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I visited Wuyi Shan in Feb. 2017 on a weekend I had spare, being in Fujian Province on business at the time and this being one of the reachable UNESCO sites from where I was based.

The two main activities are floating along the river on a raft (accompanied by what I assume was some sort of running commentary, tea and music) as well as rambling across the mountainous terrain which features many tea plantations - some of which were purportedly slated for imperial use due to their specific geographic location and thus I assume climate / sun / shade / soil / overall quality.

There is also a temple and a cave which you will come across, with all the major sights being serviced by regular shuttle-buses. A one-day tour ticket was Y150 at the time.

I'm not sure I'd go out of my way to travel here if I weren't already nearby for other reasons, but it did give me a chance to stretch my legs and get some fresh air away from industrial cities and I did want to share a few photos given that there have yet to be any published.

AW

05 Mar. 2018

Ayvalık is a nice seaside town at the Aegean coast. It is easy to place this onto an itinerary when you visit the Aegean area as you are very likely to drive past it. I didn't have much time to spend in town but it mainly looked like shops for olive products at the marina. It's the nearby olive forest I was mainly interested in. There are also olive oil boutiques nearby the main road for your convenience. According to what I read this olive oil is rated as #3 in the world after Tuscany and Greece. I certainly made sure to buy some supply for my mediocre cooking at home. (Is there a limit for liquids in a checked baggage?)

There are several olive oil industries trying to inscribe themselves on the WH list. Andalusia, Spain will try soon and be either the first to be inscribed or first to be rejected, setting a standard for the rest perhaps. I personally recommend this as the Intangible 'Mediterranean Diet' and leave it at that, but the vineyards around the world have managed to get inscribed as part of the culture aspect as well.

I found it hard to understand this place. The olive-oil factories seem new and modern, the traditional houses a little normal, the town is neat and the nearby forest has indeed gave them a continued production livelihood based on olive oil, but is that enough? The document also speaks of corals and migratory birds as …

Visited February 2019.

I have visited only one component of this inscription – Chapada dos Veaderiros National Park which is situated few hours by bus Brasilia. The visitors’ centre is located in the village called Sao Jorge where you can find an accommodation but in my opinion better place to stay is Alto Paraiso de Goias – to get there take a bus from Interstate Bus Station in Brasilia, there are 3 buses a day and the journey takes 3 hours and a half (depending on traffic while leaving the capital). At the moment I was in Alto Paraiso there was no public transportation to Sao Jorge, but 30 km distance to the entrance of the park can be covered by taxi (tourist information centre in Alto Paraiso can help to arrange) or you can hitch-hike (yes, it worked!). There’s no entry fee to the park itself and no guides are compulsory anymore unless you choose two day trail with sleeping in the park – this option must be arrange at least a day before you want to start. Other trails (waterfalls trail and canyons trail) can be done in one day if you start at 8 in the morning, when they open the park. You should remember that after 1 pm the tourists are not let in. The waterfall trail will lead you to two waterfalls – this trail is more popular but in my opinion the second one, canyons trail, is more interesting because you have a …

Visited in February 2019.

Like many members, I am often bewildered when trying to determine exactly what I am supposed to see when visiting a Cultural Landscape site. Colombia's recently-inscribed Coffee Cultural Landscape is a perfect example of that.

As I prepared my recent visit, there was a map available on the UNESCO page for this site that, in theory, gives the location of the core- and buffer-zones of this site. However, the map is close to impossible to read easily, seemingly being created from whatever public-domain map its creators could find. Text labels for cities and towns are sometimes in the wrong place, and the roadways, and other landmarks, are also not very clear. Nevertheless, after staring at this map for a long time, I was able to determine that I would pass through two sections of the core zone on my recent cycling trip, namely the town of Anserma (presumably all of the city center is not included, but the area just beyond that is), where I spent one night, and the roadway connecting the towns of Viterbo and Apia. 

There is certainly coffee being grown in these areas, though maybe not as much as you might expect. There is also a lot of sugarcane and bananas, though the latter are often used as a shade crop for coffee. I did not notice any sort of buildings or other infrastructures involved in the processing of coffee in these two areas.

