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My first WHS trip in 2023 was to the historic centre of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, which happened to be celebrating its 700th anniversary on the 25th of January (more on that later). Visiting Lithuania has always been a dream of mine. When interested in history from a young age, children usually grow up to choose a certain specific area or period of interest: dinosaurs, Romans and Greek, ancient Egypt, the Vikings, etc. Personally, I “chose” medieval Eastern Europe and don’t ask me why. I just find that specific period in that area immensely interesting. So what destination could be better than Lithuania, which was the last pagan country in Europe to be christianised and which was a vital part of one of medieval Europe’s largest empires, the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. My trip to Lithuania lasted 4 days. I flew from Eindhoven (in the Netherlands) to Vilnius, a short (about 2 hours) and cheap (€60 return trip) flight with Ryanair. Accommodation in Vilnius was also really affordable. We stayed in an apartment in the historic centre for about €20 per person per night. Mind you, we chose the more expensive option with a 9.8 rating by previous guests. Vilnius also offers even cheaper accommodation options. Exiting Vilnius Airport (Oro uostas), we were able to take a bus to the city centre. The buses are directly in front of the airport. Options to the city centre are bus 88 and 3G. We paid €1 in cash per person directly to the …

Vineyards are the topic of this WHS, and they will be extremely visible since the beginning of the trip on Pico island, coming via boat to Madalena. There are a few nice spots where to see from above the particular landscape, made of irregular lava bricks. I'd say that the main places to see the vineyards are around the wine museum at Madalena (which is worth a visit, also for the low prize), the Moinho do Frade (a bright red windmill in Criacao Velha), but the most amazing one is the view from Prainha Forest Park. You will get the chance to see many vineyards along the way, in any case. A bit out of topic, but we tasted several wines during our Azores vacations (all from Pico island) and some were better than others, but nothing extremely special. In addition, this kind of vineyard can be found very similar in Canary Islands. Pico is a very big island, but there are a few villages and 4 days may be the maximum amount of time you can spend there (whale tour excluded).

This site’s current UNESCO T List description confidently asserts that “Hegmataneh is universally well known because Median Dynasty was established over there” (sic) and adds, for good measure; “There exists no comparable instance”. Bold claims! The “Medes” are, indeed, one of a number of “ancient peoples” from Asia of whom we have probably all “heard” but without knowing much, or even anything, more about them. So, how did they and their "capital" enter our “common knowledge base”?

It seems that we owe our earliest “knowledge” to a handful of historical references in “Classical” literature ;

a. In the 5th C BCE Herodotus, wrote in his “Histories” (1.78) that; “The Medes built the city now called Ecbatana, the walls of which are of great size and strength rising in circles one within the other. The plan of the place is that each of the walls should out-top the one beyond it by the battlements. The nature of the ground, which is a gentle hill, favors this arrangement in some degree but it is mainly effected by art. The number of the circles is seven, the royal palace and the treasuries standing within the last ………..All these fortifications Deioces had caused to be raised for himself and his own palace."

b. A 5th C BCE Babylonian clay text known as the Nabonidas Chronicle (now in the British Museum) describes how Cyrus defeated the last Median King and took much wealth from Ecbatana …

Essaouira is yet another fortified town along Morocco’s Atlantic Coast. And another Medina as well! For me, it didn’t stand out enough and I have given it the lowest rating of all Moroccan WHS. Essaouira also was the most touristy city of my trip: its coastline has a special appeal for surfers. It also attracts those young US Americans travelling abroad for the first time, moving around in small groups with the guys chaperoning the girls, ánd I met an Intrepid tour group following their ‘leader’ like ducklings even while having to complete the simplest of tasks.

The Morocco-for-beginners theme continues at the medina, as the one here is easier to navigate than usual: it has wide main streets and is laid out in a checkerboard plan. There are a lot of shops, cafes, and restaurants. At the far end, you’ll find the ramparts. The area around the still very active fishing port probably is the prettiest.

Essaouira in its late 18th and 19th century commercial heydays had a large Jewish population, once even up to 60% of all inhabitants were Jews. Their history and their coexistence with the Muslim population are remembered in the Bayt Dakira museum. The museum’s location isn’t actually advertised, but the same applies to the nearby Sidi Mohammed ben Abdallah Museum - it is not because Morocco is uncomfortable with its Jewish past. At Bayt Dakira, they will open the door when they see you peering inside. I found it especially interesting to …

January 2023 - due to a cheap flight offer I finally decided to visit Tallinn this was. I could persuade a friend from school to join. After a day and night in Riga, we flew into Tallinn. Due to our extreme itinerary we spent 3 nights in Tallinn, but made our actual visit to the old town only on the last day, before going back to Berlin.

