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Visited November 2019.

The Church of Christ the Worker and Our Lady of Lourdes (Iglesia de Cristo Obrero y Nuestra Señora de Lourdes) is a Roman Catholic church located in Estación Atlántida, around 50 km east from central Montevideo. Most buses from Montevideo bus station (Terminal Tres Cruces or Terminal Rio Branco) heading towards Maldonado/Punta del Este will drop you at the crossroads simply called Atlántida. To get to the church you have to walk 3 km north or wait for a local transportation (the stop is on the road named after Eladio Dieste) between Estación Atlántida and Atlántida Playa Brava. Although the church itself is not very big, it is seen from the road when you approach.

The church is composed of three separate elements: the church itself, the triangular entrance to the underground baptistery to the left of the door of the church, and the round bell tower on the right side to the church; from the street it looks rather like a warehouse, only the crosses (not very big) by the main door and on top of the bell tower remind you it is a religious building.

Built in 1958-1960, totally in bricks, it shows the flexibility of this material and is a symbol of post-modernist approach to architecture, called sometimes Brick Expressionism. In “A Global History of Architecture” by Chiang, Jarzombek and Vikramadotya, it is called “a simple rectangle with side walls rising up in undulating curves to the maximum amplitude of their …

Yes I really enjoyed the stone money on Yap. The difficult part is to get there. Today (Jan. 2020) just 2 flights a week go from Guam. The flight from Palau isn't scheduled anymore. I visited already 2 years ago but finally have time to edit some photos and write my review. This money is everywhere on Yap. You'll see it at all the Faluw (Men's Houses or meeting houses). Even if you walk through the bush you can come across it. Some roads have it lined up on the side as well. It's protected each single stone how small it can be from 3 centimeters up to 4 to 8 meters wide. Most came from Palau where you can see the quarries. The bigger the stone, the nicer the stone and the more you have/had the wealthier you were. Interesting to see this legal tender. 

Yap is a small island and all places of interest can be seen in a day. As flights are twice a week you're always stuck there for 3 or 4 days. Snorkeling and diving is highly recommended.Worth a WHS? For sure yes and I hope with the quarries on Palau together. 

(photo is copyright by CTB Global, can be used on Worldheritagesite.org but not on other sites)

The Brazilian side of things gives you a more distance view of the Garganta del Diablo , which is the most spectecular of all waterfalls in Iguazù area. However there is a very nice walk along the Rio Iguazù with views on all Argentinian waterfalls and there are some nice lookout points that are close to waterfalls on the Brazilian side which was in the summer heat very refreshing. However because the Brazilian park is smaller and there are less options of what people can visit it feels a lot more crowded than the Argentinian side. Maybe it was also the effect of visiting of Sunday, that Ißm not sure about. Animal wise you have the coatis that stop you from taking a lunch break on the floor, some other monkeys and the raptors flying over the falls. 

All in all the park with these waterfalls is really a must see and even more a must experience!

Visiting of Cetinje was slightly disappointing during my visit some 10 years ago, and I think it does not deserve the WHS status.

I did a trip from a touristy Herceg Novi through even-more touristy Kotor to Cetinje as a final destination by a local bus. Well, we originally planned to continue from Cetinje to Lovcen Mountain with mausoleum of former king of Monte Negro on the top and obvious superb views to Boka Kotorska and Mediterranean cost of Monte Negro. Due to rainy and stormy weather, we changed our plans and spent in Cetinje longer time than expected, it means a couple of hours. When we left the touristy coast at Kotor and started to ascend to Cetinje by serpentines in the very steep slope, we entered completely different Monte Negro. Further, it was rainy and fogy, thus the views were rather limited.

Finally, we entered an ugly bus station of Cetinje. We refreshed ourselves by traditional coffee prepared in a cezve in very dark and very non-touristy bar at the bus station, and waited until it stopped raining. After that we walked to the center of Cetinje. The compact core consists of low town houses with typically two, sometimes three floors, but they were not very picturesque and built in no particular style. We had a lunch in mediocre pizzeria there. After the lunch we enter residential quarter of Cetinje with the royal palace (PHOTO) and adjacent always crowded monastery church, which was the most interesting …

March 2017 - More because of curiosity than visiting another WHS we went to Gibraltar. As we understood, it is quite expensive to park your car in Gibraltar, we tried to find a spot in La Linea. Luckily we found a spot for free, not too far from the border, so no worries about limited time in Gibraltar. At the border, there is a passport check and you have to cross the runway of the airport. Just before we wanted to cross, the border was closed and we had to wait for the arrival of the next plane. By feet you arrive at the main town of Gibraltar which is full of pubs, shops and tourist traps, that try to sell overprized bus trips to the Mediterranean steps and to the top of the Rock. Probably worth it, but our budget did not allow. We had a english early lunch and took the public bus to Europe Point, the southern tip of the Peninsula. From there you have a nice view at Marocco and for some reason, there is a giant modern mosque; a present of the Saudi King. From there you can walk along the east shore of Gibraltar until you reach the 3rd Battery. The viewing platform wasnt built back then, but at this spot you could look at the Caves entrances and it is in the corezone of the WHS.

