non-professional eye, but it sure has outstanding universal value.

When we arrived at the bridge it was clear, that the bridge is not aiming for an inscription very soon. It is well sign posted from the high way. Leave at Landquart and drive through the village of Schiers. The parking for the walk way is sign posted as well. The street between Schiers and the parking is, highly unusual for Switzerland, unpaved. The path (40mins walking for the round trip) is not very well maintained. It partially leads along the street and crosses the bridge. You need to hope for no traffic while you cross the bridge, at it very narrow and allows only one car to pass through at the time. The view is mostly restricted by trees. The ideal picture is taken from a viewing platform below the bridge. When we visited (APR 20) however, the platform was closed for …

"multiple uses" of a lake? Already that raises questions. If you read the short description on the official website, which I could paste here but let me get through it instead, it looks more like a placeholder as well as a "let's throw this on a list so that tourists go there - not that the place requires to be promoted any more.

Their first point about natural beauty could easily be granted. The setting is beautiful from every spot on around the lake. I stopped at lookouts as I was driving to Chichicastenango and the sunset was breathtaking. Now as for the archaeological sites they mention are probably also there but I sure didn't see any. Indigenous communities these days are more or less tourist towns. There is still a very "infamous" (as per local Guatemalans) hippie town - one of which I had the pleasure to meet up in Tikal later on my trip, the rest of towns were more or less markets and bars which boatmen trying to attract you to the lake crossing.

Maybe this was a great place in the 80s before mass tourism took over but at this point I would consider it a tourist hotspot without any unique value worthy of the name UNESCO.

The Asuka period ranged from the mid-6th century to the early 8th century, when the imperial capital was first located in Asuka and then in Fujisawa for sixteen years. The period is characterized by the increasing influence of Korea and China on culture and society in ancient Japan. Important events at this time were the official introduction of Buddhism and the first written constitution in Japan.The term "archaeological sites" in the title of the TWHS suggests that most of the sites are underground and that little is visible of the original remains. And indeed, the TWHS entry at the Unesco website reads: „The component features of the site are principally the archaeological remains of palaces and residences of the emperor and imperial court and their related facilities (such as gardens, etc.); the site of Japan's first genuine capital city; and the remains of temples and burial mounds… These remains have been preserved beneath the earth in good condition down to the present, …”. The T-list entry does not specify the locations that are designated for a future nomination, only a few are mentioned by name (e.g. Takamatsuzuka Tomb, Kitora Tomb). But Wikipedia knows more and provides a complete list of 28 sites clustered in the municipalities of Asuka and Kashihara.

Coming from Nara, I arrived at Asuka train station in the early morning. Asuka is on the Kintetsu Railway Line, which is not included in the Japan Rail Pass. I fully agree with Zoë (see the review below) that …

WHS#23

Brasilia was my entry point into South America when I visited back in April 2016, and it remains one of the most unique cities I've ever visited. My family and I took a taxi tour around for a few hours, and it only took a few hours to be sold. The Cathedral, Dom Bosco Sanctuary, Praca dos Tres Poderes, and the Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge were probably the greatest highlights, but the city as a whole is a masterpiece in modern architecture and urban planning. I don't think any other city in the world was composed so meticulously, specifically, and distinctly. And while some say that Brasilia is a failure in urban planning, I beg to differ. Even though the entire city is uniformly modern, I wasn't ever bored walking around, although that may partially be because of my excitement to be in South America for the first time. Sure, it's a pretty spread-out city, but walks here felt even more pleasant and safe than walking in Rio de Janeiro did. It's not totally ideal for all citizens, but I heard nothing negative about it from its inhabitants. They definitely have reason to be proud of their city. All of this isn't to say that Brasilia is without flaws. The fact that we saw almost all of the city's highlights within a few hours does show that this is no historical city that I could explore for days. Though the variety of different buildings is great, from the sculpture-like …

Site visited December 2013. Timgad is the largest and arguably the best of the Roman archaeological sites of Algeria. I think it is also one of top three Roman sites of Africa and, I dare to say, probably among the best outside of Italy. Timgad is not known for its imposing buildings but for town planning and well preserved grid plan. In this review I focus mainly on the practical issues of visiting Timgad.

