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Like many of my age, I suspect, my introduction to Petra was via "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", which used the iconic façade of the Treasury to represent a temple housing the legendary Holy Grail. Petra is easily the most recognizable site in Jordan, and was, not surprisingly, the first Jordanian World Heritage Site in 1985. The rock passage through the Siq to this ancient Nabatean city is memorable by day, but even more magnificent during Petra by Night, when the canyon and Treasury are lit up by candles. The ancient music left a bit to be desired for me, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and the shadowy reflections flickering on the rock faces. There is a lot to see in Petra, and long walks are almost guaranteed, unless you take up one of the many offers for camel or donkey rides. I particularly enjoyed the hike to the Monastery at the back of the city, as well as the climb to the High Place of Sacrifice, which offers amazing views of the ancient city below (bring water). At the front entrance to Petra is a museum which provides background on and context for the Nabatean tribes who built the city. Petra does not disappoint!

Logistics: Petra may be visited via private transportation, or by day tour from Amman, Jordan, or Aqaba, Israel; I'd recommend staying overnight outside Petra in order to fully appreciate the site. Tickets are also discounted for guests staying at least one night in Jordan. …

Despite having been to Indonesia for quite several times and already visited 3 World Heritage Sites of this country, Bali which is the most famous and popular tourist attraction and possibly the “first” and “must visit” place to visit for every itinerary was logically omitted from my travel plans for many occasions. The reason was I was afraid that one day I would have a chance to attend seminar on this island, so I decided to skip this island and use my times to explore somewhere else. Unfortunately, Bali already lost its status of Southeast Asian premier seminar destination to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, as a result, my expectation to have seminar in Bali has become uncertain. During my recent business trip to Singapore, I added few extra days to visit Bali and its World Heritage Site.

During my three days in Bali, I hired a car with driver as recommended by my friend in Jakarta, a very convenient choice for such a short visit and a driver also acted as a guide who could shield me from those infamous scam and hassle in many temples. From all sites that I have been, 3 sites are recognized by UNESCO, Taman Ayun Temple, Subak Landscape of Pekerisan and Lake Batur. The royal temple of Taman Ayun is famous as the grandest survival of once powerful Mengwi Dynasty’s architectural style. The large complex was surrounded by moat with elaborate palatial main gate that illustrated the glory of the builders. …

I drove to eastern Turkey in 1977 and was taken by jeep up Nemrod Dag. An incredible overnight journey [given chai by our hosts,half way up the mountain]

We reached the summit as dawn broke and witnessed the amazing mountain range; Nemrod Dag's large stone structures.On returning I was invited to a Kurdish village.An experience never to forget.

Gorham’s Cave Complex is Gibraltar’s only WHS to date, and it was the main venue of this year’s World Heritage Travellers meeting. This Complex comprises four caves where tangible remains of the Neanderthaler way of life have been found. No skulls or other bones have been discovered in these particular caves (yet), but the archaeologists have been lucky earlier this year to find a Neanderthaler milk tooth!

The Cave Complex is located at the southeastern tip of Gibraltar and its Rock. After casually strolling across the Spanish-British border and crossing the empty airstrip, we took bus number 2 from the town center to Europa Point. Europa Point is a collection of monuments and memorials such as a 19th-century lighthouse. The main landmark nowadays is the Saudi-sponsored Mosque of The Custodian of The Holy Mosques.

We all gathered a bit further up the road at the Europa Advance Viewing Platform. I had unsuccessfully tried to find it on a map beforehand: this is a piece of tourist infrastructure still in the making. Essentially the 1st and 2nd Europa Advance Battery are being turned into viewing platforms and small-scale interpretation centres. The Gibraltar Museum still has to clean up the 2nd Battery which has been used for firing practice by the army until recently. The 1st Battery is almost ready now: there are toilets and the structures to hold information panels have been placed. The information itself is still missing though, and the entrance to the Battery is closed to …

My wife and I visited Spiennes in August 2017. Contrary to the experience of other reviewers, we showed up randomly and managed to grab a free spot on the tour! It had just started so I missed the first few minutes, but it was in French and my grasp on that language is tenuous at best, so I didn't really miss anything. The guide was kind enough to give me the gist of what she was saying too.