The only informational items …

Rosetta (now called Rachid) is an hour mini-bus journey from the outskirts of Alexandria (getting into the bay area takes another 20min taxi for sure). It is mainly famous for the discovery of the Rosetta stone in 1799 which unlocked the understanding of ancient Egyptian by having one text in three different languages on the same stone (the others are Demotic script and Ancient Greek). It is now in the British Museum in London and unlikely to return to Egypt within this epoch. I would think most people see it in London. Instead, the Rosetta museum has a duplicate without mentioning it is one, some information about the discovery and a big bust of Pierre-François Bouchard. The rest of the museum is an old house but not as impressive as the newly restored ones a stone's throw away. If you thought coming to Rosetta/Rachid was for the stone then let me tell you that it is the least interesting part of the attractions on offer.

As I arrived the staff were concerned for my safety and found me a police escort to the old Ottoman houses. I wouldn't have found it myself anyway as it is not easy in all the small alleys, besides I don't even know the names of what I visited (I found the name Abu Shakhim online so that might be it, and the staff hinted that other houses are still under renovation). Part of it was a mill and the other a beautiful wooden …

I visited the "Wooden Pagoda of Yingxian County" on a day trip to Yungang Grottoes starting from Datong. I know this seems like the opposite side of town but the morning is spent visiting the Hanging Temple in the south and then you only reach the northern grottoes in the afternoon. According to my photo timestamps we stopped here at 2pm. The tour guide told us we would normally only see this on a two-day trip but I am not so sure this is really true - yet some people changed bus so this seems to be some kind of meeting points for the tour organizers to exchange tourists going to different places. The name of the tower says "釋迦塔" but after some quick check the Wikipedia entry calls it the "The Sakyamuni Pagoda of Fogong Temple". It claims to be the oldest wooden pagoda built in 1056. I strongly doubt all the inside parts of the pagoda are that old but the outer wooden section surely could. The inner statues are not that special but apparently they contained a few very important artifacts - not entirely related to listing the pagoda as WS though. I think this masterpiece of craftsmanship would do well on the WH list. If somebody can built a tower that lasted 1,000 years and MAINLY had to be repaired due to Japanese bullet fires I have to respect that. I haven't visited the hall in Yixian yet.

I didn't know this was the same …

Visit in February 2019.

As I understand it, the current iteration of this nomination consists of two National Parks, Parque Nacional Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, and Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona, each containing an interesting archeological site. The parks are close to each other, and to the city of Santa Marta, which serves as the gateway to the site. Tayrona Park is the smaller of the two, and is located on the Caribbean coast, while the larger Sierra Nevada Park is slightly inland and its mountainous terrain creates a more humid biome compared to the surrounding area, which is semi-arid. The latter park is also noted for its high peaks, which are often snow-covered, and the paramo habitat that exists at higher elevations, though these features are not readily visible from the areas accessible to visitors.

Both parks, as well as some of the surrounding areas, are still home to the four indigenous groups that make up the Tayrona Culture. It was their ancestors who originally created the settlements that are now the archaeological sites included in the nomination. The smaller of the two sites is Pueblito, in Tayrona Park and it is reachable independently as a day trip involving a hike of a few kilometers at most. The larger, more interesting, site, Ciudad Perdida –the Lost City– is deeper inside Sierra Nevada Park, and can only be reached by a 4-5 day round-trip walk organized by a local tour company. It should be …

Congonhas as a city is boring and dirty but the basilica, the statues and cedarwood carvings are amongst the most beautiful I have seen. I visited as a (partial) day trip from Belo Horizonte; a great hub to tick off 4 or 5 WHS. A visit doesn’t take long, maybe 3-4 hours including the two museums. Do check opening times! In 2018 the basilica was still under reconstruction so visiting inside wasn’t possible. I was allowed for a peak in side, but it was full of equipment for restoring.

The cedarwood carvings representing the stations of the cross are truly magnificent. I really enjoyed them. lots of details and nice colors although a bit dusty. The 12 prophets made from soapstone are also very detailed. Museums were closed unfortunately but the rosaria I could have a look around although not inside.

A WHS I highly recommend visiting. Not because it’s huge but because it’s unique.

