All our reviews

The 7 reviews to date of the Jongmyo Shrine are fairly “mixed” in terms of the degree of “value” which people felt they had obtained from their visit. One issue seems to be how best to “understand” and appreciate the site. We visited on a Saturday – the only day when visitors are allowed to wonder around unguided. It is perhaps worth highlighting here that Jongmyo has Tuesday as its closing day and is therefore a useful site for visiting on Mondays when the other WHS in/around Seoul are closed (The National and Palace Museums are also open then). Others have praised the guided aspect, though I must say that we found our guided tour of the Huwon at Changdeokgung something of a disappointment - too many people and not enough “meat” in the explanations (not unreasonable given the range of visitors and their interests - or lack thereof!), too long in some places and not enough in others, no ability to go back and re-look etc etc – we are not good “tour group” material! Whether we “missed out” regarding a Jongmyo tour we will, of course, never know (though I note that there are 2 different tour routes according to whether there are over or under 200 people! We only had 100 for the Huwon tour.)

In fact Jongmyo contains a full range of the usual bilingual metal signs we grew to know and love around Korea and they are excellently detailed (Nowadays I always photo such signs …

A few points additional to the previous review

a. The museum was opened in 2008 and is a fine example of the money and effort which S Korea is prepared to spend on providing Musea at its (T)WHS sites (and maybe at others too?) Designed in an elongated “sinuous” shape it is meant to represent the Whales which figure on the Bangudae carvings and an, otherwise architecturally unnecessary, “Tail” has been affixed to one end of the roof of the building to assist this representation!

b. We were almost the only visitors present in mid week early afternoon and were provided with literature in English by the 3 staff – who spoke no English, making it a bit difficult for me to establish which of the 2 rock carvings might be the better to concentrate on if we didn’t have time to visit both! We were ushered into a plush cinema and shown a video with English dubbing. Part of this showed the museum’s opening ceremony attended by hordes of besuited “executives” – Unfortunately I missed catching the exact figure given on how many millions (trillions?) of Won the whole thing cost.

c. The museum does indeed contain good fibreglass replicas of the 2 rock faces and that for Bangudae is worth examining in detail since the later views of the real thing are very limited. The claim is that the representations (created from late Neolithic to the early Bronze age – 7000-3500 ybp) “include the oldest …

Visited March 2017.

I can admit that I see a big potential in this site. The fishponds around Třeboň are ones of the oldest in Europe, and some of them are really huge and still in use. The first fishpond was created in 14th century but the big transformation of the area started one century later when Peter IV of Rožmberk invited German fishermen. In the city itself and around there are lots of boards with information about this area (also in English and German). You can rent a bicycle and spent a day cycling around the ponds. The tourist information center distributes some useful maps and can arrange a guided tour of the chateau.

Třeboň is just a half an hour by bus from České Budějovice; in the morning you can visit WHS Holašovice, come back to České Budějovice and then take another bus and spend an afternoon in Třeboň. Český Krumlov is another WHS very close to fishponds but there’s not direct public transportation between both sites – you have to change again in CB.

We found the old timber colonial buildings a very interesting architecture. Several buildings have been beautifully restored, but some buildings are in process of strong deterioration, such as some government buildings (e.g. the Ministry of Housing!!!, the police HQ). Some good guide books are available in local bookshops, but also guided tours are available. Unfortunately reinforced concrete and cement block buildings are being developed. There are signs that the technology of climatologically suitable timber constructions are being revived, using better construction methods, thermal insulation and soft-timber conservation methods. Pity.

From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the production of open-pan salt is one of the more imaginative WHS of France. With an admission date of 1982, it also is one of the earlier sites on the WH List. So I was really looking forward to visiting, and it did not disappoint. I even had wanted to stay overnight at Arc-et-Senans, but when I checked 2 months beforehand the on-site hotel La Saline Royale was already fully booked for the date that I wanted.

My planned visit on a Sunday in March left me with a dilemma: because of the limited opening hours during the winter season, I only had time to visit 1 out of the 2 inscribed locations (Arc-et-Senans or Salins-les-Bains) properly. I eventually chose Salins-les-Bains, as its features are mostly underground and less weather dependent. The site lies in the French Jura, quite a trip through the countryside away from the nearest tollway exit.

