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I visited two of five inscribed Viking Ring Fortresses, the unknown Borgring and the famous Trelleborg on my short trip to Denmark. On the way from Copenhagen to Stevn Klint, just outside the city of Koge, I made a brief stop to see Borgring which was just next to the highway exit. After parked my car on the empty carpark, I found out that I was the only soul, no staff, no entry restriction, so I just entered to see something equally empty! Borgring was like a big playground for kids with big circle ring sandbox. There was nothing to see, no hill, no turf, only some metal or wooden frames and columns doting the whole place. My thought at that moment was “Is this a joke?” before walked back to my car.

Few days later when I drove back from Odense, I made a detour to Trelleborg. At first, I want to skip it after seeing Borgring, but after searching some photo in internet, at least Trelleborg should be more interesting. When I reached Trelleborg, the museum was closed on that day, but thanked to one comment in google review, the fortress could be visited every day via small passage next to museum building. The first thing I saw was the long wooden house, I assumed that this building should be a reconstruction of Viking houses that once located inside and surround the fortress. The boat shaped building and roof line were really interesting. Then I walked …

I stopped here today on my way to Berlin and visited both the Mikwe (there is an aboveground viewing window) and the old synagogue, with a small museum inside. Contrary to the other reviews here, I quite appreciated both the good fortune that led to the main building surviving, as well as the dedication that went into rescuing it, while still allowing all its uses over the centuries to be visible in the stone and wood. 

Was it "big" and "impressive" like others? No, sadly not, and I do think the SchUM sites offer a more comprehensive look at German-Jewish history. However, I am glad it's preserved and honored, even if it's a smaller site than others.  

That said, I would still quip that the entrance price (8 Euros) is a bit much for the size. If you want to avoid that you can see the main back stone facade from the side street, so it's easy to visit and check off for free if you wish.  

Erfurt's old town is quite lovely and is worth visiting anyway, and this is not out of the way to visit at all. 

Yamburu National Park resides in the northern part of Okinawa Island and a part of this whs. Our visit was late June.

By rental car the toll road highway took us from Naha Airport to the site. Arriving in the evening we took only a quick drive through the core of the park on narrow, overgrown roads and made plans for the next day.

After a night at the Ada Garden Hotel (remember to book half board) on the eastern side we re-entered the park, that is after we could watch the endemic Okinawa rail bird just outside the hotel. Another hotel guest told us she’d been here 8 years, but never seen it until now. Driving into the park we also spotted the tiny wild boar along the road.

We had decided for two hikes in the park, the first one to the peak of the National Park, Mount Yohana (no entrance fee). From the starting point we loaded up with insect spray, water and wandered off.

It’s a 2-hour hike return trip with only 200 m of elevation. The dense vegetation makes it hard to get an overview, so we focused on plants and hope to see some animals. The latter were sparse. There were insects and we could hear a lot of birds but saw only a few. The path was rocky, muddy, flat to steep (so bring good shoes). It was early morning so not so hot, but very humid.

The …

I visited Si Thep 2 weeks after its inscription, and it is a telling illustration of the power of the World Heritage tag. Prior to being inscribed, the management shared that Si Thep was lucky to see 50 visitors a day. Almost immediately after its inscription, however, visitor number grew to as much as 10,000 a day! It is a bit too much and the management was caught off guard with the sudden surge, but this clearly speaks a lot of how the tag is an effective tourism magnet overall. Interestingly, the shuttle services already bear the WHS logo too! They still had no clear rule about ICOMOS member's entry, and they had to discuss if they would honor my card for a free pass, which they eventually did. What I further observed is that many visitors just congregate around the two Khmer period prangs (towers) in the inner town, when in fact they are neither unique nor the actual highlights. One can see better examples of Khmer prangs in Ayutthaya, Sukhothai or even nearby Lopburi. What these visitors fail to realize, and I discussed this with the site workers and they acknowledged this occurrence, is that the ancient town's most important attributes are the 7th century(?) Dvaravati stuccoworks in Khao Klang Nai that are said to have no equal elsewhere. The "carrying dwarves" definitely need to be highlighted more as when there were hundreds of visitors around, I found myself being the only one seemingly interested enough to check …

The red Tower of Death

I visited the Red Tower of Death on my way back from Karlovy Vary to Prague. I don't recall ever visiting a similarly ugly VHS. The tower is located near the prison and the structure itself has no aesthetic value at all.