Shudao are epic roads built during the Shu state (now roughly Sichuan and part of Shaanxi provinces). Because both areas are very mountainous the roads were built along cliff-sides. If you have been to a mountain in China you may have come across these crazy boardwalks that go along a cliff-side called 'gallery road' - well basically these are the same idea but not just for tourist spots. It is hard to image that before these were the only ways to transport goods because it is very dangerous. I would love to see them inscribed immediately for only one big problem: most of them are now destroyed and rebuilt for tourism only. If there is enough authenticity then I would be happy though.

I saw the Shudao when visiting Jianmenguan, an important battleground during the Chinese civil war. I actually came for the mountain and now for the road and didn't know it was on any tentative list (or what the tentative list is at the time). The site is easily visited from the nearby town of Guangyuan. A bus goes there regularly and the city has a big bus hub as well as an airport.

There is a massive sign pointing you towards the now unfortunately rebuilt road before you enter the park. I went for the park instead but it also has some of the Shudao inside anyway. I took both cable cars up because it was so hot, then you still have to climb up …

Among the industrial-age technological monuments, Brooklyn Bridge has few equals in terms of innovation and impact. When built, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world, and it employed techniques and materials that influenced bridge construction ever since.

If it is ever inscribed on the WH list, Brooklyn Bridge for me will occupy a fairly unequalled position of a hometown site that I have visited uncounted times. My college alma mater is located at the foot of the bridge in the Lower Manhattan. In the decades of living in or around New York City, I have walked or driven by the bridge thousands of times, driven over it hundreds of times, and walked across it at least a dozen times.

Walking across Brooklyn Bridge is obviously the best way to get acquainted with it. If you walk towards Manhattan, you are also looking at the incredible New York City skyline beyond its stone towers. The landings at the towers offer informative plaques on the history of the bridge construction and use.

You can also enjoy gazing at the bridge from either side of the river, Brooklyn Bridge Park or South Street Seaport Pier 17.

In 2014, we were traveling to Africa and ended up with a 12-hour layover at Heathrow. We took the opportunity to leave the airport and see the city, including Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. We’d flown through Heathrow many times but this was a chance to explore the city.

Laura was most interested in seeing the Westminster Abbey. For an Anglophile, it really doesn’t get better than this. Westminster Abbey is the historic venue for royal coronations, royal weddings, and royal burials. When it comes to royalty, it’s all about Westminster Abbey. And yes, it’s a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But the real reason for her interest is that it is the burial place for Edward III. She’d taken one of those genetic ancestry tests and discovered she was descended from King Edward III. I didn’t break the news to her that something like 80% of the British population alive today can also claim the great Edward III as an ancestor.

When we visited, the Abbey was absolutely mobbed with people undeterred by the rather hefty admission fee (£22+). We’d recommend it if you’re in central London. It’s one of those places to see once in your lifetime, but you probably wouldn’t ever go back unless you’re a die-hard Anglophile.

I visited this region of Iraq in the Fall of 2008. An opportunity arose for myself and some companions to visit the site of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. I had seen pictures and read about the Ziggurat of Ur since I was a boy so I jumped at the chance. The greatest surprise was how extensive the ruins of the rest of the city are. We parked in the lot at the base of the Ziggurat and climbed up the steps to the top. From there the ruins reached out covering a vast area of the desert. Upon climbing down, we walked towards the rest of the ruins to explore but were stopped at the voice of a man calling to us from a distance. He approached and told us that the rest of the ruins were off-limits. We let him know that we meant no harm and were fascinated by the history of this ancient place. It was then that he introduced himself as Dhaif and explained that he was the caretaker of Ur. He said that his grandfather had been foreman of the workers during the archaeological excavations in 1922 and stayed on the site to take care of it after the British left. His father took over in the 1960's and he took over care of the place in the 1990's. He then offered to give us a tour of the entire place so, of course, we accepted. Over the next hour and a half …

Susa (Shush) isn't exactly the hottest place to stay overnight even if the guest house was just across from the museum and the restaurant around the corner made delicious food. It was getting late so the timing to visit the museum and archeological site was perfect. Surprisingly the place was open on a Friday with her Castle within not open and not on my list to visit anyhow. The staff were also super friendly, trying to sell me some books etc of course, the postcard collection for all WHS in Iran is interesting and some excellent shots but I don't collect these things and we all know they will miss some sites as early as 2019.