The old town is very different from Riga or Vilnius. Medieval Flair, extremely well preserved and as we had the luck of snowfall, the views at the old town were just marvelous. Make sure to visit the oldest pharmacy in Europe, Tallins oldest Art-Nouveau Café and the numerous churches. From Toompea you have the nicest view at the city, making a visit to the townhalls tower probably unmecessary.

Tallinn is also a perfect base for visiting more. We took the Eckeröline ferry for 22€ both ways for a day visit in Helsinki. We also took a public Bus (155) to go hiking in the Viru bog, and finally took the public train for a day visit to Tartu. Enough to fill 3 days. Of course the Baltic Glint can be visited this way as well.

I can very much recommend a visit in winter. Very few visitors, beautiful snowcovered landscapes and a special flair in the city with white roofs. Unfortunately Estonia is quite expensive regarding food and beverages. We did not eat out in Restaurants to use the Budget …

Area visited recently, November 2022. Certainly one of the best example of rock art (similar to those in the Hail region) with interesting addition of ancient wells. As located quite far from main roads site requires organised transport to get there.

It consist of several petroglyph’s sites located near small village of Hima (southern Saudi Arabia, around 120 km from Najran, and some 25 km from main Riyadh – Najran highway) and historical wells (5 cut in the rock, 2 of them looked as still in use).

Wells as a historical site are fenced but the gate is always open. It is probably because they are still in use, during my visit there were several cisterns pumping water from the tank. The site is located near the village mosque, access by asphalted side road. Entrance to Hima Wells – Google coordinates 18°15'01.9"N 44°27'05.3"E.

Adjacent to wells there is another archaeological reserve – Jabal Hima petroglyphs. Also fenced, access from Hima village by the same road leading to the wells on the left, entrance - same coordinates as above - doors may be closed but they are not locked. On the main rock there are Arabic inscriptions, different animals and humans. English / Arabic table explains that petroglyphs depict military raid, written in Musnad Fort around 518. Frankly speaking there is also a bilingual table (English and Arabic) informing that visiting the site is not permitted. But I noticed that just after leaving the site.

Another site …

Casablanca, 20th century city, crossroads of influences focuses on the products of urban planning and architecture in Morocco’s largest city from the period between 1920 and 1975. It is “a fusion of African culture (more precisely North African culture), European culture and American culture”. Where Rabat leans more towards the neo-Moorish styles of the early 20th century French, in Casablanca the modern movement in architecture and other avant-garde trends such as art deco and brutalism, and urban planning principles such as housing projects were applied. After the French bombarded this port city in 1907, it had almost to be rebuilt from scratch. Therefore, the proposal compares Casablanca with the planned 20th-century cities of Brasilia (Brazil) and Chandigarh (India).

I spent a late afternoon in the city center of Casablanca looking for this 20th-century heritage. No specific buildings are named in the Tentative Site description provided by Morocco. Given the scope as described above, it is unsure whether the Hassan II Mosque (of a later date, 1993) is part of it. I relied mostly on Wiki’s Architecture of Casablanca for suggestions and checked out several buildings on foot. The first one was the Central Post Office, a not-too-noticeable construction in what looks like a mix of Neo-Moorish and Art Nouveau. It lies at Mohammed V square, together with a few more buildings from the same era in a similar style such as the Bank Al-Maghrib and the Wilaya Building.  

From that square, I walked southward to the Liberty Building …

Hegra is Saudi Arabia's paramount tourist attraction and one of the few boasting of an excellent infrastructure ready to handle mass tourism. Correction, it's actually the only place in Saudi Arabia where mass tourism is practiced. Tours are booked in advance and the choices are endless - just choose how much time and money you want to give Hegra. We opted for the classic three-hour guided bus tour, but you can spend a full day here, go privately on a jeep and have a picnic amid the desert sights.

