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Cesky Krumlov is like something out of a fairy tale. You can almost imagine knights riding down the streets and princesses waiting to be rescued from the castle! I recently spent three days there and enjoyed every minute. It is the kind of place that everyone hopes to find in central Europe.

The whole place is in excellent condition and rates as one of the best WHSs that I have ever visited.

Telc is a wonderful place to spend a day or so. It isn't a large site - really nothing more than a town square, but that square is well worth it's place on the list. The facades of the buildings are in excellent condition and are some of the most beautiful in the Czech Republic. It is also relatively free of tourists. A visit to Telc is recommended.

I was station engineer on Aldabra 1973-1976. I was also on the construction team in the late sixties when the station was first built. Aldabra was, (and I'm sure still is) a fascinating place. We used to take great care during the turtle breeding season to keep lighting on the station to a minimum so as not to confuse the hatchlings when they left the nest. They had enough predators to contend with without us adding to their problems. Crows, crabs, rails, all knew when the nests were ready to erupt; all this before they even reached the sea.

I am very pleased to see that the station is now a World Heritage Site

This must be one of the largest sites in area in the world. Glacier Bay is best seen from a boat. Even the view from a large cruise ship is unforgettable. An echoing rifle shot crack of the glaciers calving warns you of a giant splash and sea otters and whales can be seen from the waters.

Tatshenshini-Alsek doesn't have many roads but is full of wildlife, wide open spaces without even a power line or a road to spoil the view. Wrangell St. Elias has some of the largest mountains in North America as well as a historic abandoned copper mine.

You need at least 2 weeks to see this site properly. Pack warm!

Abu Simbel is just 40 km from the Sudan and 100 km from any decent sized Egyptian city. The best way to visit is to fly there from Luxor or Aswan. Return flights are less than US$80. The temple was completely dismantled and moved to a higher site when the Aswan High Dam was constructed. If that hadn't happened, the site would be 60m underwater right now. That action was UNESCO World Heritage's first big save at an expense of US$40M in the 1960's and 70's.

Abu Simbel is massive and is perched high on a cliff at the edge of Lake Nasser. The 4 statues of Ramses II at the entrance are more than 30ft high each. The interior is covered with exceptional carvings and paintings.

Philae is at the edge of Aswan also on Lake Nasser. You have to take a quick ferry to get there. This is considered the most beautiful temple in Egypt -- (sort of their Aphrodite). ALthough the structures are less intact that most other Egyptian temples, the island site is beautiful, especially at sunset.

Abu Mena is not an easy place to visit. It's about 90km West and a bit south from Alexandria. You have to take a taxi which should cost about US$20. The monastery is huge with lots of buildings, a beautiful basilica that is currently being restored. The current Egyptian craftsmanship is far better than anything else being done in the country right now. The ancient monastery archaeology site is off limits to tourists and is virtually impossible to even find on your own. There must have been 2,000 people at the monastery when I visited in September 2004 but I couldn't find one who spoke English, Spanish or French. The ride itself, out through the desert and past a huge abandoned industrial park is worth the trip alone. Take bottled water - none is available at the monastery. St. Mina was an interesting guy. This is the site where the camel carrying his body to burial stopped. A healing spring miraculously started here and many pilgrims came for healing.

I first visited the Viking village of Birka and Hovgården on the small islands of Björkö and Adelsö in Lake Mälaren during a school excursion in 1969 when I was only 7 years old. And similar to later trips in my life I have always used the tourboats that departs from the Town Hall in central Stockholm to approach the islands, a journey that continues to be an immensely popular day-trip for both Swedes and foreigners, visiting Stockholm in the summer..

And summer it has to be, since it is only possible to visit Birka on the island of Björkö from June to August. During the winter you can still visit Hovgården through a quite complicated and time-consuming bus ride from Stockholm but don’t bother with this unless you are manically into Swedish Viking remains.

Birka dates back to the 8th century when a Swedish King (name unknown) founded the city of Birka on the island Björkö. Foreign merchants made their way here from near and far and in its heydays more than 700 people lived and worked here. By the end of the 10th century, Birka’s position as trade center was taken over by nearby Sigtuna and Björkö was abandoned.

The advice for the first time visitor is to keep your expectation low. Don’t expect to find a full-fledged Viking town on Björkö. The truth is rather that there are actually NO visible remains from the Viking age on either Birka or Hovgården apart from the thousands and thousands …

I toured the caverns on September 3rd. I took the natural entrance route and the Big Room tour, then came back up on the elevator which penetrates through 750 feet of solid rock back up to the visitor center. I then came back in the evening to watch the bats on their daily exodus in search of dinner. The Chihuahuan Desert is alive with birds, insects and other creatures and is quite scenic to take in this time of year, with all the flowers in bloom.