The mines were surprisingly large underground, and I really enjoyed seeing the pits. Also very startled to find that in the hundred or so acres of the site, there are thousands of mines but only a handful have actually been excavated! Makes you really wonder what else is yet to be discovered.

See below for my full video review!

My wife and I visited here in August 2017. The cathedral is currently undergoing heavy renovation, both inside and out. I would estimate something like half of the exterior is covered in scaffolding, and less than a third of the interior is available for viewing.

However, you can still see the impressive towers and the portico at one end, as well as the exposed remains of earlier churches inside.

With that in mind, Tournai is actually a beautiful little town for a visit, particularly on a sunny summer afternoon like we had. A great lunch on the square, a climb of the belfry (part of the separate Belfries of Belgium and France listing) from where you get a fantastic view of the cathedral, then a wander around the cathedral.

See below for my full video review!

Albi is an attractive town that does not exactly rise to exceptional, but it is entirely worth a visit just for its cathedral. The huge church (it claims the title of the largest brick building in the world, but I believe that to be suspect) majestically towers above town. Inside, it is most incredibly painted every inch of its surface. Well-structured audioguide (€5 or €7, depending on whether you want to see the treasury or not) suggests that the frescoes never required restoration in centuries since they had been painted.

Next to the cathedral is the former Archbishop's palace, which houses an excellent museum of the favorite local son Henri Toulouse-Lautrec. If you are not into impressionist art, contend yourself with admiring the palace from the outside, since the interior retains only a couple of fragments of past grandeur. Walking around the palace to Jardins de la Berbie is a must: it is both colorful and offers excellent viewpoints over Tarn and the other side of the town. Walking over Pont Vieux to that side offers good views of the core part of Albi, crowned by the cathedral.

The core itself is pretty compact and fairly commercialized. Cloisters of St-Salvi is a quiet oasis, and some streets are impressive enough. The red-brick Languedoc-style architecture is unique to this part of the world, with occasionally exposed timber frames and painted shutters being practically the only adornments on the building façades; balconies are rare once you step away from main streets.

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I only have a sample size of one, but I suspect that only a small portion of the locations that comprise this WHS offer any rock art that is worth the effort to see. The easy rule of thumb should be that if searching the internet does not yield explicit mention or photos of discernible rock art in a given location, it probably has little-to-none.

I went to see Pedra de les Orenetes because it is located not far from my recent base on Costa Brava. It turned out to be quite accessible: If you park in a dead end at the edge of Urb. La Pineda in El Bosc de Ruscalleda, it will take you only 15-20 minutes of walking on the relatively flat Ruta Prehistorica to reach Pedra.

Which turns out to be an expressive pile of rocks. If you are into rocks and hiking - great. If you are after prehistoric art - tough luck. All you will find is a couple of smudges that indicate where the drawings used to be. I allow that a recognition that an ancient human once drew on these rocks may be worthy of the WH inscription, but it's a stretch to count this location as an exhibit of the prehistoric art.

As is a stretch for me to count this WHS as visited. My personal definition of "visited" puts premium on the effort to see any inscribed component of a given site. The effort I made. But …

Finally ticked off the last Belgian site!

Was lucky to book mine visit on 26 August 2017. The price was 14 Euro. There was French speaking group and the guide first provided information for them and then English summary for me.

Only 6 people decided to descend and we all went through hook hanging procedure. The mine is quite atmospheric, with several layers of flint stone. The guide showed "scratch" gallery, the only place, where there are visible traces of mining instruments. The other were destroyed by excessive visitors during previous less controlled period. The miners used debris and waste to use it as elevated floor level for mining upper flint layers. Polished flint instruments were probably used as trade objects as they were found in the radious of 150 km (but there is hypothesis that polishing of flint stones took place not in Spiennes but in other area).

In overall interesting site and quite unique aspect of human activity is highlighted here. The difficulty of getting here also adds some charm. I liked the visit and some local dogs on the way from parking to the site.

