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It is really telling that the 5 reviews of the Coffee Cultural Landscape so far focused fully or at least partly on the boundaries of this WHS. It reminded me of a WH travelers group T-shirt suggestion (made by Samuel) that promoted the slogan “Are we in the core zone yet?”. Well, I will focus on the coffee production instead as the ‘tick’ should consist of having seen/experienced the OUV in addition to setting foot in a certain area.

What makes Colombian coffee farming (especially in and around the selected areas) different from others? Most farms are small-scale family operations using manual labour, shade-grown coffee is the traditional system and there is a strong community focus on coffee production in all aspects of life. I decided to look for these characteristics south of Salento, in an area called Palestina. Here there are a number of coffee farms that are open to visitors. The biggest (which even needs pre-booking) is El Ocaso, one of the most popular among English-speaking tourists is Don Elias, but I went for the more low-key El Recuerdo. I hiked there in just over an hour from Salento on a pleasant path, where the coffee plants that had been absent so far on my travels in this region became more and more prominent in the surrounding landscape.

El Recuerdo is a small, organic farm that applies polyculture. Besides coffee, they grow fruits and herbs for their own use. They adhere to the principles of the …

I organized my December 2019 trip to Sudan with ITC Sudan and stayed at their Nubian Rest Camp near the foot of Jebel Barkal and Meroe Camp overlooking the pyramid field. I stayed at Acropole Hotel in Khartoum at the beginning and end of my trip, and in between visited Jebel Barkal, a holy mountain surrounded by the ruins of two thirteenth century BCE temples and some of the most intact, yet lightly visited, pyramids in Sudan, erected between the third and first centuries BCE; Nuri in northern Sudan, a component of the Jebel Barkal WHS, where more than twenty ancient pyramids that served as a necropolis for Nubian kings and queens still stand near the Nile, and where visitors should be mindful of the presence of deadly, deathstalker scorpions (their real common name); Meroë, an ancient city along the eastern bank of the Nile and home to hundreds of Nubian pyramids; the Temple of Apedemak at Naqa, dating from the first century CE and one of the largest ruined sites in Sudan; and Musawarat es-Sufra, a large temple complex dating back to the third century BCE. My visit to Sudan was much easier than I expected, from procuring a visa (which only took a few days, far shorter than I had been led to believe), to travel (with empty roads and even emptier sites), to safety (I wandered by myself around Khartoum, the first African capital where no one offered to be my guide, told me they were from …

I will add nothing new with my review: This place is shiny and monumental, but it is only a sterile tourist trap. I did half a day trip to Haifa from Tel Aviv 3 years ago, and was very disappointed. Not only by the temple but also by the city of Haifa. Only positive thing I would like to stress was the magnificent view from the site towards the bay of Haifa, and a delicate atmosphere inside the shrine (at the entrance to the shrine, which si the most important place of this religion, a guide - handsome guy - told me the basic data about the religion and other useful information). Nevertheless, I would rather stay in Tel Aviv anyway. Only reason for me to visit Haifa again in the future would be the stay at the world-famous Technion Institute located furher uphill...

WHS#80

After a failed attempt to visit Antequera in early 2017, I finally succeeded in visiting a WHS inscribed less than a year before on my December 2019 trip to Kansai and Hiroshima. The kofungun at Mozu in Sakai are now the closest WHS to Osaka, and it's from there that I visited Nintoku-tenno-ryo. I used the Nankai Line to Mikunigaoka Station, which is basically at the tip of the great tomb, and walked the whole length of it to the front. Mozu Station is actually closer to the front, and you can access it on the JR Hanwa Line. On the way, I passed a few small circular mounds, including one that seemed to be accessible from the adjacent garage. Otherwise, the scenery was quite uniform throughout the walk, just a small canal-like moat on one side and modern houses on the other. The trees on the mounds look lovely in autumn colors, though. Upon reaching the front of the famous kofun, I was greeted with the view that everyone who comes to this little-known site gets. Crossing the bridge reveals another moat layer behind the first, and in the distance, a Torii gate seems to serve as the spiritual entrance to the tomb. While the mound is huge, probably even greater in volume than than the Pyramids of Giza, it sure doesn't have the same effect.

The mound looks like a forest, and that's mostly what it is. It's not significantly taller than its surroundings, and …

Site visited January 2016. Armenian monastery of St. Amenaprkich or ’Vank Cathedral’ is the latest architectural sight of Isfahan added to the tentative list and yet again an Armenian heritage on Iranian UNESCO list.