The tower is a simple seven-story brick structure. In the 1950s it was used as a sorting plant for uranium ore to be exported to the Soviet Union. The tower was part of a labour camp for political prisoners. The prisoners, mostly opponents of the communist regime, clergymen and airmen who served in the RAF in World War II, had to transport uranium ore to the seventh floor, where the ore was poured down through a system of sieves. From the description it is probably obvious why the tower is called the Tower of Death. The workers were exposed to radiation that was rapidly destroying their health. However, deaths on the death tower itself were rather rare. Sick prisoners were usually transferred to other prisons.

Only the rough structure of the tower remains, with a small exhibition inside commemorating the fate of the prisoners. Visits are only possible with a guide. Visiting is only possible on weekends during the summer holidays (July, August). Do not expect crowds of tourists. 

Nabatean Hegra may be its main tourist attraction nowadays, but Saudi Arabia’s Unique Selling Point is being the custodian of the two holy sites of Islam: Mecca and Medina. No less than four TWHS are directly related to the pilgrimages to these sites. There are three Hajj Road serial transnational sites, of which the Darb Zubaydah seems to be prepared at the moment as a joint nomination between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. And there’s also the Hejaz Railway, which despite the “transport” theme also is closely associated with the Islamic pilgrimage route. The Islamic pilgrimage routes probably are the closest the Saudis will get to putting forward its holy sites as WHS (Mecca’s Kaaba is #9 of our Missing List).

My first encounter with this subject was at the National Museum of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. At the moment they are hosting a special exhibition called ‘Hijrah’. It tells the story of how the Prophet Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina to avoid persecution. Although this seems like a difficult and intangible theme, they found clever solutions to bring the message across also to non-Muslim visitors. Large video screens show his journey day by day and the desolate landscapes he passed through, alternated with works by modern artists (among them many female).

The Hejaz Railway entered Saudi Arabia from the northwest, bringing pilgrims from Turkey and Syria – essentially it was the early 20th century version of the Syrian Hajj Road. The remains of the old railway station …

The soundscape of Birkenhead Park could almost have been the soundscape of any country park: the rustle of squirrels in the foliage, the quacking of ducks on the lakes, the sudden plosive eruption of a flock of pigeons bursting into flight. Two very English sounds intruded. The cheers of spectators heralded competing cricket matches. And over by the Grand Entrance morris dancers clonked their sticks against each other. They danced for the May Day weekend. And they danced for the last celebration of Birkenhead Park’s 175th anniversary year.

Birkenhead Park is not spectacular. It is nice enough, well cared for, and locals know to bring bags of monkey nuts to feed to the resident squirrels. It is a naturalistic landscaped expanse of pastures, woodlands and lakes criss-crossed by paths. There are a couple of noteworthy follies around the Lower Lake. The Swiss Bridge is a red, rather oriental-looking, covered wooden bridge (left in photo) and the Roman Boathouse (right) is an eye-catching lakeside pavilion. There is also a variety of fanciful mid-19th century architectural constructs fringing the park too, from the massive Grand Entrance to several ‘lodges’ (of which the ‘Italian Lodge’ with its open belvedere on Park Road South is the highlight).

In the early 19th century Birkenhead grew rapidly from a small village of barely one hundred people to a major industrial centre. This was principally due to its complementary location on the Mersey estuary opposite the ‘mercantile maritime city’ of Liverpool. Ironworks, a shipbuilding …

We just did a trip visiting all three Pueblo WHS in the Four-Corners area: Mesa Verde, Chaco Culture and lastly Taos Pueblo as a theme. The first two are managed by NPS while Taos Pueblo is managed by locals. The first impression was that it is a money-making enterprise, they charged admissions of $22 pp. The guided tour started with an introduction of the Pueblo cultural history, but it was everything we have already heard at the other parks and less. We had expected a perspective from a Native but the guide seemed to just read the information from the NPS brochure. She did not forget to ask for a gratuity. We asked about the painting of a girl in the church, but she did not know the identity of the subject. 