Visited June 2017

Quanzhou is located in Fujian province, on the southeast coast of China, around 100 km NE from Xiamen. It was a very important port and starting point of the Chinese maritime silk road during Middle Ages. From its Arabic name, Zaytoun, the English/French name of satin (sateen) was derived, because this fabric was originally made of silk.

The history of city is shaped by its maritime trading connections and activities. A long time ago its historical heart was located closer to the sea; now port facilities are far from the city center.

The nominated sites and monument are scattered around the city and its environs. And that means it is not possible to visit/see all components in one day, even if you have your own mean of transport. In total there are 16 components and they can be divided into three categories: 1. Sites and monuments related to maritime trade activities (examples: * site of worship: Jiuri Hill Relics and Inscription; * Administrative site: Shibosi Office Relic; * Navigation facilities: Shihu Docks, Fashi Docks, Wanshou Pagoda, Liusheng Pagoda; * Transportation facilities: Luoyang Bridge; Anping Bridge; *production sites: Kiln Sites at Jinjiaoyi Hill); 2. Sites and monuments related to culture/religion (Kaiyuan Temple – Buddhist and Hindu; Qingjing Mosque and Islamic cemetery – Islam; Cao’an Temple – Manicheism; Confucius Temple – Confucianism; Stone Statue of Lao Tze – Taoism; Tianhou Temple -Mazu, goddess of sea); 3. Sites and monuments related to urban development (city walls and gates; street layout …

Visited September 2017

For those who have no background of prehistory, these caves can be disappointing. Well, not even caves, because only one of four (Nahal) can be called a cave; the three are rather shelters or holes in the natural cliff façade (the ceilings, first floors of the karst caves collapsed thousand years ago and paradoxically saved remains of our ancestors’ culture). But if you are able to stimulate your imagination and go far back half a million years ago… And if there’s a guide who can explain what you’re looking at… The outstanding value of this site becomes clear and unquestionable. This is the most exiting journey through human (pre)history you can experience, although not many traces are left.

There are many other caves or underground structures on both sides of Wadi El Mughara, and some of them are being excavated. Maybe in the future some other of these caves will be included into the list…

My wife and I visited the canal lifts in August 2017, and used a rental car to drive between the four location from our base in the town of Mons (also contains a belfry if you're collecting those!). Driving is by far the easiest way to see the four lifts, though cycling would also be possible as a well-kept cycle path tracks alongside the (now rarely used) canal.

I actually quite enjoyed this sight, particularly once the concept of balance lifts had been explained! Sadly they weren't operating on the day of our visit, so we had to use our imagination.

It's also worth stopping off at Strepy-Theiu, where an enormous lift from the 1980s replaced the four WH-listed lifts. It's crazy to see how far technology has come in a century!

See below for my full video review!

My wife and I visited Brugge (Bruges) in August 2017. I'd visited just over 12 years earlier, and little seemed to have changed. It's still very beautiful, still very touristy, and still enchanting.

One thing I would definitely recommend is staying in the old town for two nights at least, since a lot of people just see Bruges as a day-trip from Brussels, and it's much more tolerable in the early morning/late evening when the crowds have gone home.

See below for my full video review!

On my first international trip many years before there was such a thing as Unesco World Heritage sites, I bicycled up to this area from Dublin and stayed atvavyouth hostel across the road from the Monasterboice site. It was a lovely site and the monasteries, dedicated to group work, prayer and scholarship far from the remnants of "civilization" were quite well preserved and signed, right down to the sink (lavabo, Latin fans) in the kitchen.

As the rational notes, this group focus differs from those of the other early Christian monastic sites.

I also visited the Kells and Glendalough sites in spots that truly earn Ireland the name of the Emerald Island. As many scholars ackowledge the Celtic contributions to the preservation of knowledge during a very confused time in the post Roman Empire, this is certainly worthy of inclusion

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Boy, oh boy, it's worldwide iconic presence aside, trying to get world heritage status for a structure that is constantly undergoing reconstruction, repairs and uncoordinated pedestrian, foot and car lane planning would be more difficult than getting to the Inaccessible Islands.