The area of today's archaeological reserve was inhabited between the sixth and fourth centuries BC, according to inscriptions found on the rocks. It is from this period that the historical name Mada'in Saleh originates. Later it was one of the centres of the Lycian kingdom, and around the first century AD it was settled by the Nabataean civilisation, which transformed Hegra into a vibrant city, the second most important after Petra. They carved their typical tombs with monumental facades into the large rocks in the middle of the desert, which are a major attraction today. In addition, the Nabataeans created a complete irrigation infrastructure that used the water from the oasis and made it possible to grow crops. The Nabataean kingdom lay on the trade route and had a monopoly on the trade of spices, myrrh and frankincense. In 106 AD it was annexed to the Roman Empire and Hegra (along with her more famous sister Petra) became part of …

For my ‘tick’ of the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex I choose Kui Buri National Park. Kui Buri (sometimes also spelled as ‘Kuri Buri’) was established only in 1999 after tensions between wild elephants and villagers escalated. The elephants’ former habitat had been taken over by pineapple plantations. The park now offers daily 'elephant safaris', where - with a bit of luck - one can observe the wild elephants from a distance. The WWF is still active here to further reduce human-elephant conflict.

The park lies about 1h15 from the pleasant seaside resort of Hua Hin. I used HuaHin Taxi for the return transfer – they are easy to communicate with and know the drill at Kui Buri. The wildlife viewing area is open to entering daily between 2 and 5 p.m. (though you will leave towards 6 p.m.) and requires hiring a 4WD truck and guide at the ticket office.

We arrived at 2.15 and I was driven into the park immediately. The noisy truck drove quite fast on the sandy roads and it was clear that we wouldn’t be seeing much along the way. They will bring you to one of the two main viewpoints, where you disembark and the waiting begins. These viewpoints are major tourist congregation sites, not the lovely camouflaged watchtowers that they use in Huai Kha Khaeng. Eventually, some 15 trucks and 50 tourists showed up at this viewpoint, the furthest. This clearly was an Indian-style safari, not a serene African one.

I guess all has been said which can be said about Nessebar. The small city and its wonderful unesco churches are without any doubt worth a visit.

I stayed one night in Nessebar on the 14th of jan. Very few visitors were there,hardly anyone after sunset.

I had the town to myself in the later hours of the day. The locals told me that Nessebar is a pure hell in the summer months and even in spring as the city is virtually overrun by hordes of tourists from the nearby golden beach + local bulgarian tourists from other parts of the country.

I managed to see 2 unesco churches from inside and visited all places of interest in that small bulgarian town. Most churches were closed in winter time.

I may dislike religious sites in general but I'm extra negative about this one. It basically tries to show a "testament to Judaism in the Americas" which means that Jews came to the South Americas in the settler ages as seen by the founding year of the site: 1682. The synagogue remains are quite basic with mainly the ground bricks, steps and short remains of the walls to be seen. At one point it must have been a nice settlement away from the main that is now Paramaribo. It also contains a cemetery which are many large rectangles on the ground. If all religions would start to add locations for their cemeteries around the world it would be full of sites. So yes, Jewish settlement in this part of the world is pretty interesting but that's about it, I mean they have antique synagogues in the city too if I'm not mistaken.

Getting here is not difficult but obviously you need to arrange transportation. What I did and what you may want to do as well is combine this wit ha trip to or from the airport. It's only a bit east of the airport and Paramaribo is a long trip in and out if you are coming only for the settlement remains but it's still alright if you can't manage it for timing reason. My flight into Suriname arrived shortly before midnight and with the lengthy visa payment it wasn't until 1am to be at my hotel. So …

So here we have yet another, currently un-reviewed, Iranian T list entry situated, like “The Historical Texture of Damghan”, just off Highway 44 in NE Iran, well away from the main tourist routes in that country. The comments I made when reviewing that site apply here too and, indeed, both also share a common aspect in the form of an Iranian “Funerary Tower”. IMO, understanding the site requires a degree of familiarity with both the history of the region between the 9th and 14th C and of Shia beliefs and practices. I can’t say we adequately possessed these when we visited in april 2016, despite valiant attempts to bone up on both before we went, and. looking back, our otherwise excellent guide wasn’t able fully to enlighten us at the time either! Few of us WHS visitors are going to be knowledgeable in matters “Shiite” and “Sufic”, let alone be adherents. One can of course simply visit it as just another Islamic pilgrimage site with some nice tiles, Kufic script, muqarnas etc OR dive in as follows and try to understand more of the background (I make no claim to be an expert in these matters!) 

