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Across a week in Kyoto I hit up nine of the sites making up this World Heritage Site. Of those, only Saiho-ji has escaped comment on this site. It was one of my must-do sites and didn't disappoint. Until recently (I suspect being part of the reason it's been avoided by this community) visitors have had to send a postcard to the temple, but this has fortunately changed in recent years to allow online booking. I procrastinated until a few nights before and was still able to get a slot that worked for me, though the early time did necessitate getting a taxi all the way from Higashiyama. Entry is linked to a timed slot, but once you get in you have a fair bit of freedom. In the main hall you're provided with a sutra and a calligraphy brush with which to trace. It's a very soothing experience and I was able to enjoy the spiritual angle a bit deeper than in other elements of the WHS. With that done you can pass back through the main hall, get a surprisingly quirky goshuin if that's your thing (I recommend it, it's an art book and diary of your religious visits all in one!), and then proceed to the famous moss garden. It goes without saying that it's absolutely beautiful, especially whenever the sun cuts through the branches of the trees and bounces against the central shallow lake.

Quickly covering the other sites I visited - Kinkaku-ji is the …

Visited on a group tour to Syria in April 2023.

Perhaps the most famous castle of the Crusaders, built by the Order of Hospitallers to protect the pilgrims' routes to the Holy Land. The line of fortifications was so serious that even Saladin's troops could not take it by force.Only in the Mamluk time Baybars managed to capture the castle by deception, when the power of the order was already in decline.The castle was restored during the French mandate, but during the civil war Jihadists settled here, who had to be driven out of the castle with the help of Russian aircraft. The destroyed tower has already been restored by Hungarian historians, and only in the inner courtyard, at the foot of the dungeon, by tower of the Grand Master of the Hospitallers, is a gaping hole from a Russian bomb.For the first time I saw a plaque with the UNESCO logo riddled with bullets.

I visited the Bom Jesus do Monte whs on oct the 21st,2024.

Early in the morning I took the empty bus nr.2 in Braga's beautiful city centre to the Bom Jesus area where I arrived around 8.30 am.The last bus stop for bus number 2 was right next to the historical funicular and the stairs. According to google, the area should open its doors at 10:00. Absolute nonsense! I climbed up the historic stairs, giving myself enough time to closely inspect each of the small chapels with their wonderful figures depitcting scenes from the Bible. I needed around 45 minutes to reach the top level.  

Apart from 2-3 joggers and a nun I didnt encounter any other human being on my way up. However,when I reached the level with the basilica,the hotel and the cafe I already saw quite a few tourists. I intended to enter the basilica,but a religious ceremony was in progress and I didnt want to disturb the believers.

Instead, I bought some expensive and bad coffee and sat on a bench. There I enjoyed the sun for a while (and less my bad coffee). After 15 minutes I got up and wanted to go to the basilica when I noticed the hordes of tourists who were now populating the upper level. I hadn't even realized that hundreds of people had arrived within a very short time. Several groups with their guides were running back and forth taking pictures of every stone and plant.

Visited in April 2024. What a fun little site! That was my initial reaction after visiting the Eise Eisinga Planetarium. Sites like these make the World Heritage hunting worthwhile. I'm not a huge space or planetarium enthusiast, so I would have most likely skipped this place if I had stopped for whatever reason in Franeker, the town where the planetarium is located. But because the planetarium is a WHS, that was my sole reason to arrive in lovely Franeker.

When you arrive to the planetarium you're first surprised how small the building is. After getting your ticket you first walk through a basic planetarium exhibition, mostly geared towards children, and I happened to share my visit with a group of pre-school children, who were more interested of the sound that the wooden floors make when you run on them than anything space related. I watched a video about Eise Eisinga, the mastermind behind the planetarium, and walked through the exhibition rooms that told the history of astronomy, Eisinga's family and the town on Franeker. It was interesting to learn that Franeker used to be a bustling university town until Napoleon destroyed the university.