The entrance is a little higher than usual because you get the museum at the same time. The museum was quite poor, containing items from other sites unrelated to the archeological site and even total rubbish like antique pistols. The main attraction is the large bull head at the entrance that once posed on a large pillar or something. You get to see a couple more broken pieces in the field. So making my way over there I quickly realized there isn't going to be much to see but low wall outlines where a large palace used to stand. The Apadana Castle must have been grand at one point but now it overgrown with weeds. The path extends far to a lookout where some locals were picnicking even before sunset. You get a …

The last week of february it feeled like spring in The Netherlands. That was for me a good opportunity to visit Hoge Kempen National Parc. For me it was “only” 2.5 hours driving from home. There are 6 locations to enter the parc. I choose for Mechelse Heide and Connecterra. At 10.30 AM I arrived at the little parking Mechelse Heide, I thought I am the only one there, but the opposite was true, the parking was almost full. A lot of people where hiking and cycling in the surroundings. I decided to hike with my parents the most simple trail, the blue route. After the pleasant hike I drove 6 km north to the site Connecterra where the visitor center is from the Hoge Kempen. Very close to the entrance of Connecterra there is a huge shopping place (Maasmechelen Village). Els wrote about it in the the review below. I came also not for shopping, but with a parking place of more then 1600 parkings, it was no problem to park my car at noon. And there are public and clean toilets in de shopping street. I walked in 5 minuts to the entrance of the new visitor center Connecterra. I paid the fee of 3 euro. You can get (buy) hike maps or books and pay the fee and thats it. There is also a terrace. I expected more inside the building. For example a very little exhibition about the history and background of the parc. But I …

While touring Greece in the summer of 2018, I stopped by a number of its World Heritage sites, and had a chance to see theaters at Delos, Acropolis (called Dionysos Theater), and Delphi. Wherever a theater is part of an ancient site, it is always among the most grandiose monuments to the skill and mastery of the builders of the day. The one at Delos has been pretty much leveled by the two thousand years of neglect - the shape remains, but it is significantly ruined. Dionysos Theater is better preserved. So is the theater at Delphi, the smallest of the three that I've seen.

For all of the recognition that I am happy to grant to the master builders, I am ambivalent about this serial site standing on its own for future inscription. I don't think that theaters work as monuments of ancient civilizations outside of the context of the larger archaeological sites that they belong to. As part of the complex, a theater complements the rich picture of urban life along with other structures. You practically cannot ascribe any value to it without considering its relationship to the surrounding city, its proximity to the places of worship, places of commerce, living quarters of rich and poor. On their own, these theaters are basically relatively impressive feats of architecture that may or may not have survived the test of time all that well; the connection between them is no bigger than the fact that every city of note …

Izamal means place of the Itza. According to Mayan mythology Votan sent his son Itzamna to bring civilization. On his death a pyramid and temple were built over his grave and he was worshiped as Itzamatul. It was after Chichen Itza, the greatest ceremonial center in Yucatan. Fray Diego de Landa arrived in the 16C and ordered the destruction of the pyramid and the construction of the Franciscan convent of San Antonio de Padua over the leveled remains the pyramid, as was typically done throughout Central and South America by the Spanish. The convent was built between 1549 and 1562. The enclosed atrium is the second largest after Saint Peters in the Vatican. The pyramid that was torn down must have rivaled the one in Uxma.

Izamal is the called the yellow city 'ciudad amarilla' as every building is painted yellow. It's a very pretty town and makes for a wonderful day trip from Merida by public bus. It is a local bus and so you must go to a different bus station than the one for the ADO busses. We had no problems. One can ask for directions at the hotel you are staying at.

We like to stay a week in one location and take day trips. Merida is fantastic for that. There are plenty of good hotels and restaurants. On Sunday the historical area is pedestrian only and there are vendors and musicians in the zocalo. In addition to Izamal one can get an excursion …

One of the disadvantages of almost having ‘finished’ Italy - I have 2 out of the 54 WHS left to visit - is that I am missing the regular weekend trips out there to enjoy the historic cities and their art. So although Padua’s Scrovegni Chapel is only up for nomination in 2020, last week I fitted in an easy weekend trip to this self-proclaimed ‘Capital of the 14th century fresco painting’. It even already has a nomination website and an epic title: Padova Urbs Picta (Latin for “painted city”).