Instead of staying in the motel near the park entrance, I opted for a much cheaper room 20 miles up the road in the town of Carlsbad.

The next day I went hiking in Guadalupe Mountains National Park, about an hour south of the caves.

After a long and hot summer trip to Greece I decided to wind down for a couple of days in my beautiful neighboring country Norway. I had already visited most of the World Heritage Sites in Scandinavia but not yet the Stave Church of Urnes, a fact that had annoyed me for some time. So it was now high time to “tick it off” as my 146th site. Once in Oslo I embarked on the Bergen-train and traveled up the mountains to Myrdal where I hopped off in order to take the world-famous Flåm-banan down to the fjords and here catch a connecting bus to Sogndal.

Flåm-banen is a major tourist attraction in itself and as the train slowly makes its 860 meters way down to the fjords, through tunnels and mountainsides, you can enjoy a wonderful view including mountains, waterfalls and small villages. In Flåm you can catch ferries to Bergen and other destinations along the Norwegian coast.

My bus trip from Flåm to Sogndal took about 2 hours and on it’s way it passed through the 24,5 km long Laerdal-tunnel, the longest tunnel in the world. At the time I was ignorant enough not to be aware of it’s existence and certainly not of it’s length so after some 15 minutes of traveling through the tunnel I was beginning to wonder whether this was a surreal dream where I was captured in the mountain!??? Despite my worst worries the bus did get out and arrived in Sogndal and …

Collecting World Heritage Sites sometimes takes you to places you never would have intended to go to. But by still doing so you can be sure that there is always a fascinating story to be told. So during a trip in June 2004 to Belgium and the Wallonian area I decided to visit the “Hydraulic boat lifts of La Louviére and Le Roeulx in the district of Hainault”, one of the still quite few industrial historical sites listed on the World Heritage List and my personal 137th site.

One might wonder what a boat lift is but it’s really not more complicated than it sounds. The principle is simple: two bathtubs wherein you place one barge each and then you fill one of them with slightly more water than the other and the first bathtub will push the second one upwards through hydraulic power.

The real question is WHY and the story goes that in this once prosperous area of coal mining, transportation – before the train - was only possible on water and the canal du Centre was build - A proud national canal that was making its way through a landscape with rolling hills not entirely suited for canals. And the only way to overcome the landscapes difficulties then was of course to build - boat lifts!

Having been welcomed in La Louviére by a grandiose thunderstorm and forced to spend an hour in the train station’s bar, I wandered off to where I was supposed to find …

During a trip to Belgium in June 2004 and specifically to the Wallonian area I had decided to visit the Neolitic Mines of Spiennes as my 138th World Heritage Site. Having arrived in the city of Mons, I jumped into a taxi heading for the small village of Spiennes were I had made an appointment with archeologist Helen Collet who was going to show me the site. She was waiting for me and we drove off to the first of the two archeological sites while telling me that the whole area of Spiennes is scattered with over 1000 Neolithic mines, holes in the ground, around 4-12 meters deep, where the ancient Neolithic men dug for flint stone about 4000 years BC. “Tools made from Spiennes flint has been found as far as in eastern Germany”, Helen continued. “But unfortunately we have only been able to investigate two mines so far. But these two are very deep, something that is quite unusual from that period”.

The first of the two sites was housed inside a small building on top of the first “hole”, built by the archeologists who first discovered the mines in the late 19th century and now the office for the archeological investigations. After a coffee and some initial discussions about Neolithic mining with Helen and her husband Michel who now had joined the party, it was time to enter the underworld. My outfit of the day was completely discarded by Helen and Michel in favor of some more …

It's not just a cemetery, it is also a nice park for an afternoon stroll whilst you are contemplating and solving the world problems. And if you are into architecture you’ve probably already learned that the cemetery was planned and laid out by the Swedish architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz in the 1920:ies and has been an inspiration for cemeteries all around the world. The site is easily accessed via the Stockholm underground (station: Skogskyrkogården) and once there you turn right and just walk through the gates while you are facing the Chapel of the Holy Cross on your left side. Since I have a few of my relatives buried here, I usually visit the site once a year or so and in the spring and summertime it’s a nice walk under the tall spruce trees that populates the cemetery. During All Saints Day (Halloween) the cemetery is lit up by thousands and thousands of candles and it’s likely to be the day of the year to best visit the site.