The entrance ticket includes a guided visit to the actual planetarium room. These are held in Dutch and English and they announce when the next one starts on the central radio. I was quite surprised that I wasn't the only one in the English briefing on that day (weekday in April). I have to say, …

Since this site’s inscription in 2023, I had a mental block about it caused by its name. I had no idea what “Evaporitic” meant (the Dutch Wikipedia page referring to this WHS conveniently leaves this word out), and then there is also the always-dreaded “Caves”. I didn’t rush to go there, but a trip with my Art History friends to Northern Italy prompted me to add a day in Bologna to get this one over with.

Speleology is at least half of its OUV, but the horror stories of Tsunami were enough for me to not try that here. So I took a different approach to the Gessi Bolognesi: cruising around the landscape on an e-bike, looking for visible gypsum strata and ‘holes’ in the rock walls.

-- First: Geology for Dummies --

“Evaporitic Karst” just means rock with holes and dents in it (such as caves and sinkholes). They could have easily called the WHS “Gypsum Karst” but to be precise there’s another mineral (anhydrite) in there as well. Both are relatively soft and soluble and thus evaporate easily when in contact with water. Another big word to know in this context is “epigenic” – meaning that they (the gypsum/anhydrite sediment layers) were formed later than the surrounding or underlying rock formations. 

-- So I finally figured it out. End of lesson --

Bike rental in Bologna turned out to be a completely different experience from what I had in Japan just 2 …

I visited the Alcobaca monastery on oct.the 11th,2024.

I arrived in Alcobaca around 11.45 am and went straight to the tourist office (inside the museum of the speaking machines,free entry,quite interesting) where I could leave my bag till 18.00. Not really necessary as the monastery also has lockers,but I hadnt known this before.

I first entered the church of the Alcobaca monastery (free admission) where the tombs of King Pedro and Lady de Castro are. The church itself is characterized by an elegant simplicity that can only be described as beautiful. I was positively surprised as my expectations for churches are not that high nowadays. I guess I have seen too many in my life. I then went to the cistercian monastery's entrance and started my tour through the unesco heritage place. First the Sala Dos Reis( Kings' room) ...through the Dinis Cloister which gives access to the other main rooms. Then to the Sala do Capitulo,from there to the Common Dormitory on the top floor, from where I could see the tombs of King Pedro and Lady Ines de Castro through a window, that once gave direct access to the church. The refectory is linked to the stunningly large kitchen with its its enormous chimney.From there I went to the upper floor by taking the tight spiral stairs from where I had another astonishing view of the kitchen. From the upper floor you can have a look at another not accessible monastery garden.And dont miss out on …

I visited the monastery of Batalha on the 12th of oct.,2024.

The day before I had visited the monastery in Alcobaca which had surprised me very positively with its elegant simplicity. A true jewel.Therefore my expectations were quite high when I entered the monastery in Batalha.

I had reached Batalha the previous evening and after checking in at my hotel, I had immediately gone to the monastery to circle it completely twice in the dark and also have a beer in a bar right next to the monastery.

The monastery looked quite promising from the outside, especially its wide main entrace portico. I entered the church exactly when it opened at 9.00. A big group with its guide also entered the church but left it quickly again which made me think that I should follow them as I couldnt find the entrance of the monastery. 

I overtook the group at the last moment so that I didn't have to wait endless minutes at the entrance ticket office. I bought my ticket and hurried to enter the monastery interior because I didn't want the large group to be constantly behind me.

I almost ran into a group of portuguese soldiers who were on the way of honouring the unknown soldier by standing guard every full hour in one of the side room of the royal cloister. I went through all parts of the gothic monastery....the royal cloister...the chapterhouse...the unfinished capella.I spent more or less 45 minutes …

I visited this site after I visited Angkor, which in hindsight may not have been the best idea, as no other set of ruins in the area can compare to it. However, it is a nice site and deserves a visit. I particularly enjoyed the buddha statue that got entwined with the tree roots. It is also relatively crowd-free, at least on the day that I was there. These temples are in true ruins (unlike angkor, which is very much reconstructed) and offers a different atmosphere. 

However, like others have stated, what UNESCO chose to include and exclude from the site area is a bit confusing. Some of the most notable temples were not included within the site. Also, the city around the ruins is not that pleasant, and there were people riding elephants in the vicinity, which I find unethical. 

Overall I found this worth a visit, but perhaps in a visit leading up to Angkor to avoid comparisons. 