Rather dissapointing is the other side of the road. Lokks like a garbage disposal and burning …

The legend of Masada - the mass suicide of several thousand members of the Jewish revolt in 73 AD who chose death over slavery when the fortress was about to be sacked by the Roman forces - holds a surpassing symbolic value of Jewish pride and resolve. That, coupled with the fact that Masada is a large and varied archaeological site, puts Masada on the itinerary of every possible tour of Israel. It is the second most-popular destination in Israel after Jerusalem. I visited in November of 2019. Whereas on the same day I had the biblical tel of Be'er Sheva and the Incense Route town of Mamshit practically to myself, at Masada I was but one of several thousand visitors.

For me, the impressiveness of Masada is first and foremost manifested in the breathtaking views towards the Dead Sea and its basin. The most interesting archaeological remains all belong to the last third of the 1st century BC when King Herod the Great transformed a small fortification on an isolated rock plateau into a pleasure retreat and a possible sanctuary in case of a revolt (which, one could say, predicted its fate).

The site at the top of the plateau is pretty extensive, although its southern part is primarily empty spaces with partially surviving structures here or there. They range from ritual baths to columbariums to smaller palaces to regular dwellings. In a few instances, the interior parts of the buildings survive in some shape, and the …

Today I have visited Parque Nacional de Iguazù in Northern Argentinia. Even though sun wasn´t shining until the afternoon, it was still very hot and especially very humid. Like Els wrote in 2004 the park also appeared to me like a theme park - a map with action activities, bus arrivals, restaurants etc. proof me to be right. In a first step I took the inferior circuit, which is the track walking to the bottom of some of the many waterfalls. This was very impressive especially the first view on the Iguazú falls out of the rainforest with the roaring in the back and also standing below one of the waterfalls. The superior track takes you tot he top of many of the falls and is not so spectacular. It shows you the Río Iguazù flowing towards the falls in a quite calm way. Also you see the edge where it all falls down. But from below it´s more spectacular. The Macoco trail was nice to watch animals. The highlight were 4 toucans but I have also seen many spiders, some saurians, many coatis, other birds and butterflies. The highlight of the visit however is the walk to Garganta del Diablo. This is really like a devil´s throat were vast amounts of water fall down. Astonishingly many butterflies also make their way into the throat and came back up again. Humans would surely not survive a jump into this tremendously big and deep pool.

Troy is perhaps one of the most iconic sites, not because of the ruins but because its legendary place in history and literature. It is a good moment to visit Troy again. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Troy becoming a UNESCO site the new Troy Museum was opened in 2018, and has quickly acquired the reputation of one of the best museums in Turkey if not in Europe with educational displays, animations, interactive films and simulations. We visited in January 2020, and we had the entire Museum to ourselves, same was at the Troy archaeological site, the historic setting of the Trojan War as eternalised by Homer in the Iliad. The weather was gorgeous, a bit cold but sunny with a deep blue sky; the view was great from the Museum’s roof top across the archaeological site; and all the way to Mount Ida from where the gods were watching the Trojan War and the island of Tenedos where the Greek ships were hiding before the city fell; and in the distance, across the Scamander plains and the entrance to the Dardanelles, the glittering snow covered mountains of Samothrace. 