The site viewed from the outside was not that different from many other adobe style buildings. The residential areas are not open to the public, which is understandable, but the only houses that were open are the ones selling high-priced souvenirs and baked goods. We had expected to see an exhibit sample residence.

This WHS was probably designated due to "continued residential use", but as a site, it was not worth visiting given all that's around in the area.

We´ve made it to the Río Abiseo National Park in Peru! Apparently it´s one of the more difficult places to visit in South America but with the knowledge I have gained I thjnk it is quite feasable for everyone now. Nevertheless it cost me an investment of at least 3 days of travelling and planning to make it. And I´ve only visited a tiny corner of a vast national park that has different habitats and geographical regions that are mainly impossible to easily visit and also has a cultural aspect with the Gran Pajatén which I was not able to visit either. If you want to visit the Gran Pajatén you can contact Nestor (see Wojciech´s review) and he might be able to arrange something. I think officially it´s prohibited to visit for tourists but he told me that he could arrange something during May to July when river levels are easy to cross by hiking. In my case I have stayed 2 nights in the Abiseo Lodge just next to the park ranger house and only a 10 minute boat ride from the official NP territory on the complete other side of the park than Gran Pajatén. This lodge is accessible from Juanjui which you can reach from Tarapoto. In my case I took the 21 hour overnight bus from Trujillo (Chan Chan) to Tarapoto (movil bus was really comfy for 30 USD) and then 3 hours by minivan/colectivo to Juanjui. This is the website of the lodge …

I visited on 18th Nov 2023, as a day trip on my way to Solo airport from Borobudur. I went only to the main museum, not the dig sites. It's easy to get to - it's on google maps and the directions it gives are straight forward and accurate. At the museum we had to park some distance away and get a little shuttle bus to the museum. The Museum, about Homo Erectus aka Java Man, that was found in various digs around the nearby countryside was, pretty good. Nothing spectacular. The majority is written in Indonesian, but maybe 30% has been translated into English, too. After a few rooms putting the discoveries into greater global context, the 4th and last room shows you the actual fossils of Sangiran Man, including Sangiran #17 which is the best preserved skull. I couldn't actually tell if what is displayed is what is found or replicas. I assume what was found, but I couldn't be sure. 

If you're in the region, worth a morning detour, but I wouldn't plan a trip around visiting. 

This review is not intended to be a review of the Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia generally because I was only physically in the buffer zone of this World Heritage Site. Specifically, this review is based on my visit of a coffee farm near a small town named Salento. While small portions of the World Heritage Site is within the political boundaries of Salento municipality, the town of Salento, as most know of it, is neither a part of the core zone nor the buffer zone

However, if you are in this pretty and somewhat touristy town of Salento, you should have no trouble arranging a coffee farm tour, some of which will be within the core or the buffer zone. I visited Las Acacia Coffee farm, which is nestled in the green mountain valleys near Rio Navarco and Rio Quindio. The photo accompanying this review is a view from the road in front of the farm, but facing away from the farm.

The Coffee Cultural Landscape near Salento is very pleasant to view and explore, but to be frank, you should be visiting Salento less for its small participation in the World Heritage Site, but more for its proximity to Valle de Cocora. Valle de Cocora, which is not within the World Heritage Site boundaries, is a striking valley filled with incredibly tall wax palm trees. The loop hiking trail (2-3 hours, moderate difficulty) is fantastic and strongly recommended.

We did the daytrip to Laguna 69, which was offered by our hostel and operated by Solis for 50 /S per Person plus the entrance fee to the NP of 30 /S for one day. I will not describe the details of the hike as it was done before in other reviews e.g. by Fréderic.

However for me the weather in the middle of October was not very good. It was cloudy until noon when we reached the lagoon and up there it started hailing and raining. On the way back down it was a frequently changing mixture of rain and sunshine. Due to the clouds the views of the snow capped mountains were limited and also the colours of the lagoons were less bright than with light. Actually the most beautiful lagoon was the "female" lagoon of the Llanganucos were you pass by in the bus on the way to the trailhead of laguna 69 and normally a photostop is made. Despite my soaked rainclothes that were not so comfortable especially in combination with the cold atop at 4600m during the hail, also I had a bit of a headache even after two days in Huaraz at 3000m which made me take a pill against soroche. Even after doing so a headache remained for the rest of the day. I must say that I was not in the best mood and the weather in the beginning of the raining season was not good, but I think this treck …