I visited the Douro valley on the 18th and 19th of oct.2024.On the 18th I took the train from Porto-Campanha to Pinhao at 7:25, where I arrived a little late at around 10:00. At 10.30 I had a 2 hour trip with the rebelo boat of the magnifico douro company upriver to Tua and back to Pinhao. Nice,but nothing special. Afterwards I strolled across the Pinhao bridge and entered the Quinta das Carvalhas, where I took part in a wine tasting of white wines; not a single one of the white wines appealed to me.I had been to Porto/Vila Nova de Gaia several times and had already taken part in 3 wine tastings at various Porto houses, so this time I preferred white wine. Disappointing! I had another Porto wine, but it didn't really convince me either. Afterwards I wandered around Pinhao for about an hour. At 4:40 p.m. I took the train to Pocinho, where I arrived around 5:30 p.m. The train route between Porto and Regua is quite boring, the one between Regua and Pinhao is much more interesting, but the one between Pinhao and Pocinho was certainly the highlight of my entire Douro valley visit.I had planned to walk or hitchhike from Pocinho station to Vila Nova de Foz; there were no taxis at the train station.However, I was lucky, after about 300 meters walking towards Vila Nova de Foz a taxi came towards me, so I stopped it and it took me to the youth hostel …

I visited the palacio nacional de Mafra and its royal basilica and the adjacent park jardim do cerco on the 9th of oct.2024.

There are frequent buses between Lisboa's Campo Grande bus station and Mafra.

There are no toilets in the huge palace...there is a free one near the palace entrance.The palace itself is large and tiring with its endless corridors and junk from bygone times...it felt like you were in a huge closet full of things that were simply put together in different rooms. Everything seemed disharmonious,...there was no consistent line...everything felt randomly arranged. Underwhelming world heritage site. The adjacent garden do Cerco with its aviaries was also relatively unimportant. The basilica is mildly interesting. I like palaces,but this one was surprisingly boring and underwhelming. 

Just one recomendation: try to visit the Queluz palace in Lisboa's outskirts........fantastic....one of the most beautiful ones I have seen in my life. Mafra cant hold a candle to Queluz IMO.

Visited April 2023.The first thing to understand is that Anjar is located on the Lebanese-Syrian border, a region controlled by Hezbollah, it adds additional instability. When I visited, the situation was calm, but this phenomenon is rare here, you have to watch for periods of peace.I was traveling from Beirut to Syria with a tourist group that was going to explore Syria, and I asked to see this object as well, the city is located exactly in the middle of the road between Beirut and Damascus. It is the legacy of the first dynasty of Umayyad caliphs. In Jordan, I saw palaces built by them in the desert, scientists argue about their function, and here it is not known exactly why this city was built.There is a real mix of cultures in Anjar, the general plan of a rectangular fortress with two large streets that intersect under the tetrapylon is borrowed from the layout of Roman military camps. At the same time, Byzantine masonry and decorative elements were used extensively, and thermal baths were borrowed from the Byzantines too.It is interesting that the city existed for a short time, about 40 years, and was completely abandoned when the Umayyads were defeated.

I visited the "Algar do Carvao" on octobre the 16th,2024.

The Azores are home to no fewer than around 1700 volcanoes! Algar de Carvão is one of them. However, this volcano is no longer active. Today it is a 90 meter deep cave that was created thousands of years ago by volcanic activity. It is a volcanic vent that you enter. The upper part is covered in greenery due to the incidence of light and humidity. You descend up to 90 meters underground, where there is a small but up to 15 meter deep lake. Several platforms offer a view of various rock formations. The most beautiful thing, however, is the view outside. The sun shines through the large hole in the ceiling and ensures that a large edge of the chimney is lush with bushes, mosses, lichens and ferns. Some endemic species are also said to grow in the volcanic vent. Algar de Carvão is located just 12 kilometers from the capital of Terceira, Angra do Heroísmo. You can buy a combination ticket for the Algar do Carvao and the Gruta Natal (pretty boring) for €15.

I for my part wasnt very impressed and after around 20 minutes I ended my visit there. I didnt see any endemic life form nor any life form at all inside the Algar apart from some fellow tourists.