During the weekend's off-season there are 3 daily tours of the underground saltworks. They are all conducted in French, although foreign speakers are provided with a leaflet in English. The stories of the guide are much more detailed though than what’s available on paper: you can download an audio guide in your language beforehand for your phone, but I forgot to do that. So I did my best to understand the French explanations.

The 1-hour tour teaches you everything that you never knew about salt. …

I should apologize to Kew Gardens that I ever associated it with The Avengers movie (not that one -- the other one you've tried to forget); apparently filming was done at nearby Syon House. Now that I have disassociated the fine Kew greenhouses and grounds with any ridiculous plots to control the world's weather, I can look back at my visit to the gardens with newly-appreciated gravitas. And, in all seriousness, I fully enjoyed my visit to the gardens in the spring of 2009. The gardens claim to have the largest and most diverse botanical collection in the world, and these are on fine display throughout the grounds. I arrived in April, just in time to see great swaths of bluebells showcased throughout the woods. Cherry blossoms and other flowering trees were also in bloom. Within the greenhouses were orchids, water lilies, and a range of plants from alpine to desert climates. I particularly appreciated the engineering of the vast Palm House, with its wide array of palm trees on display. I enjoy wandering around gardens in my travels, and Kew Gardens is among the best I have visited.

Logistics: Kew Gardens, west of central London, is easily accessible by the Underground via the Kew Gardens station on the District Line. There is also bus and train access, as well as a car park for drivers.

Our arrival at the Hwangsan-myeon Dinosaur Footprint site near Haenam didn’t exactly promise a great experience – Giant bright green fibreglass dinosaurs marched across the distant lawns surrounded by fibreglass volcanoes. Elsewhere were small blue dinosaurs sitting kangaroo style with happy smiles on their faces and wearing little jackets. This place was clearly being presented as a family theme park.

We had driven early from our Hanok guesthouse in Mokpo and were the first tourists of the day as we entered soon after 9 am. And we didn’t see any others during the visit. The site was however, full of teams of ladies manicuring the lawns by hand-weeding and teams of men trimming the “cloud forest” conifers with scissors. (We do not understand the economics of the Korean labour market!). But, despite the place’s obvious “Commercial” aspects, we were given our free “over 64 entry” without question.

We ignored the enormous museum up on the hill and set off along a lakeside (once an arm of the sea but now dammed) boardwalk to look for “footprints”. This followed an exposed horizontal sedimentary rock surface which was inclined from left to right under the boardwalk. To the right was a c 5m cliff of un-eroded layers which once covered the now exposed surface upon which the “Dinosaur” tracks were, we hoped, to be found!

We quickly found some rather small marks, which the Korean/Englsh signs stated were made by anthropods and crawling creatures plus some web footed “birds”. Small they may …

Site visited October 2014. While the majority of tourists in Azerbaijan may not go outside the area of Baku, Sheki is an excellent reason to go there. It is a good place to see the other side of this country as opposite of Baku: traditional architecture and small town feeling in a beautiful setting on foothills of Caucasus Mountains. And the icing on the cake is the exquisite Khan’s Palace. That was also in my mind when I headed to Sheki.

At nine in the evening I hopped on a Sheki bound night train at the Baku railway station. The trip would last 10 hours. I had a bed in a four bed sleeper cabin. In the cabin were also a local father with a child and a granny. They were very friendly and in the beginning of the trip we had a cup of tea and biscuits together. They could speak only few words of English but still we could communicate with each other. At seven in the next morning the train left me alone in the darkness at Sheki railway station which is 15 kilometres away from the city. I waited at the station almost an hour for a taxi to show up.

From the centre of the city I walked along the main thoroughfare of the old city towards the Khan’s Palace. The city was just waking up. It was very quiet and you could see hardly anyone on the streets. Finally I reached the Khan's Palace …

With this T List site up for consideration at the 2017 WHC in a few months time it seems worth having a review of it available here (especially as those who have already committed themselves to a guess on this site have voted it an “Inscribe”!).

