All our reviews

Cesky Krumlov

A wonderful place to visit. The city hall beside the sguare is good but the internet service not easy for tourist,for it is not support the English.

Is the statue in center of square is a memorial for plague( a black death disease)?

I like to have a trip again if it is possible.

In 2000/2001 I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to study at La Universidad de Salamanca. Still to this date, nearly 3 years later it remains in the forefront of my mind. Salamanca is such a wonderful, magical city that you can just close your eyes and that's where you want to be. It still feel like home. The University is very prestigious and offers great courses, the people are so warm and friendly and the town itslef is just breathtaking. What more can a student want? The real question is not why should I go?, it's How can I possibly leave? Every day I still ask myself why I left after a year. I would go back in a heartbeat, and so would all of you if you could just visit the wonderful city known as Salamanca.

Krakow is one of the most beautiful cities on the world, considered the most beautiful city in Europe. Its old traditions, wonderful and rich architecture, magic unusual atmospheare, history and friendly people makes Krakow especially nice.

Krakow is not like Prague, it is better! Krakow has a good potencial to become a most popular destination of Europe...

For many visitors Krakow bacame a favourite city. I am one of them:)

Potala Palace is a beautiful sight, and I cannot imagine a better form of retribution against the current Chinese government than a thriving Tibetan culture and well-preserved Tibetan architecture, culture, and religion in modern day Tibet.

The next part of my review is a response to Kim Appleby's post (above):

It is true that the Tibetan culture and people have been long oppressed and persecuted by the Chinese. But it is incorrect to solely present Tibetan people as long-suffering martyrs mericilessly oppressed by the Chinese. It is always incorrect to represent people as purely good or evil, especially people from cultures different from our own. Though their numbers may be small, there are unscrupulous Tibetans who have embrace capitalist opportunism in the thriving tourism industry. There are also Chinese soldiers who may sympathize with Tibetans and feel that their peers behave in a despicable manner. When we render people in black and white, we run the risk of losing objectivity in our assessment of people. It is especially easy to lose objectivity when dealing cultures different from our own. China and Tibet are each enshrouded in so much mysticism and mystery in the Western imagination.

Though the Chinese army has committed countless atrocities against Tibetans, one can't believe that most soldiers of the Chinese army are socially cognizant, educated individuals who have made a careful decision to persecute Tibetans. Many of the soldiers in China's army are recruited from the countryside. Most of these men have barely a grade school …

Trinidad is like walking back into time.

The city centre is characterised by low rise houses and small cobble stone streets. No cars are allowed in the centre, making it sometimes surrealistic to walk around in this city, adding much to this back in time experience.

You wake up with the sound of people selling bread and milk, the chickens looking for food and a cow pulling a cart.

Of course Trinidad has some cigar factories and a Casa de la Musica. In the evenings the square in front of the Casa is the centre of entertainment: the old city, music, dancing, cigars and rum all blend into this incredable atmosphere.

Trinidad can easily be reached by bus. Viazul is very reliable (in 2001), but the busses are extremely cold since the airconditioning has only one grade: feezing.

I have been there several times and find the island magical.

However outide the park times are changing and some of Gomera's magic has been lost to development. Go there before it is too late - it is cheap and easy to get to.

There is plenty of information available in english now - including maps and 3 different walking guides

if you need more info contact me

This was a facinating experience! I am a "full-time" Flintknapper making my living by knapping flint. This site demonstrates the high prehistoric value of good quality knappable stone. The labor to extract this flint is staggering! Our visit was arranged by Pascal Chauvaux of Belgium. It was difficult to find, but find it we did!

Thanks for the incredible tour! Thanks Pascal!

Traveled to Sian Kaan last December 26th (2002). Made it down the road but it was a very difficult trip and I don't want to think about what could have happened had I broken down. Spent a couple of days with the native Mayans and some "continentals) from the US. Fishing was spectacular, and the reefs are enourmous, although I did not have time to snorkel, and the wind was rather bad. I went alone so it was somewhat of a "bummer" but would definately go back if I found someone else who had this type of adventure in their blood.

There are places to eat seafood in Punta Allan and places to stay at reasonable prices. Don't expect Cancun, you have to have adventure in your blood to like this type of experience.

Just got back from an asian vacation that included Angkor. I have always wanted to see it, and it was spectacular!

It was so huge, and the temples so numerous and massive. The impact of the Khmer Rouge was very apparent; the heads of many statues had been chopped off to be sold on the black market by soldiers, the condition of the ruins in general is perilous. The guides let people touch, walk, and climb all over the temples and its grounds which has also contributed to its condition. It is truly a remarkable sight, and anyone interested in ancient culture and heritage should not miss this.

The town of Siem Reap was small, nice and safe. People were kind and friendly, and hotels were decent.

Visited the site a few weeks ago. We found the on site archeologists very informative.Helene Collet afterword followed us to the museum to share more information. This area is a great experience for anyone interested in pre- history and flint technology.

Terry Keefer

I spent 6 months in 2003 at City of Bath as a Socrates-Erasmus student. This wonderful city created an lovely impression at me.