As the title implies, this site consists of 2 locations; of which Bastam is the more important and was the one we visited. However, it was with some annoyance that I discovered we had passed right by the other unawares in the village of Ghal'eh Now Kharaghan as we approached Bastam …

I visited this WHS in 2022 en route from Stari Ras, Serbia to the Bosnian Stecci near Stolac. Arriving very early from the opposite side of Visegrad, I easily parked alongside the Drina River where a local fisherman was trying his luck and killing time. The 11 arched Ottoman bridge is quite striking, especially when seen from above, either with a drone or with a short walk up a few stairs to the local zipline.

It has become quite popular in the last few decades thanks to Ivo Andric who wrote the novel The Bridge on the Drina in 1945. A whole tourist quarter named Andricgrad is located just a pleasant stroll away from the bridge with great views from near the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin. Another great viewing point is from the terrace restaurant/cafeteria of the cheap Hotel Visegrad where I had some breakfast. Next to the hotel, several small boat tour companies organise 30 minute boat trips on the Drina river focusing mainly on the bridge. There is a black UNESCO WHS inscription plaque just opposite the stairs which lead to the zipline. 

Apart from the sheer size of the bridge, the architectural feature which stands out is definitely the central pile with Arabic script. The bridge was originally constructed between 1571 and 1577. However, major renovations took place in 1664, 1875, 1911, 1940 and 1950–52. Three of its 11 arches were destroyed during World War I and five arches were damaged …

The Moroccan capital Rabat is a pleasant and neat city, that is large and varied enough to warrant at least half a day’s visit. Its overall feel is fairly modern, but not as harsh as Casablanca, and – as stated in its OUV - the 20th-century French town planners handled it with respect for the existing heritage. I walked its streets in a loop of about 11km: railway station – Medina – Kasbah – city walls - Hassan Tower – railway station. I skipped the Chellah (much further away) which I knew was closed for renovations, and also the Habous neighbourhood which seemed not to be worth a detour being a normal residential area with modernist influences.

I arrived by train from Casablanca, and then immediately found myself in the early 20th-century Ville Nouvelle. Notable buildings along Boulevard Mohammed V include the Post Office (photo top left) and the Railway Station. There’s lots of greenery as well, the roads are lined with palm trees.

Because I visited on a Friday morning, the Medina was deserted. That was an excellent opportunity to get some unobstructed pictures of the wooden balconies of the shops (photo top right).

The Kasbah is a major landmark of the city, but I found it a bit disappointing. The gate Bab Oudaya is said to be one of Maghreb’s most outstanding, however, the decorations did not hold my attention for long. I did enjoy the Andalusian gardens next door, hidden behind a wall (photo …

Drakensberg is one of my favorite site in the world. I spent 3 days here and would have liked to spend more but in the end I only though I should accomplish two things:

a) check off the WHS and because I figured it would be mainly about rock art I only planned 1 day for this

b) visit Lesotho and "tick off" a country... kidding I actually wanted to do that trip up the mountains because it you'd get a great view only that there are some reports about road conditions that got me thinking there could be trouble, and it's supposed to have the highest bar in the world (is it though?).

I stayed in a lodge near Himeville. One can visit the rock art on your own which is a bit of a walk and there are guided tours only. The tour is very interested not only about the art but also about the people that used to live here before. In a bit of a controversial statement I will now also say that black people who live in South Africa now are not actually "originally" from South Africa either. I don't mean it's not their home, but they were migrants at one point just like the Dutch, and whereas this is indeed a tricky subject the tour here taught me that the original people are no longer here and everyone else came from other parts of Africa and settled down later. Hate me …

I visited 3 locations of this WHS in Bosnia-Herzegovina in 2022, namely Radimlja (the most important and best preserved location), Mramorje (just opposite, on the other side of the road) and Boljuni Necropolis I and II a few kilometres away from Stolac (also worth a visit if you have time to spare).

Mramorje is a mere continuation of Radimlja with very minor stecci compared to the ones in Radimlja, in terms of size, quality and quantity. At first I visited Radimlja in the morning and I wasn't happy with the lighting on most of the embossed engravings of the stecci. Afternoon light is much better, so I decided to head towards Boljuni Necropolis I and II. These stecci here are 100 meters apart from each other in the middle of a number of tobacco fields with lots of cattle grazing around in the fields and a circular open well nearby. There is no visitor centre or parking lot near this location so it really was a fun experience. I wouldn't skip Radimlja but if you have a car and don't mind driving in narrow winding country roads, a visit to Boljuni is highly recommended to enhance your overall stecci visit in Bosnia.

