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I went to Mana Pools in December with my brother, who lives in Zimbabwe. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and the experience was enhanced by seeing the rare & elusive painted hunting dogs, and also lions, elephants, hippos, crocodiles, hyenas and other species of animals and birds too numerous to mention. The experience of living for five days in such an utterly wild place, sleeping outside with the sound of roaring lions, whooping hyenas and grunting hippos to lull me to sleep, and spending the days surrounded by such stunning scenery, is one I will never forget.

Difficult to get a place in a lodge unless you know a Zimbabwe resident (& even then not easy), but there are campsites open in the dry season, and it's well worth visiting if you can find a way.

Since I live in Belgium and was born near Courtrai (French name of the city), I pass the Kortrijk (Dutch name) beguinage nearly daily.

It's not the most spectacular in Belgium but I like the quiet atmosphere.

So, please mention it in your list

Mesa Verde offers grand vistas of Southwestern Colorado's sweeping mesa plateaus, along with the spectacular ancient cliff dwellings for which it is most famous. From the modern Far View Lodge (and the usual visitor center, restaurant, and gift shop), you can see far beyond jagged and giganitic Ship Rock, almost 50 miles south. The motor hotel's restaurant is reputed to be among the finest in the state, featuring dishes with a Spanish flair, although my wife and I did not visit. We took a half day bus tour by the Aramark Company, with an excellent guide, but I think it was greatly overpriced, and we had experiences of equal or better quality on the one or two hour, $2 U.S. park ranger-led excursions. The ancient sites are amazing! One in particular stays with me: Long House. It includes a large level dance floor centered in the sunshine, in front the immense alcove of curving, overhanging rock, which shelters the actual house. It's several hundred feet long and built on many levels. The brick work has been beautifully restored. The trail is not strenuous, but our ranger reminded us this is a remote place, and treatment for a heart attack would be many hours away at best. In fact, as we began the trek, he said, "If you suffer a heart attack down there, you're dead." The trail is not too steep, though, and is asphalt all the way.

The ranger also told us he and another man camped at Long …

Evora is forever in mine hart! I have worked there from may untill october. The city is full of historical monuments and each building has its own story. I have met the nicest people on earth and working there has made me to what i am today. The idea that there is a city beneath Evora is amazing. Walking in the little streets you can see a part of this city beneath you. Really impressing. I have been in many old houses and you can smell and sense the history inside! I worked in restaurant Pickwick, nearby the big square Place du Geraldo. The owners are Antoinette en Luis Linhan. I have lost contact with them becauses i have moved to another place and so do they. If someone can help me!!! I know they still work there, its a famous restaurant. They also own Mr. Snob, a restaurant-bar. There isnt a day when i think about them. Please contact me. Lots of thanks, Laura Eijkelboom-Wernsen

Okay, so I didn't really read your site. But I didn't actually have to, I mean my dad is from Easter Island (believe it or not). So as you can probably guess I have pretty strong ways of juding someone who talks about the Island. I in no means am trying to be mean, but put yourself in my shoes. I've visited there only twice, but have had Rapa Nui in my blood all my life. You all can go to visit,and judge it the way you would like, but by all means you really have no idea what life is really like for these people. My Grandma had 17 children, most of which still remain at home on the island. I have seen so much life through these people's eyes, and they get so much pride out of so little. So when you visit and say that it seems kind of expensive, look at how the people actually live. In shacks! If this was your only way of making money was toursits, then you would do it. So before you judge these people imagine picking corn, running a bussines for very few people, or raising horses just to feed your family. You wouldn't make it one day, while these people have made it a lifetime. So don't judge, look deep in the souls of the people there. In all honesty they can teach us Americans a way of life we would never want to live or could live. But …

Saint Sophia's?

Spectacular! Breath-taking! Beautiful!

In fact, it's so good that My Wife and I are considering re-marrying (without a divorce) in Saint Sophia's. If you are going to get married in Kiev (and why not) then Saint Sophia's is the place to do it.

After a long train ride from southern England, reaching Salisbury, I finally reached Stonehedge and was not at all in awe. I did not pay the entrance fee becasue I felt I could get the same result from outside the fence, and I was right. Although it is something that someone should see, I was done in 15 minutes and waited another 30 for my coach back to Salisbury.

I am a student of Muhammad Ali Jinnah University.I visited Rohtas as a part of my project with my class(MBA).Its a place worth visiting, the style of architecture, planning, giant walls, well, tombs,etc., are very interesting. We can't imagine that such a big construction can be done manually and in such a short time (8 years). We also saw work under process and there we got some idea, it was amazing, the skills of the locals are beyond imagination. We spent a whole day visiting the fort still we could not see only 60% of it, still we enjoyed alot. It was a memorable day. What we heard about Sher Shah Suri, was proved. We have been useing the GT Road(Grand Trunk Road) also built by him but we saw his taste of construction, it was great. I recomend that if you visit Pakistan try to visit Rohtas and Lahore fort I can asure you will enjoy a lot.