The special position of Armenians in Iran is an interesting fact, especially if one think about the Armenians’ relationship to the other two mainly Islamic neighbours. That kind of religious tolerance in a society like Iran is very surprising. But there are some historical reasons for this. In 1606, during Ottoman-Safavid War, Shah Abbas I transported 150 000 Armenians from original Julfa (nowadays in the northern border of Iran) to the outskirts of Isfahan, and named the village ’New Julfa’. Shah Abbas appreciated Armenian merchants, craftsmen and artists, and ensured that their religious freedom was respected. He hoped that the Armenian merchants would benefit the country with their silk trading skills. The construction of Vank Cathedral began soon after the New Julfa has been established.

Although it is today a lot smaller, New Julfa is still one of the largest and oldest Armenian quarters in the World. There are about 5000 Armenian residents, 16 Armenian churches and an Armenian graveyard in New Julfa. Comparing to the rest of Isfahan, the New Julfa district is like a different world. The atmosphere is more liberal and relaxed. Therefore the district is popular among young people. Vank Cathedral is a centrepiece of New Julfa district and Armenian culture in Isfahan. Armenians have also had bigger influences in …

WHS#81

Pilgrimage seems to be a widespread phenomenon around the world. I've been to enough pilgrimage destinations in Europe and the Levant to get the feel of it. It can be crazy how far pilgrims back in the day would go to see these holy sites, but look at us travelers now. My personal favorite until recently was probably Lourdes in France, mostly for the unique bathing experience it offers and the overall holy atmosphere of the site, even in comparison to sites in the Holy Land. Until I visited the Kii Mountains, that is. I visited Koyasan in December 2019, and it had snowed hard the night before, resulting in one of the most surreal sights I have ever seen. Coming from the Philippines, I will never turn down a chance to play in snow, and its presence on the roofs and yards of temples made this pilgrimage town so much more beautiful. I made use of the Koyasan World Heritage Pass for this day trip, though it's valid for 2 days. It can be purchased in Tengachaya Station, which was a few minutes from my accommodation and therefore, quite convenient. In other cases, it can also be bought in Shin-Imamiya and Namba closer to the city center of Osaka, as well as in Hashimoto for a lower price. It's definitely convenient and recommendable. Anyway, it generally takes 1.5-2 hours to get to the Koyasan station where you can take a bus to your destinations. 

First stop …

I think Ouro Preto might be sort of an unknown destination for foreign travellers, but among brazilians it's a popular city. It's the model of a historic town in Brazil, declared very early as a national monument, in the 1930's, even before the creation of IPHAN, the institute responsible for the preservation of brazilian cultural heritage. It was one of the first preserved heritages in the country, so Ouro Preto has a long background of actions of preservation and restoration, and it isn't a surprise that it was the first WHS of Brazil. The city is also very related to two figures every brazilian study in history books of elementary school: Tiradentes, the national hero of the failed independence mutiny (the day of his death is a national holiday), and Aleijadinho, the baroque sculptor whose works are an important reason of inscription of the nearby WHS Sanctuary of Bom Jesus do Congonhas.

I spent three very rainy days in December 2019 there. The streets are steep, some very steep, so not the best weather to walk around the city and its stone paved ways. Because of its hilly location the city doesn't have an orthogonal layout, usual in colonial towns, or even close to it. The map of the city looks like a mess, what makes it fun to explore. The main sights are well signposted, so I didn't get lost. Some buildings have small signs on the facades explaining a bit of the attraction, what is rare in …

Antwerp is very interesting city that I had opportunity to visit and enjoy several times. But I dare to say that the proposed TWHS - city center within the walls from 1250 - is not the most appealing feature of Antwerp - one can see something simillar even in other parts of Belgium and Netherlands. Furthermore, it has already 3 gorgeous WHS, and I think it will stay that way!

However, I must admit that Grote Markt and the interior of the cathedral have wow-effect to me every visit (even at night - PHOTO). The main reason for my visit to Antwerp is usualy ...fashion. It is unbelieveble that there is so long list of fashion designers conected somehow to Antwerp, and I really love the view from Mode Museum towards Modepaleis Dries van Noten and the huge cathedral tower. Other ineteresting places: Berchem district with Art Nouveau villas, the area around Sint Carolus Borromeuskerk, Sint-Annatunnel, the main railway station, etc... and relaxed lively atmosphere all around.

