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At the end of a Christmas visit to Switzerland in 2023, we had a day trip to Berne which is a beautiful town in the center of Switzerland. We walked down from the train station to the end of town and were right in time for the noon show at the main historic clock tower. In the town is also a small museum at the house where Albert Einstein lived. We ended the day at the small bear pit where the Berne bears are kept, although they apparently take a break in the winter so we did not see them. We then walked up to the great restaurant on top of the hill overlooking the town with a romantic view and good food. Then it was back to the train station. 

The site is a historic old town like many towns in Europe. Some of the things that make it stand out are the clock tower, the covered boulevard and the fact that the old town is protected on three sides by the river. Switzerland is easily accessible by plane or train and it is an easy walk from the train station. 

Site visited in September 2024. Band-E-Amir is a complex of wonderful lakes, created by natural travertine dams on rivers flowing down from the mountains of Hindukush. The lakes have vivid colors and are very transparent. Their intense color contrasts with the grey-brown shade of the surrounding mountains, forming cliffs several dozen meters high. The whole thing creates a postcard landscape and is absolutely unique. All this at an altitude of 2,900 m above sea level, which makes walking around the lakes difficult.

Band-E-Amir is the first national park in Afghanistan and until recently was a very popular tourist destination, with a decent hotel and restaurant infrastructure. Unfortunately, after taking power, the Taliban issued an idiotic ban on women entering the national park. Even the women from our Polish group had problems with entry, but fortunately our fixer finally managed to let them go. This senseless law resulted in a significant decline in visits to the park, as well as the closure of hotels and restaurants (in order for us to eat, our fixer had to ask a former restaurateur friend to prepare lunch for us). On some lakes you can rent pedal boats.

The complex is available from spring to autumn. You can also visit it in winter, but the lakes are covered with snow and frozen, which makes the charm of this place disappear. It is located about 5 hours from Kabul.

I think Band-e-Amir lakes should have their place on the list. There is no …

Site visited in September 2024. Compared to the very conservative Kandahar from which I came, Herat looks like a city from another era. "Another" in this case means better, more modern. Everything in Herat indicates a higher level of civilization - compact buildings, lots of greenery, clean and well-kept streets, functioning amusement parks, even women not covering their faces, and from time to time wearing a completely loose scarf. I didn't expect anything like this from Afghanistan.

Herat’s monuments are also of a completely different class. The city was founded during the Achamenid dynasty, expanded by Alexander the Great, it flourished during the Timurid times and was one of the largest cities in the world in the 15th century. Among the monuments that have survived in relatively good condition is, above all, the magnificent Great Friday Mosque, built in the 12th century on the ruins of a Zoroastrian temple, and expanded in the 15th century in the Timurid style. The mosque suffered some damage in the recent earthquake and requires many years of renovation, but its size and structure make it one of the greatest in the world.

The Citadel, built by Alexander and then expanded many times, has been almost completely restored. There are no artifacts inside, apart from the walls and buildings, and the former richness of decorations is only evidenced by fragments of original tiles here and there.

From the citadel we went to the Musalla Complex, the third great symbol …

Le Grand Ventron, September 2024

The Vosges mountain range in Alsace turns out to be surprisingly, well, mountainous, with steep cliffs, large boulders, and hair pinned mountain pass roads, which came as a little bit of a surprise to me, having grown up in the Alps myself, and expecting more of a landscape with gentle slopes and undulating hills.

I’m no tree expert, but the beech forests around the Grand Ventron mountain peak seem to owe their existence to a very specific local micro-climate. – Whereas the Vosges mountains themselves are generally fully covered by fir trees, the composition of the forest suddenly changes as you approach the top mountain ridge – quite abruptly, firs give way to beeches, but only so on the eastern side of the crest. This phenomenon can be nicely observed from the Promontoire Vosges-view point a little bit up from popular Col De la Schlucht mountain pass.