Being Swedish and grown up in Stockholm, Drottningholm was probably the first World Heritage Site I ever visited, long before UNESCO’s took the initiative to create the famous list. For me personally the site is associated with many memories and it’s truly a wonderful place for an excursion while visiting Stockholm. The castle and its surrounding park is obviously best visited in the summer and the best way is to approach the site is by boat. Many tour boats depart from the Town Hall in central Stockholm and it takes about an hour to slowly cruise through Lake Mälaren on a steam boat, a nice experience in itself.

The castle is inspired by Versailles but obviously not as enormous as its French cousin. Still it has played an important role in Swedish history. You will find wonderful French and English park as well as the oldest theatre in Europe still in use. A slow stroll through the park to the China Castle, were you will find a nice café, is an absolute must.

Seldom noticed by the tourist is the small village on the right side of the main road that runs by the castle. This village was planned and built in the mid 18th century for the people working at the castle and contains many picturesque houses and villas and is in itself a good example of how a Swedish village once would have looked like. Don’t miss this when you visit Drottningholm.

I was in Lijiang a few weeks ago. The Old Town square has become quite popular with lots of tourists, shops and restaurants with more Westerners than Chinese. But a few minutes away from the tourist filled spot, and the city is breath-takingly exquisite. Lijiang is very tranquil and a cool oasis away from the mad rush of commercialization and industrialization that is taking place throughout the rest of China. Lijiang is definitely a "must visit" before it gets swallowed by the growing commercialization of China.

I arrived Puebla after my high school studies to begin with my undergraduate at UDLA in Cholula, Puebla. After i came for the first time i told myself "is the right place to be, because everyday of my life here, i will have some historic place to visit" There are lots of historic elements in the city to consider the character of a "Colonial" city where you could feel the history as you had been at that time, "el cilindrero", "el algodonero", and specially the marvelous gastronomy that involves the old elements of traditional cooks with some new from the world. If you are planning to visit Puebla, let me tell you that you have chosen a really nice and interesting place to be.

I visited Stonehenge in late August and was not disappointed. The day was gray and magical with the sun trying to burn through the clouds. It was worth the extra day it took to get there and back. I found the audio guides to be very valuable to learn about the site (free once you purchase your admission ticket). It is definitely worth paying the few pounds to get in and listen to the tour rather than just looking through the fence. I will never forget it.

My boyfriend and I stayed in Trowbridge (about an hour away) at a lovely old refurbished farm turned hotel called the Old Manor Hotel. It was absolutely beautiful with gardens and antiques in every room. It was a wonderful experience.

The most famous site in Jordan, this spectacular ancient trading city can be reached through a 90 metre deep canyon in the mountain. The first thing you see after marching through the canyon is the infamous treasury; "el Khazneh" with its mighty colonnades carved right out of the colourful limestone rockface. All around are astonishing temples, burial chambers, stairs, bathhouses, canals and market areas and even a roman amphitheatre with a capacity of thousands of spectators, many of these also carved out of the rockface. In the distance, one can also see Um al-Biyara where spectacular views of the surrounding area can be enjoyed. This being a summer visit, however, the heat got the best of me and I ended my tour at the amphitheatre and sought shelter in the shade of the canyon.

I had the pleasure of visiting Korea in 2003. I was not impressed with Seoul but when we went to Gyeongju, it was overwhelming. The temples are beautiful. The monks are very friendly and hospitable. You could feel the sacredness of Bulguska temple and the Seokguram Grotto.It seemed like time was at a stand still. It was a very healing experience for me and my family. We are planning on returning in 2005.

While in Olympia for a couple of days, I hiered myself a local guide to take me up the mountains to visit the temple of Vasses, my 142nd World Heritage Site. Driving along the steep sloapes and the mountain villages was quite an experience on this warm July afternoon. Finally reached the temple, still wrapped up in it's tent but in a very good shape. While you're there, also take the opportunity to climb up the extra 150 meters to the small temples on the nearby mountain top. From here you have an outstanding view of the surrounding landscape and also get a good feel for the nature in the Greek mountains

Fantastic! Full of mistery (if you like Templars and their history) but written description miss in a lot of rooms and places (particular in the last part of the visit) and the famous manuelino style window is covered with lichens! I think it's not a good situation for a UNESCO's world Heritage.

Bye