It proved to be quite hard to reach Tierradentro by public transport. On my first approach I was stranded at about km50 on the notorious road #26 between Popayan and Tierradentro: overnight a landslide had occurred and the road was fully blocked to any motorized transport. On foot, it would have been possible, but the prospect of venturing on alone on the other side was not so tempting as the options that lay ahead seemed to be:

• being kidnapped by some last remaining FARC guerillas (this road was the only place in Colombia where I saw pro-FARC graffiti),
• being attacked by a spectacled bear (the road also sports yellow signs "be aware of bears" and "be aware of pumas"), or,
• being assaulted by drunk men (it was New Year’s Day and we had met them consistently unsteady on their feet on the streets in every town along the route).

I succeeded a few days later after having first visited San Agustín: I took a shared taxi from San Agustin to Pitalito, a minibus from Pitalito to Garzon, another minibus from Garzon to La Plata and hopped on the back of a moto-taxi for the final gruelling 38km to Tierradentro. It took 6 hours in total, not too bad considering the logistics.

I stayed overnight in Tierradentro, a hamlet that has formed itself around the entrance of the Archaeological Park. The village of San Andres de Pisimbala lies 2.5 km away. Both have very …

I visited two of the three inscribed tels on my tour around Israel in November of 2019. The biggest and the most popular of them is Megiddo, in the Lower Galilee. It had been settled from Neolithic times through the Bronze and Iron Ages until about 3rd century BC. Excavations in the 20th century unearthed over twenty layers of cities successively built on this site. Beyond the gates to the site, the rest of it is low wall outlines and occasional stand-alone features. A casual visitor is unlikely to be able to find enough visuals to appreciate anything more than the vague yet obvious notion that this place is really really old. There are a dozen and a half designated points of interest on the walking circuit; having them explicitly named and dated by different eras, in my opinion, is somewhat disorienting - I recognize the attempt to cover more than a single stratum of history but it clashes with the notion that many different layers were built here, when one is emphasized.

Viewpoints above the Jezreel Valley are among the highlights. At the end of the walking circuit, you can descend into the underground water capture system built during the Israelite period around 8th century BC. The tunnel guided water from a spring outside of the city boundaries to a well inside the city walls, thus offering the residents access to fresh water without having to venture beyond the walls. It is probably the most remarkable surviving artifact …

What a disappointing experience. Coiba NP had potential but it is such a letdown to come here experiencing the park. The place gets glowing reviews though so what's up with that?

It's mainly from backpackers (i found mainly were German or Swedish) who just want to chill in dorms, cheap accomodations, snorkel for a day, have beers at the pool and maybe surf. Hey, that's all cool with me but that would be reviewing Santa Catalina and not Coiba. With the road now tarred and wifi reaching the village (there is even a pharmacy!) it is understandably a nice laid back place to vacation.

To get to the park itself you need to sign up for either snorkeling or scuba diving. I had prepaid 2 days diving. What follows is a rough and uncomfortable 70min long ride to the first group of islands. Those….suck. Definitely nothing spectacular to see at them. Sure they talk about the occasional whaleshark and manta sightings but the fishes are so sparse and there is no coral that it is almost like on a highway through the desert to spot vultures. You get to stop at one of these islands for surface interval and lunch and hope for some birds and mammals but nada.

Ok, what went wrong? You don't want to do daytrips. You want to do a multi day trip into the park to avoid the commute, plus you can stay inside the park and venture further to see bigger …

Known as the town where the English burned Jeanne d'Arc, Rouen has kept a medieval feel to this day. On my stop over when travelling from Le Havre to Paris, I saw plenty of timber framed houses lining the city center. Interestingly, the historic center reminded me more of medieval cities in the UK than in France. 

The highlight of the visit is the Cathedral. It's just a stunning structure, even taking into account the inflationary amount of great medieval cathedrals in Northern France. St Maclou is a bit smaller, but also a very nice church. Taking together, I spend a nice, but rushed afternoon in Rouen.

OUV

Initially, I was rather reluctant. The cathedrals of Northern France are already well represented on the list. But the medieval charm of the city together with the two stellar churches (A & B) won me over. And even if it's never inscribed, you should consider a short stop when travelling between Le Havre and Paris.