I have tried to remember why I didn’t review it immediately after our visit in May 2016. It was certainly not because it wasn’t an interesting and worthwhile place - we gave it a full day and 2 nights in our very crowded schedule and don’t regret that at all. I have just reread the entry on UNESCO and I think that it might have been part of the reason. The entire description is limited to this one sentence - “The historical structure of Yazd is a collection of public-religious architecture in a very large scope comprising of different Islamic architectural elements of different periods in a harmonious combination with climatic conditions.” Not very specific or anything to home in on! Presumably the rather unusual title “Historical structure of….” is equivalent to the more common “Historic centre (or “city” or “town”) of…..”. I say this because Yazd’s “Structure” is not its most notable aspect with the term implying a plan of some sort. In fact Yazd is of note more for its lack of structure – LP says of it “With its winding lanes, forest of badgirs, mudbrick old town…..Yazd is one of the highlights of any …

Indeed, this place is off the beaten path and the only way that I could make renting a private car worth it was by combining a visit here with a visit to Trang An - Hoa Lu - Van Long; thus, a 2D/1N arranged trip made ticking off two WH sites possible. Contrary to the other reviews that show only disappointment, I was in no doubt impressed by the relics of the Ho citadel. While it's true that it's really just walls and gates, one has to go the level of architecture and construction engineering to appreciate its unique values. The stones used, for example, are definitely of bigger sizes than from other ancient buildings in SE Asia. The way they were fit together also demonstrated high masonry skills as the stone blocks almost have no gaps between them. It is unfair, in my opinion, to impose high expectations on the site as beauty and "grandness" are not really its strengths. But, the little details I observed, as well as its history, fairly justify its inscription. The rural environment in and around the citadel are also a big plus for the experience. Would I recommend it to fellow WHS hunters? Yes.

PS. There is also a conservation centre beside the southern gate where one can see more info about works done on site and findings.

Chiang Mai is a major tourist hub in northern thailand, especially for the backpacking crowd. Luckily, it is also very beautiful, with lots and lots of temples and ruins scattered around the town. I spent the whole day just walking from temple to temple in the core of the old city, but skipped the more out-of-town elements. The temple architecture seems to be more varied and playful than the more majestic ones in Bangkok, which was fine for me. Most temples are active places of worship and not just tourist ruins, so the place feels quite lively. With its sheer beauty and high concentration of interesting buildings, Chiang Mai seems to be a worthy candidate for a WHS, although I am not sure if each and every component of the voluminous proposal is necessary.

Visited in January 2014

Importance 4/5 Beauty 5/5 Uniqueness 4/5 Environment 3/5 Experience 5/5

Of all the WHS on the list, I’ve been to Hadrian’s Wall the most. Growing up, it was the closest, and as such, I’ve visited most of the best preserved sections: Birdoswald, Walltown, Halsteads, Vindolanda, Chesters. How best to officially ‘mark off’ such a familiar site?

We chose to walk a 10 mile section of the wall, from the Walltown Quarry section all the way to Halsteads fort, on a blustery but clear December afternoon, which really added to the atmosphere. This section represents the wall at its best preserved and most dramatic, and truly gives an impression of what the Roman soldiers posted along the wall must have felt, being on the fringes of the empire. The walk along the top of the ridge was very pleasant, though can be a little taxing in places. Halsteads is personally my favourite of the surviving fort remains, though if you’re not a member of English Heritage, it will cost you to get in. I would wholeheartedly recommend it. The AD 122 bus is very helpful for getting about, and let us get back to our parked car with little issue.

Earlier that year, we also visited the Antonine Wall in Scotland. Stretching from the Clyde to the Forth, the Antonine Wall is the northerly sibling to the more famous Hadrian’s Wall. Occupied for far less time, the Romans constructed a more temporary structure, and as such, much of it was constructed out of dirt rather than stone. Compounding the problem, the …

Umm Qays is located on the top of the mountain with a view of many historical regions – Jordan Valley and West Bank, See of Galilee, Golan Heights and Syria. In a good weather even Mount Hermon and Nazareth is visible from here. Its unique location made it a pilgrimage place for Palestinians that had to escape to Jordan after Six-Day War – from here they could look at most of their lost homeland. As Umm Qays is very close to the border with Syria, even tourists have to pass through military checkpoint (one of few where they really examine foreign passports).

