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For one day of our Palau vacation, we decided to rent a car and have a self-made circle-island tour of Babeldaob, the largest island of Palau. Armed with our Cultural, Natural and Historical Sites of Palau pocket guide and map we set off. We noticed the Imeong Traditional Village on our map and thought it sounded interesting. We drove through where we thought it should be from the map, but didn't notice anything other than a very small modern settlement. Turning around and coming back, we finally noticed a wooden sign saying "Imeiuns Ancient Village" and "Emeraech (North Star) Stone Path." We walked up a gently sloping 4 meter wide stone path/staircase made of black basalt stones. At the top was a similar long basalt paved path, that just sort of dwindled out, leaving you to see the drying laundry of a couple local houses. Maybe some other stones. That's pretty much what we found. I don't think there was much else there, certainly no other signs or anything indicating what or where. But at least we found it (with a slightly variant spelling). Part of the description for this site includes the natural landscape of the area, and it is interesting to see the jungle-covered mountains. That area isn't really set up for casual hiking though. 

The description mentions various Japanese WWII artifacts in the area. I'm not sure if it was included, but on the way to the Imeong Village, we also saw a sign pointing to …

I had already visited Padua several times and I had visited the Scrovegni Chapel some 13 years ago but at the time photography wasn't allowed, so I didn't mind revisiting to take some photos of Padua's WHS and TWHS.

Moreover, I had seen an advert of the late opening hours of the Scrovegni Chapel plus the possibility of staying inside it double the amount of time which is usually allowed. It's no secret that even as a standalone site, the Scrovegni Chapel deserves inscription as a WHS. Conservation efforts have been more or less continuous over the past fifty years. To start with, the entire chapel had suffered from the nearby bombing during World War II. The facade was dangerously out of trim and had to be realigned. Next came the repairs to the old framework of the beamed ceiling, then the devising of a new system for draining off rainwater from the area beneath the chapel. After this came the decision to close off the adjacent Via Giotto to traffic, followed by the replacing of several tie-beams in the nave while the frescoes underwent highly specific inspection and maintenance.

During the 70s, the newly formed interdisciplinary Commission announced that atmospheric pollution constituted a major threat to the frescoes, so monitoring began, using the most up-to-date technology. Results clearly showed that improving the environment had to take priority over restoration. Meanwhile, steps were being taken to verify the static condition of the building, to protect it from seepage …

I believe you need to dive (or at least snorkel) the barrier reef to really appreciate the OUV of this site. That was my first dive in the southern seas (what a way to start, I know), so it does not allow me to compare with any other reef system. I chose to visit on a 3-dive trip to Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye from Caye Caulker. I went with Belize Diving Services. They are highly professional and put a lot of emphasis on security.

The boat ride from Caye Caulker is quite long (2-3 hours) and sea can be rough. The first stop was the Blue Hole. I wasn't experienced and certified enough to do the 40 meters dive to see stalactites (other divers even saw sharks), so I did a 20 meters dive along the hole wall, alone with my dive master. It was still a nice dive. We didn't saw a lot of marine life (fishes here and there, moray eel, spiny lobster), but the colour of the water and the impressive underwater wall steal the show. The dark blue water of the Hole is highly contrasting with the light turquoise of the shallow waters around.

The second stop was Half Moon Caye. This dive was the most amazing one of the day. It goes to a shallower depth but this site is much richer in marine life, including big stuff. We saw Caribbean reef sharks, spotted eagle-rays, a loggerhead sea turtle, barracudas, angelfishes, parrotfishes, triggerfishes …

Everglades National Park as a day trip from the Orlando area

This was my fourth trip to Florida, each time I have solely been focus on family activities around the theme parks of Orlando, in 2019 I finally found time to have a solo day trip from Kissimmee down to the Everglades WHS.

Start off with a bonus point, by travelling down from the tourist hotspot around Disney World you are actually travelling the length of the whole Everglades Ecosystem, the waters around Kissimmee eventually feed down into the Everglades proper. As you drive down you will notice the landscape is very flat, and it is the very minor changes in altitude that give this whole ecosystem its unique character. By doing the long drive down you get to experience all of that in a day trip.

From Orlando the quickest access will be via the Gulf Coast visitor centre in Everglades City which means the main focus will be on the Ten Thousand Islands. This is an important part of the National Park, however it is different to the traditional “Rivers of Grass” that people associate with the Everglades. 