Meaning, of course, in order to visit the beech forests of Le Grand Ventron, you need to hike close to the top of the mountain ridge in a north-south direction, but on the eastern side only. This is confirmed by looking at the map of the core zone, which consists of a narrow strip of maybe some 7000 by 400 meters. – Too bad, then, that the Grand Ventron-hiking path goes along the western side of the ridge only, where there are lots of fir, but essentially no beeches. Hiking outside marked paths along the …

In October 2023, I had my first (and probably) only visit to this country and I took full advantage by visiting two UNESCO sites during my stay. I managed to keep the last day of my week free of meetings as I really wanted to go see life mud volcanoes. So, on Friday we took a full day field trip to check out all the sites in the country. The mud volcanoes are very close to the Gobustan UNESCO site and most people probably come on this trip to see them first. To me the mud volcanoes were the more impressive site which should probably be on the geologic list of places to see around the world. The Gobustan site was pretty impressive as well. The rock paintings that they have found here are from Neolithic age and show people have been living in this part of the world for a long time. There was a good part of the exhibition that shows the linkages between this site and other similar sites that I have visited like the one in France and the ones in Norway. Afterwards whole generations have lived and visited here including the Romans. The site and museum are very nicely done and organized with well markings and a good overview talking about the religions, geology etc. 

This site is on par with the other Neolithic sites around the world and maybe even has more paintings over a wider area than some of the others. However, …

In October 2023, I had my first (and probably) only visit to this country and I took full advantage by visiting two UNESCO sites during my stay. The hotel was close to the office and about a half an hour walk from the old town, To gather my thoughts of the day I started walking and made it to the Maiden tower which is one of the main center pieces of this UNESCO world heritage site. I had time to walk around it, take some pictures of the tower as well of some of the old sites that are exposed here. It was too late to get to the top itself. Later that week we came back and saw some more of the old town, like the Northern gate and the streets that are well cleaned up and restored in the center.

This site is on the UNESCO list as it is a historic place where civilization have been for 1000s of years and this has always been a central trading post between Russia, Iran, Turkey and other places. The old town is still clearly present in between the rest of the city and it has been nicely restored. However, the importance is more regionally than globally and it is not a first tier site that anybody in the world would recognize. I am glad I was able to travel here and check out two UNESCO sites, but this is not normally a place a tourist would come to. …

Visited in June 2024. For such a grand serial site, the Silk Road, it's a shame that I only had time to visit one component of it in Xi'an: the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda lives up to its name. It's giant (but doesn't look like a goose) and rises above of all the modern stuff that has been built around it. When you arrive to the district where the pagoda is located you wouldn't believe first that there is a very historical monument somewhere nearby. The district is more like an open-air shopping mall with all the international brands you can think of. But in the middle of it all rises the ancient pagoda, still looking magnificent and mystical despite all the modern entertainment around it.

With small entry fee you can enter the Daci'en Temple area around the pagoda and visiting inside the pagoda is with extra fee. We didn't pay the entry for the pagoda as we were in a rush to catch our train but wanted to see this site before departing Xi'an. The Giant Wild Goose Pagoda was built in around 648 – 649 during the Tang dynasty and is famous for holding Buddhist sutras and statues that were brought from India. The visit is worthwhile even if you just stroll around the Daci'en Temple area without going inside the pagoda. The temple is very busy with people praying and taking photos. I thought the temple buildings were beautiful and …

I have been to Richmond many times for work before, but never really realized how close this is to the UNESCO world heritage site of Kew Gardens. This site is basically at the end of Richmond and you could almost walk to it if you had an hour. I was just in time to get into the park and the main green house as they closed around 6pm. These green houses and gardens contain samples from plants from all around the world that had been collected by various British scientists over the years while the British built their empire and traveled all around the world. It has some very nice gardens with a variety of plants and gardens. Of course, one of the plants I was most impressed with was the gunnera which we had in our front yard when I was growing up and I found in this park. It took me a while to find the UNESCO sign, but I finally found one in one of the guidebooks.

This site is known from one of the first World’s Fair sites in 1851 but probably not the highlight for people visiting London. It is a bit out of the way for people visiting downtown London. The site is however close to Heathrow the major airport in town.

I visited this sight around Christmas of 2021 when I was visiting Holland by myself and was driving from The Hague to Breda. As many times before (either by train or by car) I drove by this factory which is in Northern Rotterdam, not that far from Delft where I studied. As I had some extra time and had never visited before and was driving right by the site I decided to have quick stop. So I did, I walked around the building which is now an office for start up companies and took pictures from all angles. There are tours but as the country was in COVID lockdown, I was not able to go inside. I tried to find a UNESCO sign but was not successful.

This factory is known for its architecture and must have a quite heavy lobby group as I am not that convinced this is UNESCO heritage worthy. The factory is easy to drive to and probably accessible by public transportation as well as anything in the Netherlands.

In 2017, we took a two week long trip to California, starting in Los Angeles and driving from there to San Francisco. Along the way, we stopped in Yosemite National Park, where we stayed in a motel close to the entrance. We found out when we got there that we needed to get up super early to make sure we had a parking spot in the park. We should have investigated finding a place to stay in the park, but it was too late for that. This park is very impressive with beautiful views and water falls but also a bit of a tourist trap due to long lines for parking and for lunch. We did make a nice walk at the end of the park and again took tons of pictures. 