Thanks. Take care.

I recently visited the Cathedral on January 9th this year after 13 years of not seeing it at all, and it impressed me much more than when I was living in Cologne in 1990. It might be just because this time I took myself the time to look at it properly and listen to the guide's explanations, but it really moved me. I also went there out of curiosity for the three kings story, and that impressed me too. So I must accept that besides the cold, the Dom has overwhelmed me tremendously.However, please choose a sunny day to enjoy its splendour at its highest peak.

I visited Champasak in 1996 with my family who are originally from there, from a little village called Ban Dou. It was the first time for me and over twenty years for my Mother and Aunt. After arriving in Vientiene, which we stayed with my Uncle's relatives for a few days, we booked a flight down to Pakse which lasted about 45 minutes and then crossed the Mekong River by ferry to Champasak. I have heard they have since built a bridge that connects the two sides and you can now drive across. From there we drove to my mother's village which is about twenty to thirty minutes and is located on the main road, which its name has escaped me. Unfortunately we did not see Vat Phou or toured the main city of Champasak, but stayed in the countryside. It's so beautiful there, the sky is so blue and the clouds are so white and puffy and at night the stars are endless, because there are no bright city lights to shadow them. We stayed in Ban Dou for only two weeks, and for me it felt like it was only a few days. There is so much to take in, by just walking along the main road down to my grandfather's rice patty to walking with a bunch of my cousins down to the little stream and taking a swim. I savored every moment and it would take a book to tell you all the things we saw …

Vienna, is a most stately, magnificent, majestic city. But the most majestic? It’s certainly near the top of the list, if not at the very top.

Located along both sides of the Ring-Strasse, the many impressive things to see include the Opera, museums, castles, the Rathaus (city hall), Beethoven-Platz, the Stadtpark (City Park), several precision-planted gardens, and a guidebook’s-worth of things to see and do. Hours and days can, and should, be spent walking and looking at this most unusual boulevard.

Vienna’s tourist map lists so very many churches, palaces, synagogues, academies, libraries, theaters, embassies, towers, and Government buildings.

If you are hungry, in addition to the famous Sacher-Torte (cost up to $30) at Hotel Sacher Vienna, tried and true McDonald’s are available for a quick snack, or a restroom break.

When we arrived in Hallstatt, we knew we had found one of the more beautiful places in the world. Pictures of Hallstatt, a picturesque, beautiful lake-side village, are often used for a calendar, a jig-saw puzzle, or a greeting card.

People have lived here for 3,000 years, and it's easy to see why. There were 6 or 8 waterfalls and streams coming down the mountain, through the town. They had built garages on stilts, out over the water, to keep the boats protected from the weather.

Next to one church, a couple flights of stairs lead to the town cemetery. Each grave is a separate, detailed, trimmed, precision flower garden. The "gravestones" are crosses covered by a little roof, and many display a photograph of the person buried there.

Only a few of the original huge stones are still standing, so it's difficult to say more than Stonehenge consists of huge (twenty-five feet tall, twenty-plus ton) rocks that were put in place 2,000 to 5,000 years ago.

When did someone first notice a characteristic that connected the stars, the moon and the position of the sun, with the seasons? How was the information 'recorded' and passed from generation to generation?

Did two different groups of people (Stonehenge, and Carnac, France, separated by the English Channel), study the sky, come to the same conclusion, and use huge stones to build astrological installations? Or did members of one civilization cross the channel, and transplant the knowledge that must have taken many generations to perfect?

References we have read do not indicate a connection between Carnac's Avenues and the Great Circle at Stonehenge, but the use of huge stones, and the apparent astronomical purpose are certainly similar.

I recently visited Tanzania on safari for my honeymoon. We visited in early July and spent almost two weeks there. On our travels we visited the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. It was amazing. Although we were there during the dry season and everything wasn't as lush as in pictures I had seen, it was beautiful. The weather was cool to cold along the rim, but inside the crater it was perfect weather for safari. Because of it being the dry season the tsetse flies were minimal and mosquitos were not a problem. We saw lions, hyenas, black-backed and common jackals, elephants, DeFassa's waterbuck, vervet monkeys, baboons, plenty of hippos, wildebeast, zebra, Thomson and Grant gazelle, flamingo, three species of eagles, various water birds, buffalo, and four black rhino. Amazing!! A lifetime experience for naturalists. A nice note is that the crater closes at 6 pm daily and this is strictly enforced. Park rangers watch your every move from above. The needs of the animals are definitely the priority here.

