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On my first day in Chile I decided to tick off all TWHS in the town center while at the same time getting a grip on my jet lag. The La Moneda Palace and the San Francisco Church and Covent are both 1-2 blocks apart in downtown Santiago de Chile and can be combined into a leisurely visit of the city.

The Spanish had several mints in South America. The most famous one was the one in Potosi. Most dated from the 16th century. In 1750 a mint opened in Santiago. Eventually a new mint was constructed: the La Moneda Palace. After Chilean Independence it continued to serve its function as mint (1814-1829) and eventually was turned into the seat of the president (1845). It is to this day the seat of the president.

OUV

Every once in a while a nomination text can make you giggle:

[D]eemed by some specialists the best and most harmonious civilian building of the Colonial America.

Some "specialists" without a reference... Good to know. The Palace may be a symbol of national pride and history, but it does not belong on the list.

While You Are There

Well, if I was to do my Chile trip all over again, I would cut Santiago short and head from the airport to Valparaiso on the cost. Santiago is popular with backpackers but there is very little to do and see.

Originally I had planned (and paid …

Lake Malawi was on my safari tour so I visited this without gunning for a WHS “tick” before I started travelling more frequently. The lodges at the shore are nice but shockingly poor villages surround the luxury. After arriving I asked about scuba diving and we arranged it for the next day. The same evening I went out on a lovely modern catamaran to see the rockfish. This is one of the main criteria of the OUV and I have to say that is worth it alone (I hate the outstanding beauty criteria). The your leta you feed them which is a bit controversial, with the guide grabbing them in his palm and letting you try the same...okay anyway you must do the sunset trip. The next day I went diving with a lovely instructor form the US who is basically doing charity. That means diving is cheap and especially the courses as most of the fees go to PADI. I would definitely do a course here if you want to save a lot of money. As for the two dives, the main attraction are the catfish drawing circles into the seabed. If you are lucky you see one performing the dance else you will most definitely find the rings as well as the catfish itself. Towards the end of the dive we cleaned up fishing nets which are a big problem here. That and from what I read there are oil reserves below the lake.

Definitely worth the …

Note: Archidona is not longer part of the nomination.

Our excursion to the Rupestrian Art of Bessarabia was not the first post meetup trip Philipp and I undertook. One year prior after our meetup in Gibraltar I joined him and his brother on a trip to Antequerra. And having done my map homework I convinced both to do a quick stop in Archidona. They were heading to Ubeda and it was on the route anyhow.

Archidona is one of the 15 locations proposed in the nomination. As is often the case with sites prior inscription we weren't quite sure where precisely the location was. We settled on the monastery on the top of the city mountain (Ermita virgen de gracia). And indeed just behind the monastery on the other side of the mountain we found an Olive Grove.

OUV

The monastery was nice. The views, too. And I like olives. I am not sure this is enough. But maybe olive groves are the next vineyards, who knows?

Getting There

There are buses connecting Archidona with Antequerra and Malaga. Having ticked off Antequerra in the morning, I just continued onwards to Malaga. You should also be able to go via Loja to Granada.

While You Are There

Archidona is a pleasant site with a nice Andalusian old town. I hiked down from the monastery through the olive groves and had lunch in town while I waited for the bus back …

Coming in from Yucatan where I had already seen plenty of Maya ruins, I was wondering what more Palenque would have to offer. Some more pyramids I figured. I had heard or read little on the site and had a hard time fathoming what would be unique about it.

But Palenque is strikingly different from the Yucatan ruins. It's probably the setting with the ruins embedded in jungle and hills. I felt really reminded of Indiana Jones.

Getting There

Palenque is relatively hard to get to. The next major town is Villahermosa (2,5h by bus), a town not generally on the average tourist's itinerary. The main tourist stops nearby would be San Cristobal de Las Casas and Campeche. Albeit "nearby" is not really appropriate for 5h resp. 8h trips. Luckily, the site is well worth the effort (5* rating from me).

In my case I came from Calakmul. After lunch I got on a bus in Xpujil to Escarcega and from there on another bus to Emiliano Zapato. In Emiliano Zapato I jumped on a Colectivo to Palenque arriving at night. I think it took me 10h or so to make the trip, but it all worked out and the plan had plenty of buffer. Still, working with the limited online information available I was a bit worried if I would make it.