Getting There

Rouen is on the train line between Paris and Le Havre. From the train station it's a 15min walk to the city center. Train schedules are infrequent and not really helpful. You will arrive at Gare St Lazarein Paris.

When heading back to Paris by train, you pass within a few hundred meters max of Le Corbusier Villa Savoye. However, the train from Rouen has no stop in Poissy, so a visit is more complicated than it could be. 

I love this WHS and take it as a world-class.

Both churches are so pristine and I would say timeless - look at the perfect assembly of columns in the transept of St Michael (PHOTO)!, but this is sometimes misinterpreted that they are sterile. Another frequent issue concernig this site is its authenticity, I would comment it that I do not see it as an obstacle, because the most of medieval churches and ancient temples as we know them now are just current interpretation of the original state.

I visited both churches two-times in 2008 and 2009, thus it was before extensive restoration of Mariendom (cathedral) in 2014. So, I would like to visit the site again as soon as possible.

St Michael: I like the dispostion, the assembly of columns, the combination of columns and pillars in the main nave, the use of white and red in the entire interior, and extraordinary wooden ceiling. The church is a culmination what has been started by a bit older St Cyriakus church in Gernrode (close to Quedlinburg).

Cathedral: the disposition and shape of this church is not such perfect as St Michael, but it contains world-class masterpieces such as Bernward doors and column, Hezilo and Azelin chandeliers, and baptismal font. And do not miss the thousand-year rose...

Other worth-visiting places in Hildesheim: reconstructed old market square with Knochenhaueramtshaus, and romanesque St Godehard church, which is more "authentic" than WHS-churches (it means with 19th-century colorful decoration) and …

This will be a short review, more of an update maybe because there are already many reviews but nothing since 2014. The Sierra Gorda biosphere alone is worth visiting so the churches are maybe more of a bonus. The windy roads don't make for a fun ride if you have to deal with trucks slowing down the traffic to 20km/h and little chances to overtake most of the way. Mexican drivers can be very patient and stick behind the truck for a loooong time.

They look in good condition nowadays, almost as if they're new. I visited two of the churches on a Sunday, Jalpan was super busy and the church closed for celebrations. Landa was deserted and open. One can spend time inside but there honestly isn't much to see but for the ceiling decorations so I didn't miss much at the first church? The facades are what make the churches unique. So I stare at them for a while to see what's on display before moving on. Beautiful.

In preparation of my Colombia trip I thought I had stumbled upon an interesting TWHS location to write about. Of the 3 Salt Towns that form a combined entry on the Tentative List, Zipaquirá is by far the most touristy one. Nemocón however is a bit more off-the-beaten track and has more authentic salt history on show. I knew from his itinerary that Solivagant aimed for Zipaquirá, so I thought I had found a different (and maybe better!) angle. Upon his return though we exchanged e-mails and it became clear that he had gone to Nemocón as well instead of Zipaquirá. To make things worse, he even wrote the kind of review which makes you wonder whether you’d want to go there at all.

I contemplated for a moment to aim for Tausa, the third town that is part of this Cultural Landscape of Salt Towns TWHS. But that would require an even longer trip by public bus from Bogota. So on an early Sunday morning I was off to Nemocón as well. There are hourly buses by the Transalianza company that will take you there from Bogota’s main bus station (Terminal Salitre, Modulo Rojo). Door-to-door it took me 3 hours each way.

Nemocón turned out to be a cozy place, geared to tourism on a modest scale. You can also get there by tourist train from Bogotá. Salt was extracted in this region already before the arrival of the Spaniards. It was done by boiling brackish groundwater …

I still do not understand why this castle became WHS, but I am not expert on renaissance castles... Maybe I am slightly biased, but I perefer Italian originals. Well, the exterior is interesting (described already by other travellers), but during the guided tour I could not see anything exceptional inside the castle.

However, the town of Litomyšl is very pleasant and relaxed, and it is always refreshing after travelling from busy Prague. The cultural spirit of Litomyšl is expressed by testimony of the composer Friedrich (Bedřich) Smetana (annual music festival Smetanova Litomyšl) and also by exceptional artist Josef Váchal (1884-1969) - the unique museum of Váchal, so called Portmoneum, is very close to the castle.