All in all, the main deterrent in Radimlja is the busy Stolac-Mostar main road passing right nearby the site. The petrol station and commercial buildings nearby have been quite a concern recently and the location is under UNESCO's radar. Hopefully, in the future the location of …

I hadn’t expected ever to visit Gran Canaria, a small Atlantic island overrun by millions of tourists yearly. But I had to secure my last World Heritage Site of Spain: I am now at 49/49. The decision to go there was made easier due to some EasyJet vouchers that I still had from Covid times. And because there's an interesting way to leave: I hopped over to Casablanca in Morocco on a tiny propeller flight.

I rented a car for 24 hours and first drove the winding roads to Roque Nublo. It was so busy that the parking lot was full already and cars were parked at the roadside for a km or so. The hike up to the main rock is only 1.5km long, but it is a tricky rocky path and I encountered a woman that had fallen and hurt her ankle (on the way back I saw her being carried away by firemen). The trail ends at a large plateau, from where you have good views of the Roque Bentayga and even Teide on Tenerife. And you get close to Roque Nublo of course, a key feature in the ‘Astronomy Skyscape’. There’s no interpretation provided here (there must be rock drawings as well but who knows where?) and all other visitors seemed to be on a family outing scrambling over rocks.

The websites of the Interpretation centers at Roque Bentayga and Artenara both say you have to contact them before visiting. I did, and …

Visited Melka Kunture archaeological site in January 2023 - a quick day trip from Addis Ababa.

The site has an interesting museum exhibiting Ethiopia's rich archaeological heritage. Melka Kunture boasts for recording 1.7 million years of continuous prehistoric human occupation, apart from its rich lithic, flora and fauna fossil records (Photo is from the dig site with in-situ artefacts).

Travelers can arrange a visit to Melka Kunture with a trip to Tiya (a UNESCO World Heritage Site) and Adadi Mariam Rock Church, the only known rock-hewn church outside of Lalibela. 

Damghan is one of those places you might find yourself passing round on its by-pass without realising that it contains a relatively minor TWHS which justifies a quick diversion off the highway - No 44 in this case (A part of AH1 from Tokyo to Istanbul!), which you are going to use between Mashad and Tehran (and also possibly as a faster route back from Gonbad-e Qabus than the Caspian route?). In 2016, on the last day of our Iranian tour, we had a 580km/7 ¼ hour drive back from Gonbad to Tehran Airport but were still able to pick up this TWHS (together with 2 others at Abr forest and Bustami) on the way with, in this case, an addition of under an hour. We may not have fully covered the site, but, in our minds at least, got enough out of it to justify the time spent!

The UNESCO description lists 5 items as comprising Damghan’s “Historical Texture”  

Hesar Tepe. This is a prehistoric site just south of the town. We were pretty “teped out” and, having already visited Sialk Tepe, with which the UNESCO description compares this site (without a conclusion!) we gave it a miss! It could have been worth doing with more time?   The Mosque (Tarikhaneh) of Damghan, This is said to have been a Zoroastrian Temple going back 2300 years (though I can’t say that we were able to discern any remains from that past!) and, following conversion to a …

Visit January 2023 - This is one of the sites I struggle to pronounce even after I visited. Still I think Maha Bali Puram (that is how I try to memorize it) is a great site and should be mentioned when talking about India’s best sites.

We took a taxi from Chennai. I offered a generous 3000Rp flat to bring us there, drive us from site to site and drive us back. Be aware that traffic inside the zone is terrible. If you travel without children or elderly, I suggest you walk between locations.

The first location were the Five Rathas with it’s amazing monuments carved out of huge rocks. This is also where the main ticket office is located. I first had to shake off an aggressive guide who wanted an outrageous 1500Rp for his services. The location is very small and the main challenge is to take pictures without people on them.

The second location is the largest and you need some time to explore the rock-hewn temples, caves and carvings. The “Decent of the Ganges” (picture) is directly mentioned in Criterion (i) and probably the highlight of Mahabalipuram. Krishna’s Butterball, a huge balancing rock, is also in this location. Don’t miss out on Draupadi’s bath and the Lions Throne further up the hill.

After shaking off more “guides” and “photographers” we went to the third location, the shore temple. As Els mentioned, wind and weather have a visible impact on the carvings. Further, …