After having visited the site I left in the afternoon for Villahermosa from where I continued to Tlacotalpan (bus to …

A lot has been said in the below review that I can't really add much. The site is remote, even with he nearby forests/parks probably WHS soon, as well the “on paper” great wall of Gorgan to visit.

I found a parking lot right at the site which acts as a fairground in summer. It also taught me that parking on the side of the road you need to be careful of the large gaps between road and side that act as...drainage? It was rainy but nothing compared to the snowy road from the south that had many people grabbing their snow chains quickly. So I made made it to the tower and looks pretty impressive but woah there is so little to see. I find myself reviewing bad sites more often but I suppose there are so many reviews for the “good” places. I am actually dishing out more stars than what is worth but I like towers.

Indeed you get a leaflet about the site, walk up the ramp and read a couple of panels. Inside, I was so excited, is absolutely nothing! Well, air, and darkness, and a ceiling somewhere up there. If not for that I would probably be ok taking a picture from just outside the entrance like everyone else! So I spend a few more minutes walking around the tower, read the labs again, took more pictures and goodbye tower. I think I spent more time writing the review.

As I …

Of the Canadian fossil sites I have visited, I enjoyed Dinosaur Provincial Park the most. A great part of this is due to the size of the fossils on display in the on-site museum, to include tyrannosaurs, hadrosaurs, and ankylosaurs, all unearthed in the surrounding fluvial landscape. I spent an August day with dinosaurs last summer, starting off in the museum, and then exploring the nature trails in the surrounding badlands to see exhibits detailing former archaeological sites. I love the Badlands of South Dakota, and it was impressive to see a similar landscape inscribed as a World Heritage Site, even if primarily for the fossils found there (and I still find the US Badlands as separately unique for their own prairie and Native American heritage). Returning to the visitor center, I took part in a program to create plaster casts of fossils, which was enormously entertaining, and provided some unique gifts to pass on to my nephews and nieces. I wish I had had time to visit the excellent fossils at the Royal Tyrrell Musem of Paleontology a couple of hours away in Drumheller, but with time running short, I had to continue on with my travels to Lethbridge, Alberta, where I closed out my dinosaur day with a viewing of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It only seemed fitting.

Logistics: Dinosaur Provincial Park is about three hours east of Calgary, Alberta, and is best reached by private transportation.

What does it take for a railway to become heritage? Is it the history, the track building, the engineering, the trains? Italy/Switzerland is the best and arguably the most loved place to enjoy engineering master class with the Bernina Express and Austria has a similar line. The Indian train tracks I wasn't equally impressed with but again they feature the tracks. For Iran I will assume, the famous architecture they mention in the documents is about specific bits here and there that combine into the Trans-Iran railway.

So what does it take to view the “site”? Tehran Railway Station is surely not the place to admire it. I picked a few spots on the way but I wasn't convinced with the inscription attempt. A bridge up in the mountain is impressive, sure, but not unique, and adding many bits together still doesn't make it an attraction.

I didn't ride on the tracks, maybe that helps, but I think it wouldn't give me a better view. Given that I would need to figure out how to ride it, where to ride it to, not knowing which places are the best, and invest at least a day to ride it back and forth made me decide against it, at least not before the exact spots have been defined for an inscription.

Mosaics of Ravenna are the world-class WHS, and everything important about inscribed monuments has been already covered by other reviewers. Thus, I decided to describe other important but un-inscribed sites in Ravenna. I believe that it is helpful to understand the importance of Ravenna in context. Not to be misunderstood, the list of the inscribed sites is complete in my opinion, and important but un-inscribed monuments were heavily altered in midle ages and modern times, thus they have lost some of their qualities (mostly mosaics...)