The Museum is built as a cube, construction started in 2013, and was completed in 2018. It reaches the height of the pre-excavation hill of Hisarlık, the modern name of the Troy site and is meant to resemble an artefact that was excavated. The building’s outside walls are made of steel that are meant to put on …

All we needed was for the icy Patagonian rain to stop pelting down. The morning’s climb would be tough enough without leaning into the face of a squall. And even if we did brave the storm, would we be able to see anything from the summit? The moment it looked as though the sky was starting to clear we moved, yanking on waterproofs, lacing up boots and hoisting packs onto our backs. Leaning into the last remnants of the squall we set out. But it was hard to keep our heads down for long. The shapes of the encircling mountains started to solidify behind the clouds. The rush of the Rio Ascensio was visible far below to our right. And the woodland through which we passed seemed fresh and alive. Our path switchbacked as we climbed a slope of stones and boulders. And then we summited. A wooden sign leaned askew: ‘Fin del sendero / End of trail’. As if we needed telling. Beyond the sign scree dropped away into a col, a jade green tarn at its heart. The back wall of the col rose sheer. And above were the three thrusting towers we had come to see, grasping granite fingers pointing skywards, their peaks playing peek-a-boo with the misty clouds. The weariness of three solid days of hiking and the last pitiful night shivering in a storm-battered tent were forgotten in an instant. We had reached the Torres del Paine.

So, to get this out …

March 2017 - on the top of our itinerary was the Alhambra. I visited it in 1993 with my parents, but have only few memories. But this time we planned to see the gardens, insides etc.. The city has an intense arabic flair, probably comparable to medinas in the Maghrep. Narrow streets with shops with oriental clothings, baskets, spices. Also the Renaissance part of the city has still that charming flair.

We climbed up to the Alhambra and visited the outside areas as well as the court of the Palace of Charles V. Everything just beautiful, although it was packed with tourist. We did not make any reservation to go inside, and at the early afternoon we had no chance to get any remaining tickets. However, in the moning hours there are always a few tickets being sold at the machines, but you can only decide for a morning or afternoon visit. Of course, we could not leave Grenada without trying that. Next morning I climbed up the hill again, to be the 3rd person in row for the remaining tickets. Around 6:30 more and more people were joining. Finally at 8 the machines turned on and I could purchase two tickets. The Ticket said 9h, so perfect. Eventually my wife joined me and we went first to the Alcazaba. There. we had the luck to see the sunrise over Granada and the snow covered Sierra Nevada in the near vicinity. Finally, the tour for the Nazrid Palace and …

WHS#57

Deserts have always been a bit of a mystery for me. I'm from a wet tropical place, and I hate the heat, but desert landscapes have been quite enchanting to me lately. Ever since the experience of dune-buggying and sandboarding in Huacachina in Peru, the dunes have been calling me. But as cool as dunes are, by far the most enchanting desert landscape for me was Wadi Rum. Yes, more so than the canyons of Arizona, oases of the Atacama, or makhteshim of the Negev, the various formations of Wadi Rum have been the most memorable for me. The sandstone mountains just glow gold with a certain magic, drawing you to look closer and explore deeper into the desert. i visited in April 2018, taking a detour from Petra to Amman to enjoy a half-day jeep tour of Wadi Rum. Obviously, half a day is too short to explore this huge protected area, but it was a decent taste test, if you will. And from that taste test, I can easily conclude that this is one delicious dish of a site. From the visitor center, I could already see the huge sandstone mountains in the distance, but even their scale from there isn't enough to let you imagine what it's like to be among them. Wadi Rum is a labyrinth of the valleys formed between these mountains, and it's exploring these valleys that truly sets it apart from any other desert. Yes, the nearby Negev and Sinai, and …

I visited Mexico between February and April 2019. I visited most WH colonial towns around Mexico City and the capital itself was the fifth one.

From what I've read when preparing this visit, I was expecting Mexico City to be chaotic, loud, noisy and dirty. However, I exited the Metro near Alameda Central, only to find flowering jacarandas and ladies sweeping the street. In the end, Mexico City proved to be a fantastic world-class city, with good atmosphere. Excepting the Metro at the rush hour, it is not very chaotic, and it's definitely not dirty or too noisy.

Previous reviewers shared experiences similar to mine for the historical center. Most of its highlights are undoubtedly great! I particularly enjoyed the Cathedral with the Zocalo, el Palacio Nacional and el Secretaria de Educacion Publica with their murals by Diego Rivera, el Palacio de Bellas Artes, el Palacio Postal, la Casa de los Azulejos but I was more disappointed by Templo Mayor where few interesting remnants can be seen.

I will therefore review more Xochimilco, the second part of this WHS, mostly overlooked by other reviewers (excepting a review not really flattering by Solivagant). Actually, like he suggests, I decided that this kitsch mexican experience was not worth the long metro ride. Furthermore, I was visiting Xochimilco on a weekday afternoon when it would have been quiet, probably boring and expensive to rent a whole trajinera for myself. I therefore headed to el Parque Ecológico de Xochimilco. To get there, you need …

March 2017 - it was our 3rd Whs on the honeymoon trip. After we had spent the night in Ronda, a very pictueresque town north of Gibraltar, we drove past the Caminito del Rey. Unfortunately it was loaded with visitors, so we had to skip the hike. On very small roads, passing several herds of sheep, we finally reached El Torcal. And surprisingly, there was even a bit of snow when we arrived.