The easiest way to enter the national park proper, is to drive onto Chokoloskee island (there isn’t an entrance fee charged to enter the park here). From the rather charming historic Smallwood Store I was able to go on a boat tour, which enabled me to see plenty of birds, a pod of dolphins …

Mostar left probably the most vivid impression for me from the entire July 2019 trip to Dubrovnik and Split WHS hotspots. I have had so far very limited exposure on my travels to places where mosques and minarets are the most eye-catching features, let alone when they are mixed with very recognizable European architectural elements. Mostar is inscribed on the World Heritage list specifically as a great example of a multicultural town where proverbially the East meets the West; despite the crowds and the inescapable tourist-trap feel of the area around the Old Bridge, the high banks of the Neretva river in the center of town are visually just stunning.

The Old Bridge itself is the defining iconic spot in Mostar, although it is obvious by looking at it that the present version is a recent reconstruction. Every half an hour or so, a jumper plunges off it into the river some 25 meters below. I failed to discern the point of this performance, given that no donations to the jumper are seemingly ever being collected, but the crowds on the bridge get the thickest in the last few minutes before a jump. Five minutes later is the best time to find oneself on the bridge.

Mosque of Koski Mehmed Pasha was another highlight of the visit. It is in reality a single space with some lovely decorative elements. The female visitors are required to cover their shoulders, heads and knees, but if you pay an entrance fee …

I used a different mean of transportation than Solivagant to visit Tequila, but my experience there was quite similar. As my interest in Tequila was rather weak and my time a little limited, I chose to visit on a half-day tour from Guadalajara. Many tour operators are based in Guadalajara centro and I thought it would allow viewing more of this vast landscape while being less time-consuming.

The tour I took included the visit of a distillery and then some free time in the town of Tequila. Like Solivagant, I think the history and the process of making Tequila is interesting, but I saw very few interesting stuff in the distillery. The visit was mostly aimed at learning how to taste the different kinds of Tequila. We then had way too much free time in the distillery to sample food at the restaurant and buy things. I used this time to walk around a bit and enjoy the agave landscape and the cellars where Tequila is aged. The agave landscape is the most impressive thing this site has to offer in my opinion. Wherever you look, fields are covered with this blue plant. The landscape with the volcano in the background is thus quite good-looking.

The town of Tequila itself is rather uninteresting. It looks like most Mexican towns with a nice zocalo and a church. I believe going more to the countryside might be more interesting for someone looking for a genuine Tequila experience. Tequila deserve to be a …

So we had planned to visit the less-visited Store Dyrehaven, but it turned out to be quite a detour from our route, and it was raining, and we got stuck in a traffic jam on the motorway around Copenhagen, and in the end it just seemed easier to visit Jægersborg Dyrehave instead.

I wasn't very enthusiastic about visiting this site anyway, especially having read the reviews already posted here, so had hoped that by visiting Jægersborg we could at least enjoy the park and a walk.

We parked in the large parking area at Tvendehus, north of Taarbaek, and walked into the park. Leaflets showing all the paths and cycleways through the park were available just after the gates. Online I had found a map which highlighted the original paths from the time the park was laid out so was able to construct a walking route to take in these paths. In hindsight, taking the bikes would have been a better option, as the park is quite large. It was a grey, murky day, which threatened rain for the whole time we were there. I think that this spoiled my impression of what is undoubtedly an impressive park. However I found it a bit plain and featureless, again I think that cycling around would have helped with this.

So we had a nice walk, chatted about our plans for visiting northern Germany, where we are heading next, and saw four different breeds of deer, which were lovely.

This site was one I had never heard of before investigating the UNESCO sites of Israel, but it turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. I guess it really isn't featured in package tours because it doesn't have a strong religious connection, so in that way it is a lot less visited. But for our independent tour, it was an easy drive from Tel Aviv.

There are three main types of caves here: the more residential caves of Maresha, the Sidonian tombs, and the bell caves which are former chalk quarries. As a bonus, right across the road you get a Roman amphitheater, crusader ruins, and more.