Algeria, especially the eastern part of the country, is one of the hotspots of Roman archaeological sites. Apart from the inscribed ones there are several sites worth mentioning: Tiddis, Madauros (Madaure), Hippo Regius (Hippone), Theveste, Thubursicum and Lambaesis. Many of these have been collected to a TWHS Sites, lieux et itineraires augustiniens du Maghreb central.

Timgad or Thamugadi is an ancient military colony founded in 100 AD by Trajan. It is a good example of Roman town planning. It is originally a city with a tight grid plan. Two main streets cardo and decumanus go through it. In the center of these two streets are spacious forum and a theatre. In the middle of 2nd century the city grew outside the original orthogonal design. Outside the grid plan are Capitol, several churches and baths, markets and some homes. A big Byzantine fortress 0,5 kilometres from the original city is the last built structure in Timgad.

Visiting Timgad feels like being long away from everything. It is a …

Site visited in May, 2010. No doubt one of world wonders and certainly a must-see place while visiting Iran (together with many others). Once considered the biggest adobe (clay-based) building in the world, Arg-e Bam or Bam Citadel is currently slowly rising from ruins after devastating earthquake that struck in 2003 destroying the whole city.

Currently the traces of the earthquake are visible everywhere. Citadel is undergoing restoration process, still in scaffoldings, with many parts closed for visiting. Other are carefully restored and only on the tables with photos you can see the level of destruction (photos were taken shortly after the earthquake). Many parts of the lower city have already been restored like areas around bazaar, Tekiyeh (central square surrounded by chambers), stables or Garrison (barracs), other like Governor’s Residence (upper part on the hill) or areas around Jameh Mosque are still under reconstruction. In fact it is possible to visit the lower part of the city (as well as certain part of town walls) while the part still under reconstruction is closed for visiting (especially Governor’s Residence).

More about the earthquake and its consequences you can read here https://www.earth-auroville.com/bam_and_arg_e_bam_en.php

Entrance to site is currently paid (around 200 000 Iranian Rial). Unfortunately Iran still performs a policy of different (higher) fees for foreigners (not only in Bam but also in other major tourist attractions). But Bam Cultural Landscape includes not only Bam Citadel. In fact if you look at official UNESCO map (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1208/multiple=1&unique_number=1564), Arg-e Bam is …

The Town of Bamberg was the World Heritage Site I was most looking forward to when I traveled to Germany in March 2019. The distinctive half-timbered addition to the Old Town Hall, or Altes Rathaus, cantilevered over the Regnitz River was featured in many travel guides, and that was the first site I zeroed in on upon arriving in Bamberg. The legend I heard about the town hall was that neither the church nor the merchants were willing to donate land for the town hall, so the citizens constructed an island in the middle of the river on which to build their town hall. Although the bridges leading to the town hall were crowded with tourists, there were some good spots to view the beautiful frescoes on the side of the building, as well as the photogenic neighborhood known as Little Venice perched on the banks of the river below the town hall.

After wandering around the islands on the Regnitz, my friends and I traveled back up the hill to the Bamberg Cathedral, an imposing Romanesque structure towering above the town. The cathedral was under construction when I visited, so I didn't find it as impressive as other churches I saw while in Germany. I did enjoy walking around the nearby Alte Hofhaltung, the Old Court where the bishops of Bamberg resided before they moved to the Neue Residenz. The courtyard of the Alte Hofhaltung, as noted below, was worth visiting both as an escape from crowds, and …

Come inscription time, "Ancient Cultural Landscape of the Fayoum Oasis" would be an apt name adjustment, with emphasis on the word ancient, as the human-oasis interaction in the site has greatly evolved over time. 

Fayoum's most significant existing cultural treasures - the Hawara Pyramid, archaeological discoveries (ancient settlements), the Bahar Youssef Barrage, the network of irrigation canals, and other worship sites for Nile deities - are testaments to how the inhabitants managed the flooding and draining of the Nile. The photo (see attached) is taken in a temple called Qasr al Sagha, a pharaonic monument north of Lake Qarun. It is dedicated possibly to Sobek, the Crocodile God, and the crocodile is a sacred animal for Ancient Egyptians.

Throughout time, Fayoum has experienced abandonment and revival. And each time a group of people rediscovers its agricultural (and perhaps socio-religious) advantage, the first to be revived is its network of irrigation canals. As in any other oasis landscapes in the world, management of Fayoum should integrate sustainable agriculture, irrigation / water management, biodiversity conservation, and community engagement.