It happened to me during my visit in May 2018: We walked with my friends from the parking lot (for free on Sunday) close to railway station towards Piazza del Popolo. We passed by an antient church, and my friend told: Nice church, let`s go inside! As a WHS enthusiast, I refused this idea, because that church is NOT inscribed and probably contains NO mosaics inside running towards S Vitale... Now, after spending a couple of days in Ravenna, I am better informed and know that that church was S Giovanni Evangelista founded by Galla Placidia... PHOTO

(i) S Giovanni Evangelista is one of the oldes churches in Ravenna founded by Galla Placidia close to the port. It partly retains classical shape of Ravenna`s basilica: 3 naves with classical columns, apsida and atrium. Nowadays shape is the result of after-war reconstructions due to the bombing because of a fatal location close to the railway station. The original apsida was round inside and polygonal …

The towns of Mantua (Mantova in Italian) and Sabbioneta are paired into a single World Heritage site on the basis of representing two different facets of Renaissance city planning: the former an example of an existing city rebuilt and renewed, the latter a completely new town built according to the prevailing concepts of the ideal town of the time.

You can certainly see Renaissance influence in the architecture and un-medieval wideness of some of the streets around Mantua’s center. The most interesting architecture in town is concentrated around its historic core, focused on Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Sordello. The latter, wide and spacious, is home to the Mantua Cathedral, the Ducal Palace, and a host of other impressive buildings. The time I allocated for seeing the town allowed me to visit the cathedral (ok, but not surpassingly remarkable) and the palace, which offers a couple of dozen of increasingly impressive spaces, sparsely furnished but boasting magnificent ceilings and wall frescoes and decorations. There is a number of visually arresting mansions and churches on nearby streets and squares.

Sabbioneta has a small grid-like core of streets that forms the basis for its inclusion on the UNESCO list. I did not find anything exceptional there and left underwhelmed and disappointed. On a Saturday afternoon, not helped at all by the intermittent rain, the town looked nearly deserted and far from festive or even remarkable. I probably should have spent more time in Mantua instead. The key features of …

Part of my Russian experience was to ride a night train once. I did some digging and found that Pskov was a good destination on my way from Moscow to St. Petersburg as it also allowed me to visit Novgorod along the way. Admittedly, the experience was rather boring: All the Russians on board of the train wanted to sleep and I ended up drinking the beers I brought on my own.

In any case, I made it to Pskov and found a pretty Kreml (or Krom as they call it in Pskov). The weather was gorgeous and I had a nice time visiting and wandering around the city.

Not to be missed is the Mirozhsky Monastery on the other side of the river. The 12th-century artwork by a Greek/Byzantine artist in the chapel is astonishing and survived the Mongols. To me, these together with those in Suzdal were the best wall paintings I have seen in Russia.

[Updated July 2019] I had to update this yet again. The Unesco site today (08 July) shows all locations including Krom / Kreml. Apparently, Icomos recommended to exclude the Krom and focus on the surrounding churches and monasteries. This was approved by the committee. Let's see what happens.

The Mirozhsky Monastery is included. And I think I stumbled into plenty of the other locations spread across the city. So tick done. Still, I don't understand Icomos here at all. Why not simply inscribe a core zone than 10 …

I wonder if one day all Middle Eastern countries, or even going further East, will have a caravanserai listed. The ones Turkey is trying to list are not one of their many generic ones but special ones call sultanhan and follow a standard building plan, including a standard service the caravan pit stops should have. Nowadays you can't see that, but the building of the Akhan (<10min away from Hierapolis and very close to Laodikeia) still reminds you of what could have been a “deluxe” service area in ancient times. That's where the pleasure stops. Akhan ia now a hotel/restaurant so visiting requires to be a guest (although walking in regardless is possible I thought it would be rude). You can see inside from the gate. There is a small sign with info in Turkish and I think most of it was about restoration rather than historical info. The building looks too good to be original, just like the caravanserai in Iran I didn't like so much. I did not travel further East to see any other examples but probably still have the chance one day so my opinion could surely change that they are more than regular caravanserai.

The Czech part of this nomination is sometimes called as the West Bohemian Spa Triangel. It consists of Karlovy Vary, Marianske Lazne and Frantiskovy Lazne. This part of Czechia was inhabited by German minority before WWII, thus, the spas are also known by their German names: Karlsbad, Marienbad and Franzensbad. Nowadays, Karlovy Vary is however very popular for Russian minority.