I then left the Algar do Carvao and when on the way back to the parking lots I spotted a hiking trail …

Built in the 18th century, the Águas Livres aqueduct runs across and through Lisbon and offers some of the best views of the city. It is a well-preserved series of 109 stone arches and was built in 1744 to bring clean drinking water to the city's residents. The historic structure still stands tall and survived the massive 1755 earthquake without damage. The main arches extend for 18 kilometers, with the entire aqueduct being almost around 60 kilometers long. At its highest point the arches rise 65 meters high. It was the largest arch in the world at the time of its construction.

A walk along the top grants viewpoints on both sides of the city's river. Although high up, the passageways are wide and the Museu da Água (Water Museum) at its base explains the history of the complex water systems and structures here.

There is a sign outside the ticket office with an overview drawing of the entire canal and a few explanations,nothing more.I came by bus and got off at Campolide station, which is almost directly under the Aqueduct. You could take some good photos from there, but then you have to go up the steep path to get to the Museu do Agua, where I entered the area. Outside the ticket office there is a sign with an overview of the entire canal and a few explanations. I was the only visitor, but there shortly before 5 p.m. (5 p.m. was the last entrance, the …

I visited Glacier national park in August of 2023. While I have been to a significant chunk of national parks in the US, Glacier easily takes one of the top spots due to its amazing scenery and outstanding hiking opportunities. However, you have to really plan ahead in order to fully enjoy the park.

The NPS has implemented a reservation system for vehicles in order to control the amount of visitors coming into the park. While that keeps the park from completely falling apart at the seams every summer, it is also frustrating to deal with. Last year, they expanded the system to not only include Going to the Sun Road, but other areas of the park like Many Glacier. They release the vehicle tickets 3 months before, but just like concert tickets, you have to be ready to get them as soon as they release. You can circumvent this by staying inside the park, which is what we did. We had to reserve our hotel almost a year in advance, but at that point we were desperate to get in. 

You can also get up extremely early to get past the road checkpoints before they are manned, but be warned that many other people have the exact same idea. We got up at 4am to drive to the trailhead for Grinnell Glacier, and the parking lot was full before the sun had a chance to rise! 

This leads me to another point, which is that the …

Okefenokee, the land of trembling earth. Or perhaps etymologically, "bubbling water". Either origin describes this swamp well -- a land of peat and springs which serves as the headwaters for two rivers at the north end of the Florida peninsula. The Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is aiming for inscription on the World Heritage Site list in 2026, so in July 2023 I took a trip down to southern Georgia to see what makes the swamp unique, especially in relation to the Everglades in neighboring Florida.

The Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia can be accessed through three points of entry: the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the east side of the swamp, the privately-owned Okefenokee Swamp Park on the north side, and Stephen C. Foster State Park on the west side. I started off with a morning visit to the National Wildlife Refuge, where I arrived early enough to take the first boat tour of the day. An alligator statue greets visitors outside the main visitor center, and indeed there were alligators swimming around the boat dock area when we departed. The boat tour starts off down the Suwanee canal before turning off into lakes strewn with water lilies. Cypress trees covered in Spanish moss lined the waterways, and birdlife, including owls, ibises, egrets, and herons, was abundant. We drew close to the edge of an island in the middle of one of the lakes to see carnivorous pitcher plants, which feed on insects within the swamp. Although I didn't take …

I’m generally wary of sites in the “something important happened here, but is no longer actually here” category, but Yin Xu was a pleasant surprise. As Els noted in her review, there are two components to this site: the old city, and the royal tombs. But the highlight of this site isn’t actually on the list: the gleaming new museum which had only just opened when we visited in August 2024.

The site is largely focused on the Shang Dynasty, which lasted from approximately 1700-1000 BCE. Most of what we know about the Shang comes from their writing system, inscribed in tiny characters on tortoise shells and other animal bones. It’s considered the birthplace of Chinese writing, and many modern Chinese characters have directly evolved from their Shang equivalents.

We started with the old city, which is still the main dig site and home of the former museum (which is now mostly closed). There were some interesting signs with a surprising amount of English, but the buildings themselves weren’t particularly impressive. Houses and other buildings are laid out with small posts, concrete and bricks, though the use of modern materials made me a little sceptical. One of the buildings had a large pit with multiple chariots, but it wasn’t entirely clear whether they were originals or replicas.