We started our exploration with the caves of Maresha. The park entrance gives you a nice guide to follow for your walking tour of the place. The highlight of the first part of the tour is the columbarium -- a surprisingly large complex of a grid of aisles with thousands of niches for raising pigeons. Continuing along the trail, you encounter caves devoted to ancient olive presses and a bathtub cave. You can also walk to the top of Tel Maresha, the mound over the biblical city of Maresha. We did this, but it isn't that exciting. Near the end of our trail is another really enjoyable complex of caves, which were mostly cisterns under the ancient villas. Today, they are interconnected below ground so you can explore up and down various stone staircases and along different …

I will again briefly mention that Guyana is currently not very safe to visit. There isn't a war but plenty of criminals. In the area around a rather beautiful building you may get your phone or purse stolen so show no wealth as you walk around the blocks. "Welcome to City Hall" sounds inviting but the gates are locked. One gate in the back was open (I surely didn't enter the alley at the east side!) yet it felt wrong to just waltz inside to take closeup pictures. I also don't think it's really necessary. The building is falling apart, it doesn't look safe to visit inside, and I think the best part is visible from the road. Nice tower, an info pane (other buildings have that too), cute spiral staircase and totally "haunted house" written all over. Joke aside, I actually think this HAS some value and with an unwritten rule of "every country ought to have a WHS" this combined with the cathedral and maybe the nearby courthouse, others I probably missed or thought as too run down to be worthy, would make a good collection. I also find that it may not be up to par of Paramaribo but similar enough to let it squeeze past. Anyhow, lots of restoration work and proper protection is needed before all collapse.

I really enjoyed my visit to Stevns Klint today, on what was one of the only dry days we have had during our visit to Denmark. However......it seems a bit like whoever is in charge of managing this site has lost interest in it. The car-park and restaurant are well maintained, presumably because they make an income, but the rest of the site seems lost.

Clearly though Denmark is enthusiastic about the site as it is signed extremely well from every possible approach, and from many miles away. But then on arrival there is very little mention of the UNESCO listing, nor information relating to the actual reason for the listing in the first place.

In earlier reviews, there is mention of the small museum. This has now been closed, permanently it seems. Instead, there is a small caravan, yes really, which has a small amount of detail relating to the geological layers found at the site. Sadly this is very brief, does not highlight the location of the all important fish clay layer, and is all in Danish. The App which is mentioned by a few reviewers has now been dis-continued pending the release of a better one, but no time-frame for this is given. Also, on the website there is a suggestion that a new Visitor Centre is being built, but I have visited a number of locations along the coast today and saw no evidence of this. 

So I was pleased that I had …

Despite my friend’s week long architectural tour was mainly focus on Southern Bavaria, certain addition, as demanded by a fussy World Heritage enthusiast, were located in Baden Württemberg, the three UNESCO listed churches on Reichenau Island. To reach the island we crossed Lake Constance twice, a ferry from Meerburg to Konstanz and another bridge to Reichenau. The island was lovely with many vegetable gardens and very well maintained bicycle lanes, Reichenau is well known destination for cyclists.

After had fine sandwiches for lunch from the popular shop opposite St. Georg Church, one of the three listed churches on the island, as other reviewers mentioned we also took a tour to see the medieval paintings of the church. The wall paintings were really nice, but I really enjoyed the wooden ceiling with medieval motif and overall Romanesque style of the whole church building. After that we drove to Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. Despite its exterior of Romanesque, its interior surprisingly baroque with plain white wall with some cute baroque motif and fresco. The basilica was very well restored and looked really new, only the wall painting behind the altar that gave us a clue that this place was medieval structure. Then we went to the last of three UNESCO churches, Abbey Church of St Mary and Mark, also the biggest one on the island. The complex was a mix of Romanesque and Gothic. Its medieval wall paintings were located in Gothic part in order to …

We arrived in Zanzibar late at night. Exhausted, I set the alarm, assuming that – unlike on the savannah – there would be no dawn chorus. Incorrect. It just would not be provided by the wildlife. The call to prayer woke me, a lone muezzin beseeching the faithful, his melodic words hanging in the air. After a minute his colleagues joined in, Allahu akbar emanating from every direction, their different intonations and rhythms smearing into and over each other like fresh paint between two panes of glass. Stone Town woke. Engines revved, horns parped and children shouted. Animated discussions echoed up from the narrow street. A radio emitted a blare of exotic music. In the distance a cock crowed. Stepping from the air-conditioned room out onto the balcony was like entering a steam room. Stone Town lay revealed below me. It was not in any way a picture postcard view. A sea of rusty brown corrugated iron roofs stretched away in both directions. Jumbles of rubbish could be glimpsed through gaping windows. Cracked plasterwork rotted in the humidity. Yet beneath the seaport grime the charm of old Zanzibar was very apparent as every aspect revealed crenelated rooftops, arched windows, faded wooden shutters and carved arabesques.