Yosemite is maybe the ultimate original United States National Park of them all, it is here that John Muir convinced Teddy Roosevelt that nature needed to be appreciated and preserved. This might not be the actual truth, but this is what I learned during our visit to this park. This valley is majestic with tons of beautiful steep cliffs, waterfalls, hiking trails, a true natural wonder. The downside is that it might be a bit too touristy, especially the limited access in the summer is annoying. I need to come back and spend a night camping in the park, so I can experience the park when the tourists leave and the stars come out. 

In 2014, we took a long weekend trip to New York. t was the first time I stayed in New York after two previous short day trips. We found out this city has lots to offer as we saw tons of sights and barely made it of the island or even North of Central Park. One of our trips was to Central park and while there we took some pictures on the outside of the Guggenheim museum, a UNESCO world heritage site. We did not go in however, and visited the museum of Natural history on the other side of the park instead.

This UNESCO site apparently consists out of five buildings of which I have only visited one so far. And that one I have only seen from the outside. Still plenty to explore. This building is famous around the world as well as the museum that is in it. New York is of course very easily accessible from anywhere as long as you can beat the traffic.

In 2014, we took a long weekend trip to New York. It was the first time I stayed in New York after two previous short day trips. We found out this city has lots to offer as we saw tons of sights and barely made it of the island or even North of Central Park. On Saturday we did make it off the island as we took a tour to the Statue of Liberty, one the most touristy sites in the U.S. I had not visited yet. We got of the island, walked around the statue and took tons of pictures from the island and from the ferry. We took a picture of me on Ellis Island.

This statue is probably one of the most easily recognizable statues around the world and a symbol for the U.S. and the freedom it represents. It would probably make the top ten most recognizable places in the world. New York is of course very easily accessible from anywhere, however you can only get to the island using official tours which need to be booked in advance as they sell out easily.

I think 1.5 stars is appropriate for the Bethlehem site, it is newly established this year and I enjoyed my visit but there is much to be desired, which I do think that they are working on. Give this site more funding and staffing and I believe it can be a great site, up to 3 stars. It's an extremely interesting history and they are working on restoring the destroyed buildings. It is not worth more than half a day in my opinion with the Museum and a short stroll visiting the buildings you can read every plaque in that time. The employees are all very passionate there and love the sites, it's clear there is a lot of care that just needs funding. 

Well before our visit, I made contacts with the UNESCO liaison office for Aasivissuit-Nipisat-it is a small group of 3 dedicated officers based in Sisimiut and Kangerlussuaq. One of them is the park ranger, Christian who patrols the area every day and calls it his office, exactly 585,000 football fields large! We rented a car (an adventure on itself to find it, price around 100 Euros) and Christian volunteered as driver and probably the best guide you could find, as he knows some hidden archaeological places along the road to the ice cap and Point 660. Like remains of hunting grounds, and places where the rendeer meat was dried before transport to the camps. As he works full time, he is normally available late afternoon. He can be contacted under chpj@qeqqata@gland one has to agree with him time and fees, but it is more economical than the organized tour, and the emphasis is the Inuit Hunting grounds, not the ice bergs. As we traveled privately, we could stop at any photo opportunity along the way which there are plenty. The landscape is amazing. Christian also has a fleet of 10 electric fatbikes which are offroad bicycles with oversized tyres, perfect for the long gravel roads and a sustainable way to discover the beauty of Greenland. In October 2024, the new road from Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut should be opened, providing yet another opportunity to discover the UNESCO core zone in the opposite direction to the sea shore. You could bring your …

Warsaw Old Town was razed by the Nazis in 1944, so the WHS designation was awarded for the restoration effort that is still ongoing. As such, we had to view it as a construction project instead of an old town. The job done is remarkable, but one always wonders if things are made more for the tourists, which are many. Mea culpa. As a tourist site, it is pleasant enough, with broad squares, the church spires, classical and Gothic architecture abound. But there isn’t anything that makes it different from any other old European city. There are no WHS class churches, no architecture master pieces, no stunning river views.

It’s worth a visit for the 20th Century history, along with other scars. 

La Manufacture à Saint- Dié, September 2024

Saint-Dié-des-Vosges is a truly enjoyable little town which boasts two world heritage sites: a small World War I nécropole some 30 minutes walking distance in the eastern suburbs, and of course the famous Duval factory building, the only one of its kind ever realized by Le Corbusier.