San Agustín isn’t as hard to reach as Tierradentro, but the 135km between Popayan and San Agustin still took the public bus that I was on 5 hours. About 3.5 of them were spent on an unpaved road right across Puracé National Park, which at least offered great views in return. The bus will drop you at the turn-off to San Agustín, from where it is 8km or so into town and another 3 to the Archaeological Park. This add-on was nicely taken care of by the bus company (Cootranshuila), as they paid for my ‘taxi’ into San Agustín (on the back of a motorbike).

As the site closes at 4 p.m. and it was already 1, I continued straight on to the park. At the ticket office, they were kind enough to store my backpack behind the counter, so I did not have to haul it around the extensive grounds. A minor complaint though is that they have succumbed to the practice of ‘foreigner pricing’. I can understand it in certain circumstances, but there are a lot of middle-class Colombians and the price difference between 35,000 what they have to pay and 50,000 pesos for foreigners isn’t that much (charge all 40,000 and you will get the same revenue, as the domestic tourists by far outnumber those from abroad). But in the end, I was happy to pay the equivalent of 12,50 EUR for a truly unique site on a global scale and two days’ worth of entrance …

The entire Spiš region belonged to my favorite destinations some 10-20 years ago and I travelled there many times. It is stuffed by large number of authentic medieval and ranaissance monuments and also natural wonders, and this combination was very attractive to me. Furthermore, the area was a bit wilder than my homeland Czechia and one could spot begging kids in the most of touristy places. Also many historical houses were abandoned and old monuments in a desolate state. I hope that it has changed already, and I would like to re-visit this once very rich and later a bit underdeveloped area in the near future. Spiš is very interesting example of region that was very rich in the past because of German migrants in middle ages, but after turbulencies of 20th century it went into a region of many contrasts.

Levoča town was one of the biggest and best preserved medieval urban structure in former Czechoslovakia. It has almost complete fortification and very large town square in the middle (some 4.4 ha), thus, it can embrace the second biggest church in Slovakia, large renaissance town hall and other buildings. The parish church of St James is quite mediocre from outside but in side there are fine ensamble of wooden late gothic altars - the main one is the tallest wooden altar in the world. Other interesting buildings in Levoča are several hundreds of historical town houses and church of Minor Friars close to the town walls.

During …

A bit off trek but on the way from the Franciscan Missions towards El Tajin, and totally worth it. It is also really popular. I took more pictures here than ANY other place in Mexico but it also took effort to have nobody in the frame, especially with Mexican kids splashing in the water. If you want to get close to the El Waterfall you either take off your shoes, prepare to get wet or buy booties in the shops before you enter the gardens.

If you try to imagine this is an ancient ruin with unknown origin and you would think it's a mysterious place ranking among the Mayan ruins. Alas it is not. Somehow inspired by Dalí and you can imagine what it is like. Art overgrown by jungle. In another example, have you been to Siem Reap and how the "Tomb Raider" temple gets a lot of attention and is very photogenic? So then you should understand that every corner he is just asking for a picture.

Edward James created a very unique place and I believe this should be part of the world heritage. I think it also reaches beyond what you see here as the park is apparently 80 acres with a sign stopping you to explore the rest of the garden because there is no security. The park is in the forest and wild animals could probably mame you (leopards?).

Is the park actually complete to the artist's intention? I didn't …

I visited this cultural landscape during a car trip to Hungarian town Sopron some 10 years ago, and we did a loop around the lake visiting thus both Austrian and Hungarian part. Further, I could observe the lake from a plane during a flight from Italy to Prague/Vienna, I do not remember.... Even though all cultural landscapes are a bit problematic to understand, I do think that this landscape deserves the WHS status.

The lake is fascinating and beautiful "from above", but from the ground it is quite difficult to enjoy and recognize its qualities. From Austrian side, one can spot the lake from Burgenland hills covered by wineyards, but if you go closer you enter the total plane with the lake surrounded by dense reeds. There was a corridor from the village of Illmitz directly to the lake, and I could enjoy a swimming in this shallow lake with milky water. I was not alone there, since the lake is very popular for locals to enjoy water sports. On the Austrian side, we further enjoyed the old village Rust, but one can find simmilar sites in almost every corner of Austria (Wachau etc.). What I liked the most was the salt marches ans stepe-like lanscape (PHOTO - nearby Illmitz). On the Hungarian side, the lake is almost inaccessible. From the inscribed sites, we could see the Szechenyi castle from outside, but I was not very impressed because it looked like ordinary baroque chatteau.

The combination of the …