There is maybe not a huge amount to ‘do’ in Stone Town. It is not Venice. In fact the historic core is probably smaller than that of Valletta. You head out, you enjoy the tropical atmosphere and you try to avoid the papasi – …

During our architectural tour in Southern Bavaria, my friends and I had seen many abbeys, chapels and churches, “too many” according to my friends’ mourned, and this World Heritage Site was the 8th church in just three days of this trip! Honestly, I was not a trip planner, but proposedly insisted to include Wieskirche on this already full of Baroque and Rococo buildings. Such kind of trip may result in a better understanding on its outstanding value of this UNESCO listed place or a terribly and negatively bored to see similar architectural style. Fortunately, despite seeing many similar styles, Wieskirche is really special and able to distinguish itself as a real gem of Bavarian churches. 

There are two factors that really made Wieskirche a must see of Bavaria, its picturesque alpine meadow location and its impressive interior. Few similar churches in this region could compete with the one at Wies for its location especially during late spring when the alpine grass was amazingly green and dotted with pretty yellow flowers. There was a service when we arrived, so we had to wait more than one hour, nevertheless we happily spent all that time in the beautiful landscape behind the church by leisurely hiking with lovely German Alps as grand background. When the church reopened, the experience of seeing many Baroque and Rococo churches in two days before did a trick to us. While the exterior was quite simple and plain, the interior of Wieskirche, in our opinion, compared to …

It seems kind of strange that the first World Heritage Site in Wales should be a symbol of subjugation by the English, but that's what the Castles and Town Walls of King Edward I in Gwynedd, a former principality in northwest Wales, represent. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to three of the four inscribed castles over two days in the spring of 2005, so I suppose I should thank the Welsh for their independent nature which led King Edward I to construct these fortresses. From my base in Betws-y-Coed, I first made my way to Conwy, where a 13th century castle sits above the wall-enclosed town. The views of the countryside and town from the walls were spectacular, and I enjoyed exploring the castle. Beaumaris, on the nearby island of Anglesey, was slightly less impressive, though I did appreciate its symmetry. My last stop was to Caernarfon, where the outgoing tide left a row of boats stranded in the harbor below the town's imposing fortress. This castle is perhaps best known for serving as the site for the investiture of the Prince of Wales, and it may once again receive the spotlight when the ceremony is next held. I've seen many European castles since this trip, which has perhaps influenced my recollections, but even if these aren't the most spectacular castles I have ever seen, I found these to be well worth a visit.

Logistics: Some of the castles of northwest Wales are accessible by various means of public …

The white-necked raven eyed us beadily. It was not an attractive bird. Its feathers were scruffy and its heavy beak was all too obviously designed for scavenging on carcasses. All the same, I was glad to see it. We were in northern Tanzania, one of the most famous wildlife destinations in the world. But that raven, I realised, was the first sign of life we had seen in hours.

Firstly, hats off to those reviewers below who have summited Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s a great undertaking and I hope to follow in your footsteps one day. We debated whether trying to fit in the full ascent on our trip to Tanzania. We could have done – but it would have involved sacrificing other aspects of our itinerary. And, as our travel agent pointed out to us, “This is supposed to be a honeymoon, not an endurance test!” (The endurance test comes once the honeymoon is over I guess…)

So, like Els, we settled for a day hike on Kilimanjaro. From what I can gather, many of the trail heads are located outside Kilimanjaro National Park itself. The World Heritage Site occupies exactly the same dimensions as the National Park and both start ‘at the tree line’. So if you are still trolling through forest, you are not yet in the National Park / World Heritage Site (I think). And that’s a shame, because it’s the forests that hold much of the wildlife. All of the overnight huts are located …

Wow, Guyana, didn't do my research until a day before flying and it's super unsafe, as in, don't go, really don't go, not the kind of US fear of everything "Tunisia is Arabic thus it's not a safe country" but for realsies. So basically if you stay in the town center you risk getting mugged, ironically just near Robb Street. So with daylight robberies in that area and the evening full of drunks and prostitutes I made my visit very very brief (also saved me $17 departure tax for being staying less than 48h). I even rented a car because I wouldn't trust taxis alone especially going back, with the hotel quoting me something ridiculous high, plus I wanted to have the option to get to Fort Island (Zeeland) which got washed out from the heavy rainfall.