The Triangel as well as spa Luhacovice in the eastern part of Czechia (Moravia) have been included to T-list as separate sites for quite a long time. Luhacovice was deferred in 2008 and eventually "sacrificed" on the altar of trans-European nomination called Great Spas of Europe. The West Bohemian Spas emanate an international ethos for centuries. They certainly have the OUV, and they should have been already incribed. They are generaly appreciated as the symbol of spa culture by everyone in Czechia as well as abroad. Thus, I do not understand why the Czech nomination needs the help of western friends to be incribed... It reminds me one comment from the forum that by application of this approach the entire Europe minus Dresden will be inscribed soon as the trans-natinal cultural landscape of a global importance...

Luhacovice spa is also special but it is built in national style and it has mostly national connotations such as the influence of composer Leos Janacek.

The West Bohemia Spa Triangel is famous for natural springs (tasting higly recommended + liqueur Becherovka + delicious spa wafers), colonnades in Art Nouveau and …

Probably the most hidden cultural site, tucked behind the new massive Mary church and no sign to indicate it is there. Google map has it as “Old Mary Church” and whereas the site has the correct coordinates too, a review on Google mentioning it is UNESCO made me very sure it is the right place because arriving here is rather shocking. Sure, ruins, but flooded crypts with sludge and trash inside covering what was probably the best part. You really see NOTHING here of value although the local church is still considering it as such, with a new wooden church placed inside the ruins (also seems controversial but whatever). I walked around 7-8 minutes which was already more than enough to see all and be extremely disappointed. A record for fastest WHS visit.

I asked the driver from Cairo to make a small detour to see it. Nobody knows about this place, he was shocked to find that this is the place he wants me to stop and not the big church. “Finish?!” It isn't far from Alexandria, maybe 1h. In all honesty if you don't go to see this there is a high chance it gets de-listed anyway. It has been on the In Danger list ever since the World Bank funded projected raised the water level and the crypt is now in the process of being destroyed. One would think they can protect it better but there seems to be no indication of that happening. Judging from …

I unfortunately have to rate this a bit low even though it is kind of interesting. I don't think living in cave houses is that special though, I saw it in Shaanxi the first time albeit a bit different style, but there goes my “oh wow these guys are old school rock house people, that's hardcore!” that should have been evoked on arrival. Dwayne Johnson doesn't even live here, what a bummer!

I wasn't the only tourist but I got the usual taroof and he waved me through as I got all over Iran. The Iranians driving right inside were charged promptly. I gave the nice old man the 30,000 riyal on my way out anyway, sitting out there in the cold all winter plus it goes to some benefit of village upkeep rather than his smoking habit, right?!

You see most buildings right near the start, the school, the old bath, the houses of course, then when you get to the center of the village you find the fire temple. Venturing further is not necessary but also not very far. Many houses were closed as in winter the inhabitants migrate to a warmer place. This also meant the fire temple was closed unfortunately.

As I said before, the idea of having your house carved out of a cave doesn't do it for me, especially when you see the power lines all over the place. The inhabitants clearly have a “real” house inside with basic kitchen and …

We visited Blue and Crow Mountains in November 2017. We hired a driver to take us from Port Antonio and we are very glad that we did. Some of the roads were not in great shape and we got to gape at the stunning scenery. We were told that the "good road" will be completed all the way to the northern part of the island eventually. It was complete from Kingston to the National Park when we went. This would be the only part I would be willing to drive if I had a rental.  

We stayed in a guest house for a few days. We hiked on marked trails and on one day we went on one of the ubiquitous and obligatory "hidden waterfall" hikes. Our guide made the history of the site come alive for us by pointing out the uses of all of the plants we encountered. We could understand how the Maroons could live in the jungle and have everything they needed. We did not hike to the summit of Blue Mountain, which requires getting up before sunrise to avoid the characteristic mists, because everyone we met that tried, climbed into a cloud (so no views).  

We visited a small coffee plantation and it was delicious! Believe the hype! The coffee is good. 