The visitor center has some information on the natural sight but also about the solar significance of the rocks. We took a nice hike between the interesting rock formations, and have to admit, that just the natural beauty of the side would be worse the inscription. Don't really understand why it is only a cultural side and not mixed. For our amusement, there were also some wild goats lingering about, and there are some viewpoints to look down to Antequera or the other side towards the sea.

We stayed overnight in a simple hotel in Antequera just opposited the Manga and Viera Dolmens, which we visited next morning. Similar experience like in Newgrange, Ireland. We continued our journey further East to Granada. For a few kilometeres you can glance at the Indian staring in the air from many perspectives. A bit East, visit Archidona, one of the Olive Groves.

What makes a great World Heritage Site? Is it a sense of wonder, of awe, of joy? Is it basking in the presence of history, or reveling in the grandeur of nature (and I do love nature!)? Is it the quiet spaces inviting reflection? The revelation of a new culture? The memories that linger through the years?

I ask these questions since this week I'm writing about my favorite World Heritage Site, the majestic Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, which has expanded from a single site inscribed for fossils to a total of seven national and provincial parks protecting some of the best nature the Americas have to offer. I visited the Canadian Rockies on a two week camping and backpacking trip in the summer of 2007, and it remains one of my favorite vacations. Here are some of the highlights I found from the three components of this World Heritage Site that I had time to see:

Banff National Park: The accessibility of this park means that it can get crowded, but the stunning blue waters of Peyto Lake and Moraine Lake contrasted with the abundant evergreens on the lower slopes of the Rockies make it easy to see why this park is popular. My favorite adventure was a strenuous but rewarding day hike off the beaten path from Paradise Valley, over the rocks and scree of Sentinel Pass, to the Valley of the Ten Peaks and down to Moraine Lake -- a hike free of crowds, if not entirely …

If you've read my review on the T-list site Coron, the stunningly pristine karst landscapes and seascapes, and abode of the native Tagbanwa in northern Palawan, you might've noticed that I recommended an inscription together with fellow T-list site El Nido without having gone there. Well, now I have! I just came from El Nido a few days ago (probably over a week ago by the time this is published), and it's been an epic adventure. And I think I confirmed the recommendation I made prior to the visit. The stunningly pristine karst landscapes and seascapes, and abode of the native Tagbanwa in northern Palawan, that is El Nido too. Even the name "El Nido" derives from the birds' nests used to make soup. This, too, is a cultural landscape of sorts, and while not a declared and protected ancestral land like Coron, still contains the heritage value of the native Tagbanwa, their birds' nest culture, and as Boj says, the addition of archaeological heritage in Dewil Valley. That's not all that's lacking in the nominations: they fail to cite and defend the OUV of the karst landscapes! Once again referring to sites I haven't been to yet (as of 2020), it seems to be generally believed that El Nido and Coron are of comparable value of places like Ha Long Bay or Guilin in terms of karst formations. And I'll personally testify both have been kept quite pristine, unlike many reports of Ha Long Bay that I've heard. Unlike …

I visited Mexico between February and April 2019. I visited most WH colonial towns around Mexico City and Querétaro was the fourth one.

Querétaro is the most underwhelming town among Mexican WH cities and the one I enjoyed the least. It felt quite like every Mexican town to me, and I couldn't see the OUV. Monuments and churches in the center were either closed or boring, excepting maybe el Templo de Santa Rosa de Viterbo who as an interesting baroque exterior. Jardin Zenea and Plaza de la Constitucion were pleasant public squares, but doesn't deserve a stop in town by themselves. Under reviews bellow describe well my thoughts about Querétaro.

Otherwise, the most remarkable site (and the reason why this city deserved two instead of one star) is the aqueduct. It is gigantic and impressive (not Padre Tembleque level, but better than Morelia). It is 1,28 km long and has 74 highs arches. The view is particularly great from the mirador near el Mausoleo de la Corregidora.

Querétaro is conveniently located between San Miguel and Mexico City. You can also get here from Guadalajara, Morelia, Guanajuato, and San Luis Potosi. Former TWHS of Bernal is an easy day trip from here.

Visited March 2019.

I guess i shouldn't have been so shocked given humanity's track record of inhumanity to others. 