Large areas of England East Coast have recently been chosen to make up a new TWHS focusing on migratory birds, as part of the East Atlantic Flyway. Although there is no precise map yet of the proposed site, and boundaries could change of course in the future, I had a closer look at maps that were published in different news websites, and believe we visited at least three areas to be considered under this proposal. The purpose of our visits was each time on another aspect of the place (we are more “history” than “birds” fans), which may be of interest for some other visitors as well, as travelling to the UK to see merely the same as Wadden Sea in mainland Europe may not be so appealing.

End of June 2020, we went to the area near Bradwell-on-Sea, with the purpose of spending a day by the sea in a not-so-crowded place (that was just the end of first Covid lockdown in the UK) and visiting the grade I listed chapel of Saint Peter, one of the oldest churches in England. It turned out that the church had not re opened yet, so our day focussed mainly on walking along the sea (there is a signed path “St Peter’s way”), collecting shells, enjoying fresh air and sun. The coast here is low land, muddy areas - and birds? Well, like at any similar stretch of coast, nothing outstanding I would say. There is a power station just by …

Ok, first things first, this nomination is a disaster, it tries to get 21 mines spread throughout the country (and history) into just one site. It's almost as bad as wine in iberia in that regard. However it does point towards some good posible sites. Spain already has two sites associated with mining, which might seem like a lot, but still leaves some gaps. Namely, anything not related with mercury or roman gold extraction. Spain has been a notorious mining region since antiquity and to this day. Thus it has a diverse and large mining heritage. This is made clear when you go through the list as it includes anything from neolithic mines to 19th century ones. Further inspection shows that one mine is already inscribed (Almaden) and another two are part of other nominations, salinas de imán in sigüenza and atienza, and Salinas de aaiana in valle salado de Añana. So how to understand all of this? Here's my take. Not including the mines in other nominations there's basically 5 general regions presented which may have OUV. The iberian pyrite belt in andalusia, the lead-silver deposits in sierra morena, the cartagena mining deposits, the neolithic mines in Barcelona, the coal deposits in Asturias and the iron deposits in the basque country. Out of these I haven't been to cartagena, sierra morena, nor the neolithic mines so I won't talk about thiem.

The iberian pyrite belt

This is the muscle of the nomination. All the mines in the …

Mid August we visited the Sardona region for a couple of days. As mentioned in the description, the area is most famous for the ‘Glarus thrust’ whereby older mountains are located on top of younger mountains because of movement of the earth's crust. Below some practical points with respect to the three hikes we did in and around the core zone.

Elm: from the small village of Elm, the Tschinglenbahn cable car goes to the Tschinglenalp where a relatively short and easy hike to the Firstboden viewpoint starts. Starting the hike from the lower end of the cable car is also possible. From the Firstboden viewpoint there is an excellent view on the Glarus thrust and the Martinsloch (cf. picture). A small parking is available at the cable car station and also one a couple of hundred meters down the road. The fee for the cable car is CHF 18 (return ride) and on the Tschinglenalp there is a place to eat and drink (Tschinglen Wirtschaft).

Wangs: the 5 lakes hike starts in Wangs with a cable car to Furt, a chairlift from Furt to Gaffia and another chairlift from Gaffia to Pizolhütte at 2.222 meters. The hike ends at the Gaffia chairlift so the way down is somewhat shorter. A combined return ticket will set you back CHF 98 (plus CHF 5 for the (large) parking). The hike is a good 11 kilometers with three steeper sections, a total ascent of approx. 600 metres. The total decrease …

Never seen a village quite like Battir. They’re is beautiful verdant and lush foliage surrounding the Roman Pool. Had lunch at a cozy cafe right by the pool. So interesting to see how this ancient irrigation system still functions and how the local community depends on it so heavily. The locals we encountered were so friendly and inviting.