Umm Qays is a ruined town of ancient Gadara, one of greek cities in Palestine that formed a union called Dekapolis. The area is quite large and although some of the remnants are quite well preserved, overall the site seems to be a bit chaotic. It is even easy to lose orientation there. Some of the buildings were restored and now serve as utility rooms and museum (unfortunately closed on Friday when I visited the site). Overall the site is nice but comparing to another T-listed site of Jerash its chances to be inscribed seem to be much lower.

This will be an "easy" place to know if you're planning travel to Mexico and visit several World Heritage sites: site is halfway between Mexico City and Oaxaca. Now, not everything is as simple as you think.

If you’re travelling from Mexico City to Oaxaca, passing through the city of Tehuacan, a classic route is take Highway-135 D (Cuacnopala-Oaxaca) until arriving Oaxaca; you will surely see beautiful landscapes and a small portion of the reserve, but you will not cross the heart. So, starting today, recommend take the difficult local Highway-980 (Tehuacan-Coxcatlan-Teotitlan-Cuicatlan-Oaxaca). Of course, the difference in hours from the city of Tehuacan to Oaxaca, on this local road, is 3 or 4 hours more; so once you're going back to Mexico City, you could take the "fast route".

As a Mexican I can tell this is probably one of the most beautiful and interesting biosphere reserves around the country, and probably after Montes Azules and Zoque Jungle, the place that struck me most in the country, (well, I don't know Calakmul yet), anyway, can be very confusing if you don't bring an adequate travel plan. The place doesn't shine because of its infrastructure, promotion or knowledge throughout the country, which I believe has allowed it to be kept in a genuine and authentic way.

There are no defined routes in its nearly 500,000 ha, and there are too many places to see. I will focus on those I have visited, and are within the core area considered to be …

I visited this tentative WHS in January 2015. Khor Dubai or Dubai Creek is a natural seawater inlet of the Arabian Gulf located in the heart of Dubai.

It is 14 km long and varies from 100 to 500 m wide and ends at the Ras Al-Khor wildlife sanctuary (photo). The creek divides the city into two parts, namely Bur Dubai and Deira, and has played a major role in the economic development of the region throughout history.

The Ras Al-Khor wildlife sanctuary is home to hundreds of pink flamingoes and many other bird species. It lies at the interface between the Arabian Gulf and the Al Awir desert and is a Ramsar coastal wetland

of global importance and a Birdlife Important Bird Area. The peaceful panoramic view from the hides with the Dubai Skyscraper skyline in the distance is worth seeing.

The historical importance of the Dubai creek is hard to grasp the closer you get to the noisy urban hotspot of Dubai apart from the wooden boats (dhows) which nowadays are powered by diesel engines and their berthing spots. Abras are smaller wooden boats powered by oar. Today these are equipped with diesel engines too and are still used to ferry passengers back and forth between Deira, Shindagha and Bur Dubai as well as for sightseeing harbour cruises with stops at the Gold Souk and the Dubai Heritage Village.

Needless to say, I very much enjoyed the Ras Al Khor wildlife sanctuary which was a welcome peaceful place …

I did the Beijing Hotspot sites in a 3.5 days site hopping bonanza. Most sites are well connected and quite touristy. The only site that takes you off the beaten path is the Peking Man Site, a bit at least. While still within the greater Beijing metropolitan area it feels like a world apart from modern Beijing.

As is the case with most prehistoric sites, there isn’t all that much to see. The early humans of the area lived in caves close to a river. You can peek into the caves and hike around the hill. But that’s more or less it. On top there is a museum nearby showing some of the findings.

To me the thrill of the visit came from venturing out into the country side and understanding how far back human activity in the Beijing area goes.