I WAS ON ALDABRA ATOLL IN EARLY 1969 FOR FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS AS PART OF PHASE VII OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY'S FLAURA AND FAUNA EXPEDITION. I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN CONTACTING ANYONE WHO WAS THERE WITH ME. I was 19 yrs old at the time and was actually paid Five pounds a month to run the synoptic weather station, run the stores and tend to the pastoral needs of the workers and their families. Needless to say it was a life changing experience. Never been back but would love to go again. Jonty Grinter

I am a student of World Heritage Studies in the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus, Germany. The colongne cathedral is a masterpiece architectural edifice.It is so gorgeous that it instills instant fright when one finds himself in it. The bad thing however, is that so many visitors to the cathedral devoid it of that aura of religiousity that is characteristic of places of worship. It is more of a touristic site than a Christian place of worship.Visitor management and sensitization are vital aspects which need to be taken very seriously in order to make the Cathedral have, at all times, that atmosphere of solemnity that exists at such places of worship.

Ahhh. Edinburgh...(or as the locals say, "ed-in-bur-ah")

Have you ever had the feeling, say walking in a city, that you have been there before, but in actuality you have never been there before? The city itself is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen, and I can't help getting "that" feeling walking the streets. Small cobblestone walkways that lead to closes, everywhere there is history. Every corner you turn,there is a story to be heard. If you have even a small imagination, you can picture what it was like here in the middle ages. The people are super friendly, the food is wonderful. (yes, and even try the haggis) The grassmarket area is my favourite, where there are a few small pubs and lots of great restaurants. And check out my friends band The Roods who usually play at Finnegan's wake every week for some great celtic rock.

For a party BETTER than Mardi Gras, try Hogmanay or Festival. I have been to both, and wish to be nowhere else on New years eve but here. There is no city in the world, where i would give up my citizenship, to be. As I wipe a tear from my eye! London is great, Paris is greater, but Edinburgh is out of this world!

Hi there!

Recently I have seen photographs of El Fuerte after restauration by UNESCO. Great work! Me and my wife visited El Fuerte in 1998.

In the past years I have done some research on the meaning of 'El Cascabel':one of El Fuerte's most significant features.

The 263 diamantshaped curves on El Cascabel and the view direction of the two parallel shafts of El Cascabel ( azimuth 71"0')show the importance of Venus, the morningstar.

It was Garcilaso de la Vega in his ancient chronicles of Peru who mentioned this temple for the first time.

In his description he speaks about he stone images of two condors (cunturs) that could be found on this hill. One cuntur was depicted in flight 'as to swoop on it's pray' and one cuntur with 'it's back turned to the spectator as in shame'.

Both images still can be seen on El Fuerte although they haven't been published before and are also unknown by UNESCO.

Besides that one particular spot one El Fuerte should be protected very well because this spot marks the (unknown and not-published)images of the mythical Manco Ccapac and Mama Occlo and also the images of two Llamaheads (offers?).

The writings of Garcilaso de la Vega show us that El Fuerte was pretty famous in Cusco and he writes:

"the painting still existed in good condition in 1580. In 1592 I asked a creole priest who had come to Spain from Peru if he had seen it and what state it was …

Gough Island is the "ultimate" for us "WHS collectors"! But how to visit this "oh so remote island" where no one is even allowed to land - so important is it to keep its ecosystem pristine!

Note that the UK has 3 remote island sites - StKilda, Henderson and Gough - added in 86, 88 and 95 respectively. Mrs Thatcher so disliked UNESCO and its then Secretary General Amadou Mahtar Mbow (in fact the US, which left in 84 in protest at his policies, has only recently rejoined) that, during her period in government, UK failed to register much of its undoubted heritage. But these remote islands were favoured and remain a remarkable trio - so unlike many of the other WHS which are heavily marketed, subject to high entrance fees and overcrowded with tourists (albeit that WHS recognition also helps stimulate conservation of others).

In March 2002 we were lucky enough to achieve, albeit for a few hours, the ambition of visiting Gough Island and seeing some of its unique fauna. Each year, between late Feb and the end of April, the Russian vessel "Professor Molchanov" (on long term charter to a Dutch expedition company but still with Russian crew) is repositioned from its Antarctic cruising grounds to the Arctic via UK/NL. This trip is available to those with time (7 weeks) and money (not so much really considering the experience!!). En route from the Antarctic Peninsular it takes in most of the mid Atlantic islands - …

One of the more breathtaking experiences of my life. The combination of tranquility and chaos that the water features bring about is something everyone should be so lucky to experience.

Villa d'Este will always have a special spot in my memories!