We stayed for a week in Huanchaco, which is a former fishermen's village and nowadays town close to Trujillo on the other side of the historical town of Chan Chan which is basically separating Huanchaco from Trujillo together with the airport. Huanchaco is nice- we took our first surf classes, there´s always fresh fish until sunset and you can witness the usage of the caballitos de tortora (reet boats) that have been used since ancient times by Moche and Chimú cultures and probably don´t qualify for modern safety standards. Chimú is also the culture that lived in Chan Chan until 1500 a.D.. It developed from the Moche culture that habituated the coast and had its centre at the Río Moche a bit south of Trujillo. The temple of the Moon and parts of the excavated town can be visited and there is a museum with displays of the two cultures. The Chimú took over the Moche centre and used it for their own purposes later.

Chan Chan is a huge territory. For every leader the Chimú built a new temple in Chan Chan and the old one was abandoned as a tomb palace. There are 9 temples today and only the Nik An temple can be visited. It consists of 3 plazas. One was the public plaza inside the temple in which the normal people would come for ceremonies. The other two plazas were more private for the nobility. There are still nice carvings in the adobe of animals …

There are pleasant experiences that fade in your memory over time, and there are experiences that will remain embedded for the rest of your life. My two-day hike of Tiger Leaping Gorge will stay with me, clearly and fondly. The colourful mountains, the gorge, and the pleasant mountain villages along the way make this hike unforgettable.

First, a general overview of the hiking trail:  

• The trail is fairly easy to follow, although not consistently marked. There were couple of instances where we missed a turn, but village folks were able to point us to the right path fairly quickly.
• The trail is not technically challenging, but portions of the trails are on the cliff's edge. A very unfortunate misstep could result in serious injury or death, but as long as you are not intentionally walking on the very edge of the trail, you should be safe.  
• There are some switchbacks and inclines that will strain most hikers' energy, especially in heat. We hiked in April (so not in the middle of the summer) but I found myself drinking copiously every few steps upwards. A person of average fitness should be able to complete the hike in 1.5 to 2 days.
• There are number of guesthouses along the trail. Halfway Guesthouse has unreal scenery from their patio (and washroom).
• When we hiked (April 2019), there were few hikers but not very many, especially as the hikers from the bus that we took dispersed throughout …

Tucked deep within the Bukit Barisan mountains, Sawahlunto may not ring a bell to many, but it is a city that is well worth a visit. The two-hour drive from either Padang or Padang Panjang is not short of wonderful sceneries including those offered by Kerinci Seblat National Park, the island’s largest nature reserve.

The detection of coal in Sawahlunto is attributed to the Dutch colonial authorities' efforts to explore and exploit the natural resources of Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies) for economic gain. The attempts by geologists and prospectors in the mid-19th century led to the discovery of significant coal deposits in the region. The coal obtained was found to be of superior quality and the valley, suitable for large-scale mining. 

The seemingly endless supply of coal from the site contributed to the industrialization and modernization of the Dutch East Indies and the Netherlands. It powered machineries, railway networks, and ships that played crucial roles in transportation and trade operations during the colonial era. They invested heavily in developing it as a mining town equipped with some of the most advanced technologies of the time, demonstrating a most complete knowledge and technology transfer from Europe to the East.

While deep-bore coal mining in Sawahlunto is no longer as commercially significant as it was during the peak of the industry, declining in the latter part of the 20th century due to the depletion of coal reserves and changing economic conditions, the city was able to preserve …

In 2019, I visited the Zhangjiajie National Forest Park portion of this World Heritage Site.

The scenery is stunning; absolutely, wonderfully, and undeniably. It is as if an imaginative painter decided to paint a fantastical world rather than one based on the mundane earthly reality.

The park is very large and easy to access, both in terms of getting to the park itself (about 50-90 minutes by bus from Zhangjiajie City) and within the park. The paths are paved, shuttle buses take you from one part of the park to another, and there is even a 326 metres tall elevator to whisk you to the top of the cliff. There is certainly enough to see to spend two full days at the park.

Despite the superlative landscape, the experience is marred by the incredibly large crowds. I am well aware of the hypocrisy of this tourist lamenting about the existence of other tourists. However, the problem of how many tourists visit the park is worsened by the types of tourists who visit, that is to say, hordes of tour groups. And I am about to tell you something that makes it even worse. They all have selfie sticks.

If you think taking a good photo is difficult where there are 20-30 people in front of you, then try doing it when they are all sticking selfie sticks into the air.

Especially with the park being so large, you would hope that the usual theory that …