Logistics

At the time of my visit the metro to Suzhuang was still under construction. You would still need to take a bus from the metro station anyhow, so I would simply take the bus from Beijing. As stated by previous reviews you can go with the 917 or 836. I think the 836 is the express bus with very few stops, so I would take that one.

While technically correct that you can get on the bus near the Temple of the Heavenly Gate, I think it’s way simpler to hop on at one of the metro stations along the western bound highway …

I visited this site in 2007.

This is one of the more somber world heritage sites you can visit, along with Auschwitz.

In addition to the park, I would also suggest visiting the museum which tells the history of the dropping of the atomic bomb and its aftermath in the city of Hiroshima.

While in Hiroshima, it is easy to visit the nearby Itsukushima Shrine.

Read more about the Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) on my website.

While the Swedish list is lacking in terms of world class sites, they definitively have a few odd and peculiar sites well worth exploring, Grimeton being one of those.

During the first world war communication lines had been cut showing the need for cable less communication. Long wave radio transmission was a first try at this. Radio Corporation of America set up a network centered in Long Island, New York, to connect the world. Sweden joined the effort as during the war families were unable to communicate with their relatives who had migrated to the US.

Grimeton connected to the RCA network in 1924 and it was also the last site to do so. By 1927 long wave radio transmission was already deprecated and eventually replaced with short wave transmissions. As such, most of the sites were torn down. If other sites had remained the obvious choice would have been to inscribe the whole network.

The site in Grimeton remained in use for longer as long wave transmissions can contact submarines which short wave transmissions fail to do. The Swedish navy used Grimeton as a backup site and kept the site operational till the 80s. By then this was a historic landmark. Nowadays the still fully operational site is put into use three times a year, one being Christmas.

Getting There

The next larger town is Varberg and it’s well connected by train to both Copenhagen and Gothenburg. However, from Varberg it’s still quite a …

Having seen multiple rock art sites by now I am always stuck how similar early human art is. You find the same forms and patterns. On the other hand I am wondering why they couldn’t do any better. Most kids nowadays have a broader artistic range using more shapes than the adult creators of rock art back then. It goes to show how far mankind has come.

In the case of Tanum, it’s worthwhile pointing out that this is relatively recent rock art dating from 1000 BCE to 500 BCE, a time period where other European civilizations were starting to rise. Still, it’s a fascinating look back.

The sites are dispersed in the country side. I managed to see three: Vitlykckehälllen, Aspeberget and Litsleby. While small, Litsleby felt the most precious to me. The picture is from Aspeberget.

Regarding the use of paint to highlight the rock art I think it helps. I remember staring at stones in Valcamonica trying to spot something. But the choice of red as color felt too invasive. In Litsleby one site is painted in white and this works way better for me. Finally, they didn’t actually paint the icons in Falun Red, did they?

Getting There

Tanum is connected by train to Gothenburg and it is also a stop for busses connecting Gothenburg and Oslo. Both options will drop you off outside town. The busses will drop you off at the highway. There is a shopping center. The train …

Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia are a geologic wonderland, steeped in the history of the early Christian church. I visited Göreme National Park and the Derinkuyu underground city in the fall of 2007 as part of a two day tour of Cappadocia, in central Turkey. The town of Göreme, with its many cave hotels built into rock formations, is an excellent introduction to the region. All around the town are photogenic hoodoos, also called fairy chimneys. In the days of the early church, Christians found the soft rock of these wind-carved formations could be easily chipped away to create homes and churches. Today, some of their art can still be found inside the rock sanctuaries, though the faces of many of the saints have been scratched away. When the Arab-Byzantine wars began in the 8th century, the early Christian church in Cappadocia prepared to go underground, creating subterranean complexes such as the city of Derinkuyu, which was outfitted with stables, storage rooms, living spaces, and chapels. This was quite an amazing site to see. I hope that despite how long it has been since the last review, Göreme is still getting many visitors; it truly is a memorable landscape.

Logistics: Göreme and its national park may be reached by bus from most major cities in Turkey; the nearby city of Kayseri, east of Göreme, may also be reached by plane or train. Although there is much to see within walking distance of Göreme, private transportation makes …