Visiting these sites is interesting from a historical perspective but it is mind numbing from a human perspective. Expect to be appalled. 

The builders and occupants of these forts went to very great lengths to taunt and crush the spirits of the slaves: The hell of the dungeons, packed full with slaves, no light or air, an unbelievable stench, a floor thick with faeces, vomit and blood, while directly above the heavenly chapel and the commander's godly quarters.Very biblical connotations. 

You might think that conversion to christianity might have been the objective here but no: Heaven and god were literally and figuratively out of reach for these broken souls. 

The uncomfortable question arises: If slaves were valuable why treat them so badly? Surely as a slave trader its not good for business if your slaves die in such numbers before you can sell them? Distressingly, the supply of slaves from the surrounding fractious populace was inexhaustible: Africans profiting from the miseries of their own people.

And why build a fort at all and garrison it? Certainly not for fear of the population, but rather to protect themselves from each other. If there is no honour amongst thieves, think what that says about slave traders. The occupants of each castle eyeing the other suspiciously across the bay, on the lookout for any sign of weakness, opportunity …

I visited Mexico between February and April 2019. I visited most WH colonial towns around Mexico City and San Miguel was the third one.

Even though really few monuments are remarkable, I quite enjoyed San Miguel. The little cobblestone street with orange or pink houses are really charming and la Parroquia de San Miguel Arcangel is very beautiful. Other churches, especially around Plaza Civica, are interesting as well. However, this city is more enjoyable for its atmosphere. When I was there, pre-easter celebrations were happening with kids running around and crushing colorful eggs filled with confetti on each other! It was just good to sit there and smile with the happy crowd.

I also visited el Santuario de Atotonilco. Getting there by public bus is easy, but the schedule is highly unpredictable. The first day I tried to go there, I waited for the bus at the place and time I was told by the tourism office, but the bus never showed up. I tried again the next day after making sure I was right about where and when to wait for it. This time was fine as the bus came and was almost full. The same problems happened when I tried to come back from the sanctuary. I've been told two different times for the bus to leave, so I just waited there. It finally came and left on a third different time! At least, buses seem to go by every hour, so you shouldn't be waiting for long. …

I visited this tWHS as an easy stopover between Lima and the Nazca Lines in June 2019. Several boat trips take tourists on a 2 hour (sometimes bumpy) speedboat ride around the Ballestas islands and islets known as Guano islands. 

From my photo of one of the islets with quite a high hill, you can easily identify why these islands and islets are called Guano islands! Guano (bird poop) is a highly effective fertilizer due to its exceptionally high content of nitrogen, phosphate and potassium: key nutrients essential for plant growth in agriculture. Guano was also, to a lesser extent, sought for the production of gunpowder and other explosive materials.

If you keep your eyes peeled (on a clear day, far on the horizon) you will also be able to spot the tiny Chincha islands and islets. Peru began the export of guano in 1840. Spain, desiring the guano profits (quickly depleted by the 1870s), occupied these islands in April 1864, setting off the Chincha Islands War. It's quite interesting that the demand for guano spurred the human colonization of remote bird islands in many parts of the world, resulting in some of the first examples of US colonialism and the expansion of the British Empire.

For example in the United States, there even is a Guano Islands Act that enables citizens of the United States to take possession, in the name of the United States, of unclaimed islands containing guano deposits. The islands can be located …

I visited Mamshit and Avdat on my trip to Israel in November 2019. Unlike the Biblical Tels, the archaeological sites of the Nabatean towns offer enough of standing remains to help imagine what the places looked like at the height of their prosperity, and in that respect are more visually interesting. Large portions of the sites are still shapeless piles of rocks, but there are also high walls, defined interior spaces, and some structures that survived in reasonable shape. Where the arches survive, they are definitely among the most eye-catching details. And the temples are usually the places where you can find the best remaining decorative details, such as floor mosaics or columns.

Avdat, additionally, sits on top of a high hill overlooking the desert. You can clearly distinguish the actual line of the erstwhile Incense Route across the desert from Avdat terraces, and the wide views are nothing short of stunning. The remains of a wine press outside of southern gates is a fairly unique feature for an archaeological site, which are normally dominated by fortifications, palaces, temples, and bathhouses. The geographical position, the views, and the state of preservation at Avdat combined to make it one of my favorite ancient sites in Israel.

Mamshit is just over an hour away from Tel Aviv by car, while Avdat is another half an hour further south on one of the main routes towards Eilat and the Red Sea. I was one of just a handful of visitors at …