I love the bridge, it still astounds me, and I walk or bicycle over it nearly ever day, year round, to get to work, but would this be a tough one. Don't worry, it gets more than enough visitors without the designation, the world knows it's here.

Sarajevo is a perfect example of a city that seamlessly blends cultures, history, architecture and an unfortunately often sad history.

It's place in modern history and the resilency of its people during the brutal breakup of Yugoslavia are ample reason for inscription.

My wife and I visited the Beguinages of Leuwen and Bruges in August 2017. We chose these two as they seemed to be most representative of what Beguinages were really like. Of the two, I preferred the one in Leuwen as it really felt like a community still lived there. The one in Bruges was much more touristy and had a lot of folks wandering around.

See below for my full video review!

I visited the Historic Silver Mine and the Black Trout Adit in August 2017.

There is a private train line between Katowice and Tarnowskie Gory, which is much cheaper than the Polish National Rail.

At 9:30 I took a bus from the bus station by the TG train station, which dropped me off right in front of the Historic Silver Mine Visitor Center / museum. It opened at 10:00 and my tour started at about 10:30.

I was told that the English tour is only at 12:00 and was given a few pages of the site description in English. But soon after the tour started, I gave up on reading it up because it was difficult to read it in the darkness of the mine.

After the tour ended at about 12:00, I decided on how to get to the Black Trout Adit by looking at the bus routes and time tables at the bus stop in front of the Visitor Center and by Google Mapping the names of various bus stop names along the routes to find the nearest bus stop to the Adit.

I took a bus, which came at about 12:30, from the Visitor center at 50°25'30.4"N 18°51'01.3"E to this bus stop 50°25'07.1"N 18°49'40.5"E and walked the rest of the way to the Black Trout Adit at 50°25'38.2"N 18°48'26.1"E.

The 600 m boat ride in the underground canal at the Adit, which is to show us the Underground Water Management System, …

The Antequera Dolmens were the fourth prehistoric European WHS that I visited in the past 4 weeks. After the Ice Age Art Caves, Neolithic Orkney and Gorham’s Cave I was not terribly keen on checking out another one. But well, this was an orphan site that I had left ‘to tick off’ not far from Malaga Airport from where I would be flying home after the WH Travellers Meeting. So on a Sunday morning, I drove out there from La Linea, in a little less than two hours. The WHS consists of 5 different features, all located in or around the mid-size Andalusian city of Antequera.

Antequera comes with a few pleasant surprises. The first is that it rightly is part of our Free Entrance connection: none of the locations charge an entry fee. The sites are far from unkept though. The locations of Menga/Viera dolmen, El Torcal and El Romeral are all at least manned by security and in the case of the first two, they also have a small visitor center with staff, and parking lots and toilets.

Another positive is that one can only admire the state of conservation (or reconstruction) and the size of these megalithic structures. According to ICOMOS, the “number, size, weight and volume of stone blocks transported and assembled in the basin of Antequera, …, makes the Antequera Dolmens one of the most important engineering and architectural works of European Prehistory”. It did impress me a lot more than Neolithic Orkney …

Riga was the last of 3 Baltic capitals that I visited, and I have a hard time making up my mind on which is the nicest. Vilnius is a Central European, Catholic city with Baroque architecture, similar to Krakow, while Tallinn is a Northern European, Protestant city with brick buildings. Riga is somewhere in between, reflecting its geographic position, but a bit closer in most aspects to Tallinn than to Vilnius. Like the others, it is an immaculately clean city with a fine historic centre full of interesting buildings, most of which are clustered in the medieval core (particularly the Dome Cathedral and St. Peter's Church with its lookout tower). The cherry on Riga's cake is the large Art Nouveau/Jugendstil district to the north of the centre, where you can walk around for a long time admiring the stunning facades. A good place to start is the Art Nouveau Museum, which is housed in an original buiilding and features a unique staircase. I only had a weekend in Riga, but I'm sure that you can easily fill several days exploring this interesting city,.