Progressive industrialist Jean-Jacques Duval somehow managed to convince the Great Architect to visit the far countryside in order to rebuild his hosiery factory, destroyed during World War II. Constructed during 1948 and 1951 and based entirely on Le Corbusier’s “Modulor”-principles, the building remains in tip-top shape, and was apparently recently renovated. The only qualm I have is that the typical primary-colored ceilings of the pillared ground floor (large red, blue, and yellow surfaces) have not been restored (why?) and remain barely visible today.

The factory remains in active use, surrounded by a brightly blue-colored fence, and I’m not sure it can be visited easily, but some plaques around the building tell the story of the factory and its significance in three languages.

There’s an interesting back story to Saint-Dié-des-Vosges: As the German troops were retreating from Alsace in November 1944, Saint-Dié-des-Vosges was largely destroyed and needed to be completely rebuilt from scratch after the war. As Le Corbusier was already onsite and involved in the planning for rebuilding the local factory of his friend Jean-Jacques Duval, in 1945 he put forward an unsolicited proposal for a radical new city based on his …

I believe there were some updates in the last few years because there are clear signs when you enter the UNESCO area as well as maps to explain which area are the UNESCO area. Knowing this you don't waste your time exploring the northern playground part and go directly to the area you want. I saw NORTH because that's what the maps shows but Singapore has the tendandency to show a map with north going not up so I don't actually know.

Most of the park is free aside from the Orchid Garden which costs a small fee. It's definitely worth seeing the orchids. The outside one have blatantly been planted but the greenhouse alone is worth seeing. You should also go through it twice just to enjoy the lovely flowers. The rest of the botanical garden is rather meh.

There are lizards, turtles, birds, many plants and treees, you won't be disappointed really. There are also temp special exhibitions that don't really related the the world heritage such as fig plants (it keeps changing, I think figs was 2024). It's good to be in an air-conditioned section though.

On my second visit I wanted to see parts of the gardens I hadn't visited before but during the day this doesn't seem to be special. I think at night the frogs, spiders, bats?, even snakes come out. At last when it gets darker. The entire "rainforest" section was empty during the day although I still preferred that …

I went to Badain years ago. It is best combined with the Zhangye Danxia because of the close proximity - at least for China. These days you can fly into Jinchang and get a taxi from there. From Zhangye I had a driver taking me to the entrance of the park which is 2-3 hours driving so you leave really early or stay in the park which is usually recommended. I didn't because I saw all I wanted within a day. The entrance of the park doesn't really have much to do.

After paying for the ticket (expensive by the way) you can roam around the park but it's still far to trek anywhere so your best bet is to rent a jeep the park offers. It will save you so much time. It can take you through the park to the "thousands of lakes in the desert" although Badain Lake (巴丹湖) is the most popular one which is probably why you need ANOTHER ticket just to enter that area. The main thing to see in my opinion are the various lakes (doesn't have to be Badain Lake), the huuuuuge sand dunes and the singing sand (or singing dunes if you prefer). The famous Bilutu Peak is just in-between the many lakes.

After perhaps 4-5 hours inside the park it was time to go back which means exchanging cars and a long drive back (to Zhangye or Jinchang).

Overall this is an expensive trip because the driver …

It has been a dream of mine to visit Angkor since i was a child, and the experience was perhaps even better than I could have imagined! Massive would be an understatement for the scale of this place. There are enough ruins here to keep you occupied for days, and then some. Angkor wat itself is of course a highlight, but don't miss Banteay Srei! Its a bit out there compared to the others but the artwork is amazing. It is totally worth it to get up early for the sunrise over angkor wat. Stay later for the sunset too! 

I'm torn with this review. On one hand humayun's tomb has a privileged place in mughal history as the first of the monumental musoleums that would end with the iconic Taj mahal. On the other hand I feel the techniques that would make the Taj mahal the masterpiece it is, hadn't yet shone through. The structure lacks the striking verticality of later mughal structures and the decoration with pietradura had yet to be perfected. This leaves the mausoleum rather plain, though the alternation of marble and sandstone somewhat lessens this.

On another note it's refreshingly empty compared with the utterly overcrowded Taj mahal and it includes a number of lesser mausoleums which are indeed very interesting and some utterly devoid of tourists. Such as the striking tomb of Isa Khan Niazi (photo), a noble from the courts of Sher Shah Suri, the man who gave the mughals a run for their money.