So the cathedral, right smack in the middle of a roundabout, is in dire need of repairs and already got some fancy upgrades like a wheelchair ramp. Inside they are still fixing up the southern side. After seeing many cathedrals around the world this place is puny, but for a cathedral in Guyana it is special. Definitely not special enough to be world heritage although a combined "Georgetown classical buildings" may just have a chance - just wait for the ICOMOS experts to get their scribble notebooks stolen while inspecting the town! It's grand inside, mainly wood and simply colored windows (pink...hehe). I'm not entirely sure about the opening times but a …

The historic center of Trogir sits on a tiny island – roughly 500 meters long and 250 meters wide – which can be fairly closely explored in the matter of a couple of hours. The town is visually appealing and picturesque but for me falls short in the Wow! department.

The main points of interest are the cluster of buildings around the main public square; the Riva waterfront with Kamerlengo fort at one end; and a number of churches and palaces. Somewhat strangely for my usual expectations, all churches in the center (except the cathedral) appeared not open to visitors in midday in early July; I did not have any plans to see palaces' interiors (and never researched if that is even possible). So, my visit largely consisted of walking around and admiring exteriors. That is not easy to accomplish in many instances, since the limited space of the island means the inner streets are all very narrow and wide perspectives are possible only on the edges of town and the aforementioned main public square, which is technically two squares, Radovanov Trg and Trg Ivana Pavla II.

Saint Lawrence Cathedral opens up on both of those. Climbing its tower is fairly worthwhile, but the most outstanding feature of the church might be its main portal, which can be seen without paying an entrance fee. The ticket covers the tower, the baptistery and the cathedral interior; as with any main church in a historic town it is not without …

I visited Lake Elementaita in March 2019 as this is the easiest lake to get to without paying high entrance fees and/or hiring a 4WD. I tried to go to Lake Nakuru as well with the National Park bus tour as well but after waiting for two hours in the bus at Nakuru bus station, only 10 passengers turned up which was not considered enough to run the bus.

Lake Elementaita I could visit by just getting off a matatu from Nakuru and then I walked down from the main road. I entered through a hotel gate and the friendly guard let me through, asking for a small fee if I happened to come back via the same path.

The alkaline gives a pretty reflection of the sun in the water, especially in late afternoon. Alongside the shore, the mineral deposits look interesting, with cracks running along it. I walked along the shore for perhaps five kilometers and encountered a few shepherds with their sheep, who were very kind and curious. I saw just a few flamingos in the lake in the distance, maribu storks are more abundant.

When the sun started setting, I walked back to the main road to wait for a matatu back to Nakuru which materialized within minutes. 

I visited this WHS in July 2019 on a whim to keep Italy complete. As such it will always have a special place in my memories as I was listening to its inscription on the WH list in my car, literally while reaching Valdobbiadene. Having visited what in my opinion are Italy's best vineyard WHS, famed for its red wines, we didn't mind heading to Valdobbiadene-Conegliano after Cannelli/Asti to taste more of Italy's sparkling white wines.

The valley between Valdobbiadene and Conegliano is covered with vineyards and dotted with small villages (not comparable to the ones in Piedmont). I used a local winegrower's B&B near Valdobbiadene as my base for 3 days where I learnt that the best category of Valdobbiadene-Conegliano prosecco comes from the Cartizze area, at the foot of the Cesen mountain (1570m - nice panoramic view for sunset). The Cartizze area has an ideal microclimate which gives the best expression to the Glera grapes and hence the special organoleptic characteristics of prosecco's 'Grand Cru'. This is mainly thanks to its sun exposition, its ventilation, its soil and its temperature variation. The Cartizze valley hills rise from 200 metres to 350 metres above sea level. The steep hills are facing south, meaning that virtually every vine is always exposed to sunlight and is never affected by the shadow of the vines in front, giving the grapes the opportunity to mature evenly and with a higher sugar content than in any other prosecco production area. Moreover, there's a …

Although my uncle is living in Hamburg and I had been several times, I only visited the Speicherstadt and nearby Kontorhouse distric in July 2019 and March 2016.

It is quite interesting that the whole district has been closed for public a few decades ago and a big fence went around it. As Hamburg in no Freihafen anylonger, this beautiful distric can be enjoyed by everyone and recently the marvelous Elbphilarmony was added.

There is quite a lot of tourist things to do: Hamburg Dungen, The miniature railway museum, coffee roastery etc. etc. or you just stroll arond like we did both times. The district lack authenticity, since a lot of stuff was rebuild or put in between. However, the Chilehouse makes the WHS that remarkable. It is probably the best expressionst architecture I have seen so far, at least in Europe. Nice, nice!