The people that live in Blue Mountains are friendly, opinionated and hospitable. My favorite combination. We enjoyed our visit very much and would recommend that anyone visiting Jamaica spend some …

My frequently professed affinity for sacred architecture did not translate into surpassing appreciation of Poblet Monastery. I saw an impressive enough complex which I could not call extraordinary. The historical context of the monastery's importance stayed beyond me. This was largely a function of the constraints of the visit. You can freely wander around the territory inside the outer walls of the monastery, but getting inside the main part of the complex is possible only roughly once an hour in the company of a guide. The tour is conducted in either Spanish or Catalan. If you indicate at the reception that you do not speak either language, you get a small booklet with explanations instead. Then, during the tour, you are allowed to explore on your own and not follow the guided group. Sounds like a pretty good deal for someone who dislikes crowds until you realize that the booklet throws historical facts at you and mentions key features of every space you see without tying it into a coherent picture. I am left wondering whether an ability to understand the tour guide would be key to get more value out of the visit.

That being said, there are certainly some interesting features at Poblet Monastery that can be observed without any guidance. The most obvious of them is the façade of the main church, with a cluster of decorations on an otherwise blank wide wall. The façade opens onto Plaça Major, the wide main square of the complex …

Etruscan history as well as related artefacts are fascinating. It is almost impossible to miss it or ignore it when travelling with open eyes in Tuscany, Umbria or Lazio regions of Italy.

From the WHS sites, I visited only the Necropolis in Tarquinia as a part of the tourist trip to central Italy. As it was quite busy trip, we had no time to visit the related museum in Tarquinia town center. However, I have visited Etrucan museums in Viterbo and Chiusi as well as the Etruscan sites near Perugia (Ipogeo Dei Volumni - oddly located close to the highway intersection) and Sovana (fascinating Tomba Ildebranda) before - all of these sites not included to WHS. Therefore, I was able to enjoy the Tarquinia site and understand it in the context. The most important feature and the reason for the inscription of Tarquinia were the beatiful paintings, which are fascinating by themselfs even without the context.

I am planning to explore the region of Lago di Bracciano that comprises the Cerveteri site this year. So, I am looking forwards to seeing another aspect of rich Etruscan heritage.

Photo: "famous" scratched SM threesome (OK, there are one and half persons only in my photo, but I was not able to take the photo of the whole scene because of the glass wall that protected the paintings in all thombs) - maybe not the most beautiful painting but it tells a lot about (not only) Etruscan era...

I visited the Burren region (nominated as cultural landscape) two times during the car trips around the western coast of Ireland. We did a short stop at Cliffs of Moher (beautiful but very touristy site) and headed to the north towards Galway. The landscape of Burren is distinct to other parts of Ireland and immediately recginzable because of huge plateaus of grey limestone.

First feature I visited in the area was Poulnabrone dolmen that is quite touristy place. The dolmen is nice but it does not deserve the inscription to WHS. So, I was not convinced about the outstanding qualities of the Burren at all. The landscape around the cost is nice, full of farms and beautiful views, but still not exceptional. My opinion has changed during my visit to the core zone of the national park (photo). The karstic landscape is simply beautiful and fascinating. You can find fossils of corals or seashell almost in every stone. Further, I can admit that the grassy and stony landscape is there also due to the thousands years-lasting human impact...

All in all, now I can imagine the inscription of the Burren as the cultural landscape, because it is different as compared to other karstic regions I have visited.

Although the site doesn’t look like it covers much more than Cyrus “the Virus” oops not the baddie of Con Air, Cyrus the Great (one day coming to a theater near you also starring John Malkovich), the short path from the entrance which is now being nicely paved will lead you to a tomb of the once former king. It isn't all too spectacular, it wasn't even busy in January although Persepolis was still pretty packed. Once I circled around the tomb and made my way back from the adjacent ruins of the caravanserai (not currently part of the tentative site of caravanserai along the silk road), I noticed the shuttle e-cars with a booth. Was there more to see further down towards the mountains? So I go online, check the review here on the site and Google map to see the Solomon's Prison among others far in the distance. I didn't care if the shuttle costs money but it sounds like a bit of a waste of time. If you want to fully explore the site I suppose you should go and see those places too. 600 seems like a lot for “just” the tomb but it is the highlight. I was happy to be on my way again after a long day of sightseeing.

I spent a couple of rainy days in Lake District in June 2006. I really liked my stay in the area visiting villages such as Keswick and walking around several lakes. However, I feel an interesting paradox regarding this WHS: despite my very positive impression, I still do not understand what is OUV of this "cultural landcape". Anyway, I have left a disputation on this topic to clever scholars, and want to visit Lake District again...