I had been to Padua once before, in 2007. Then already I had a booking for the Scrovegni Chapel, but I ran out of time that day and only ‘did’ the WHS Orto Botanico. Now I had some 24 hours to spend in the city and I stayed overnight. Padua is not the most immediately likeable city: it has some prominent examples of fascist architecture, the railway station area is rather scruffy and it takes a long walk from there to get to the historic center – a center that is split into several piazza’s with not much of interest in between.

On my first afternoon I visited 4 out of the 9 proposed locations. I was staying near the Prato del Valle square, from where the Basilica del Santo is the closest location. This is a huge pilgrimage attraction – its interior holds the spectacular tomb of St. Anthony - but I did not manage to find …

I was told when visiting Lake Baikal that to dip your hand or foot into the lake would add five years to your life, to step in with both feet would add ten years, and to fully swim would add 25 years. I may have been young and callow, but I wasn't rash enough to actually swim in those frigid waters; I limited myself to walking in up to my knees, and even then I thought I might actually have lost years from my life rather than adding them on! Lake Baikal has a great history, from a legend explaining how the lake and the Angara River flowing from it were formed, to more modern tales of the struggles to complete a rail line around the lake. I visited Lake Baikal during a cross-country trip on the Trans-Siberian railroad, and enjoyed both a picnic lunch with Russian shashlik (shish-kebabs) on the southwestern shore of the lake and a boat ride on the lake. The early May weather was warm, and the clear water looked deceptively refreshing; the lake's depth kept it cold, however. In fact, as we noted the next day on the train journey, ice was still present on Baikal's surface further north. The lake was as beautiful as I had imagined, and I highly recommend a visit for anyone who finds themselves traveling across Russia. I also recommend a visit to the town of Listvyanka, which offers a museum explaining the natural history of the lake as well …

Overall I am not happy with the selection of South African WHS, and Robben Island ranks amongst the worst. It is worse than visiting Alcatraz by miles so if you enjoyed there then you don't miss anything here. For some reason it is one of the most popular attraction Cape Town has to offer as if everyone is obligated to see it, with a whole bunch of your groups from all ages. It may just be on my day but aside from one school tour the tourists were 97% European Whites so I guess they dig that place. No Chinese groups, one single guest from Nigeria, and I wouldn't go as far as calling the other guests “Eurotrash” but it seems their idea of Africa is Cape Town alone and it was very fitting with the crowd that hangs around the waterfront and shops at the mall and sits in the overpriced restaurants rather than see the rest of the country.

Anyhow so the tour starts with a long line to get into the boat. A hefty price tag (380 Rand or something) gives you a nice seat on a catamaran and we were also lucky to see humpback whales on the way. The ride was roughly 40min with a safety video, ads, a coffee shop onboard and nice views of the bay. Upon arrival you get shuffled into a bus that takes another 45min, 15 of which are another rest stop with a small shop, a view of …

I visited Mada'in Saleh in December 2018 as part of a trip to Saudi Arabia for the inaugural Formula E race hosted in Riyadh. I took a day trip up to Al Oula where our group got permission to visit Mada'in Saleh. (Mada'in Saleh is currently closed indefinitely for improvements, however, I didn't think the site was actually in that bad of shape. The roads and signs did need some upkeep, but the current conditions were more than passable for visitors. I've seen much worse at other sites around the world).

We had the entire facility to ourselves. There wasn't a single other visitor or staff member on the property that I could see. The site is most similar to Petra, as it was built by the same people during the same time period. However, the site is much more spread out than Petra is. You can see most everything at Petra with a good day of walking. To get between the sites at Mada'in Saleh, you really need a car. 

The biggest difference between the two sites is that Petra was an actual city, whereas Mada'in Saleh is more akin to a graveyard. Almost all of the structures were built as tombs. The area around Mada'in Saleh is very similar to what you will see in Wadi Rum in Jordan. Southern Jordan and Northern Saudi Arabia can sort of be considered a single geologic region. The Bedouin of Northern Saudi Arabia are similar to the Bedouin in …