Its clean green parks, street entertainers, helpful people and Abbey Churchyard are forever written in my mind. Daily Bath is quite busy and full of tourists but City Centre at night is such a silent, amazingly lit and romantic place!

It is worth visiting for everyone!

The brihadisvara temple is magnificent.

I was there every evening Puja,for darshan Of the giant Lingam,for three days,and on millenium eve.

To have been at the foot of the biggest lingam in India, in one of the most spectacular stone temples in the world was a very special way to turn a millenium.

I hope to return this lifetime.

if you are near or in tanjore dont miss it!

I like the efficiency of space in the house and impressed by the detail touch of the designer inside the house that showed how smart and thoughtful he was. The house is very contrast with other houses in the area, which makes it very unique. Unfortunately the highway ruined the initial beautiful view and landscape surroundings.

I've been here last X'mas and stayed overnight.basically entering there but educational and scientific study and some eco tour that is managed by NGO especially burmese refugee suport organization.very beautiful place,if you're lucky,you could see wild peacock and tiger!in the rainy season rivers overflow with much rain.i recomend you wake up early and see fog sea from the mountain.

It was not exactly a day more like a 2 week experience in 1971. The most amazing place on my journey East. I had the good fortune to sit on the Giant Buddhas head and meditate and watch the sun rise over the Hindu Kush and watch those mountain peaks turn a color red that I had never seen in my life. The sunset on the buddha was just as spectacular. Lost to us forever by forces from hell. I also had the good fortune to ride horses over the fiords of Band I Amir lakes. I will never forget my trip to Bamiyan, I cried when I saw the destruction of the Buddha, I cried for all our loss but most of all for Hazra people who no longer have the magic of the Buddha. Sidney

Butrinti is an extensive site covering most periods of Albanian and Balkan history - with the merciful exception of the 20th century. Many of the ruins are very striking but, because one is looking at an early Christian basilica one moment and maybe remains of fortifications built by an early 19th century local warlord the next, mental orientation can be quite difficult at times and a guide is particularly useful. If travelling independently, an excellently-produced guide-book is available but it may not be on sale at the site - this is Albania, after all - although it should be in the nearby town of Saranda. What is easy to appreciate, however, is the glorious siting of Butrinti, almost surrounded by a lake and against a mountain backdrop.

All visitors to Corfu should consider a day-trip to Butrinti - easily arranged and with minimal formalities. Not only is this an opportunity of seeing one of the great Balkan achaeological sites, it also allows a brief glimpse of a fascinating country which has come a long way in the last decade but still has a hard road ahead of it.

I have visited the caves in 1973. Just after a broken axle of the car which I bought in Buenos Aires. My wife and I found the place through some local people we met. We had to travers a river, the rucksack on my head because the water was too deep. It was a marvelous experience to see the cueva de los manos because it was only discovered in 1972 I guess?

regards,

Roman Flueck

Too true, do not go to this spectacular park or you will suffer the same fate as I! Gros Morne has broken my heart. I cried as I left and now find the landscape of my home ridiculously disappointing and bland. My only wish is to return to NFLD to see the fjord once more, but I think that now I am doomed to return again and again. One more time will not be enough, and I was there in May, not summer at all!

As a landscape Archaeologist and reseacher (and therefore a regular visitor) at the Tsodilo hills, let me share with you the following abstract the full paper of which may be presented at the October Icomos general Assembly whose theme focuses on 'Intangible Cultural heritage'.

The reason I share this with you is so that next time when you visit Tsodilo you should take time to experience the intangible as experienced by the local community and pilgrims to the site.

"Mapping and Managing the Intangible Heritage at World Heritage sites-the case of Tsodilo"

By Phillip Segadika, Landscape Archaeologist-Botswana National Museum

"'Criterion 6' of the cultural properties of the World Heritage is one of the reasons why Tsodilo is recognised as being of 'outstanding Universal value'. This is because the Ju/hoasi and Hambukushu communities living at Tsodilo know that Tsodilo is the ancestral home to the spirits of all living creatures. As prove to this, the local shamans, guides and herbalists point to specific areas, which are testimony to the marks of the first animals, the first people, the first sex spot as well as the first and eternal water spring in the Tsodilo landscape. An ongoing study suggests that the apparent conflict on te interpretation of the history of the Tsodilo rock art by Jo/huasi and Hambukushu communities converges into a conservation plan rooted in the cosmology which supercedes and unites the politics of ownership. This paper also analyses the nomination dossier and current management plan of Tsodilo in terms of …

I visited Monticello in 1975 and it is one of my favorite memories. You must experience the space to begin to understand the genius of Thomas Jefferson. It is a beautiful and peaceful place, a step back in time.

In 1999, I visited another of Jefferson's houses, Poplar Forest, in Lynchburg, Virginia. It was even more impressive to me than Monticello. It is in the process of a very well-planned and executed restoration. You can see how the structure was originally designed and constructed. Much of the process is well documented in Jefferson's writings to his carpenter. I look forward to visiting again as restoration progresses. I spent one night in Charlottesville on the same trip and foolishly missed an opportunity to visit the University of Virginia. I am now an architecture student and many educators consider a visit to this campus essential to the education of an architect. Virginia is a beautiful state and I am glad to have another reason to return there.