The highlight here was a long series of signs, each showing a Shang dynasty character, what the character meant, what it can tell us about Shang culture, and the modern …

Falu Gruva is the most famous mine in the history of Sweden, where copper mining began in the early Middle Ages, then reached its largest scale in the 17th century, when about 1,300 miners worked here. Mined copper allowed Sweden to conduct military aggression and pay for its expenses with coins. By the end of the 18th century, the copper reserves were exhausted, in 1992 the mine was closed forever.

There are about 30 km of underground tunnels, but the excursion down is quite short and modest (although I have not been to the copper mines yet, so I ticked the box).

I was much more impressed by the walk around the "Great Pit", which was formed when the entire complex of dug tunnels collapsed in 1687. Fortunately, it happened on the Midsommar holiday, so miraculously no one died.

The town that was formed around metal mining is included in the UNESCO list too. The main square of the city (Stora Torget) is specially highlighted as a separate part of the object. To be honest, I didn't see any special urban ensemble, yes, the Kristine kyrke church dominates with baroque interiors, there is a lot of free space that was filled on holidays with fairs, town hall and several representative buildings from the 19th century. The monument to the leader of the popular uprising, Engelbrecht, stands out.

Falun was the second largest city in Sweden in 17th century, it's hard to believe it now.

Regional …

In the summer of 2010 before we said goodbye to Norway, we had one final roadtrip to visit a large part of this country. We drove as far North as Lofoten, then cut across to Sweden and came back south through there. On the way back, Becki and Jasper flew from Lulea to Stockholm while I drove the car through boring forests for ten hours. About halfway there is this WHS which is of geological importance as it is the fastest rising place in the world due to the glacier melting. They had a nice visitor center and a map with the UNESCO sign, so I was happy while I took a picture. For the rest this place is not very exciting, a lot of trees, water and I am sure a lot of mosquitoes.  

The place is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but I guess that is relative as it is still in a western country within hours of an airport and easily to reach by car from Stockholm. Maybe I should have stayed longer and done some hiking reading from the other reviews, but I had to get back on the road.

I was not going to do a review on this well-known World Heritage Site, however I noticed that the last review was undertaken in 2018, so thought an update would be good. We visited in October 2024 in the shoulder season. All our research indicated that the best option for us due to time and maximising the views of waterfalls, was walk C and to leave from Entrance 1. But more importantly to get there before 9.00am to avoid the crowds. The Park opens at 7.00. We had a hire car and left Zagreb around 6.00am with a short coffee stop at Rastoke village along the way, a small village with waterfalls cascading through the village and parks. A pleasant stop.

Arriving at Entrance 1 around 8.15am, the carpark was still quite busy but easy to find a close carpark after picking up your automated ticket at the parking entrance. A short walk over the main road by a bridge takes you to the main office where we purchased 2 adult tickets for 46 Euro. A separate office next door was selling maps for 3 Euro. You don't need though, unless you want specifically for a memento as you just need to take a photo the map board. The cost is for the entrance for the day, no matter what walk you choose.

Walk C took us to both the upper and lower lakes, which was an easy walk, although if you have mobility issues or use a …

You can walk around the area in maybe 4 hours. I would find it hard to imagine you spend more time EVEN if you have a guide. Most of what you see here are churches, much uglier than European based ones, and the main interest is that they were brought here and thus brought Christianity to the area.

It's also confusing if only churches are inscribed or the entire area. The local signs will guide you to the UNESCO Viceroys Arch, Adil Shah Palace Gateway which is in front of the perhaps Cajetan (locally called Church of Divine), the Archaeological Museum, but since it's not far off what you visit anyway you can take the quick walk down.

I started with the largest: Bom Jesus. It's one of three old churches still actively used nowadays. It also says no guides are allowed inside but I saw a couple enter the Cajetan church with one so it might not be a big deal. As I mentioned before the churches aren't grand in any way. It's true that this one is large, has a courtyard, many places to visit, but I still managed to get through all in a short time. I actually spent most of the time in the back garden (near the toilet) because it was idyllic - the toilet is still a bit off so don't get the wrong idea!

Afterwards it's time to walk a bit further. The St. Augustine remains won't take long to …