Recent Reviews AC
Okinoshima Island
AC - 23-Dec-17
I visited 3 out of the 8 inscribed components of this site on a day trip in early December, namely Hetsu-miya on Kyushu, and Nakatsu-miya and Okitsu-miya Yohaisho both on Oshima. I of course could not visit the main attraction of this site and its attendant islands. As for the tombs I found them to be a hassle to reach and so skipped those.
There are a few direct buses to Hetsu-miya from Fukuoka, and the first one of these on Saturdays (maybe on Sundays too but I did not check on that since I made the visit on a Saturday) goes all the way to the Konominato Port from where the ferry to Oshima can be taken.
Read OnKoguryo Tombs
AC - 28-Apr-16
I got to see the tomb of King Tongmyoung as well as part of my tour. The local guide at the tomb itself, and of course everyone needs to have a local guide at every place visited, was a lady highly knowledgeable in Koguryo history. I did enjoy listening to her. However, as expected, the history told to me was tinged with political undertones. After I had mentioned the name of Tongmyoung's son, which of course I had learnt from a South Korean epic drama serial on the king, the local guide surmised that I must have learnt about the name from sources based on the Samguk Sagi. The DPRK knows the son by a slightly different name.
Read OnKaesong
AC - 28-Apr-16
We were taken on a whirlwind tour of Kaesong city. Within less than two hours we got to see the Sonjuk Bridge, the Namdaemum, the Koryo Museum and the tomb of King Wang Gon. Most visitors I think get to see the museum. The bridge was thrown in because we had lunch at the nearby restaurant (which I discovered to my surprise was within the core zone) and some of us asked to see it. That particular tomb was chosen instead Kongmin's, I cannot help but suspect, because Wang Gon was the founder of the Koryo and credited with unifying the Korean nation. And we drove by the Namdaemun twice, when entering and leaving the city.
Read OnPhanom Rung, Muang Tam and Plai Bat Sanctuaries (T)
AC - 28-Dec-15
The three temples in this nomination I must say are quite special and definitely worth visiting if in the area. However, and I feel quite sorry to have to say this, I kept comparing them to the monuments in Angkor when I was there. The three temples, if located in Angkor, would have been some of the most prominent and visited ones in the area. But if they were to be compared to the best of the monuments in Angkor they would sadly look quite ordinary.
Read OnPhu Phrabat
AC - 28-Dec-15
I understand that there are two parts to this nomination. I however only visited the main part where all the strange rock formations are located.
This is an interesting site and it is still possible to find evidence of how the unusual rock formations with huge boulders balancing on often smaller ones were used for religious purposes. These rocks take their shapes apparently because of under-sea erosion that happened millions of years ago. Traces of prehistoric rock art can also be found on some of the rocks and a number of these paintings were hardly visible. It is almost necessary (unless one has done quite a bit of research and has a very sharp eye) to have a guide to point them out for the ordinary visitor. Someone had to actually point one such painting out with a long stick to me before I could see it
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13 Countries Complete
Armenia . Estonia . Holy See . Korea (DPR) . Laos . Luxembourg . Madagascar . Mauritius . Moldova . Myanmar . Namibia . San Marino . Singapore .Visited WHS
Rating StatsPlain of Jars 4.5Bisotun 4Gusuku of Ryukyu 3.5Soltaniyeh 3.5Takht-e Soleyman 3.5Hegmataneh 2.5Kaesong 2.5Koguryo Tombs 2.5Aapravasi Ghat 1.5Sheki 1.5Reviewed WHS
Visited TWHS
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath (T)
- Ancient cities of Upper Myanmar : Innwa, Amarapura, Sagaing, Mingun, Mandalay (T)
- Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
- Asuka-Fujiwara : Archaeological sites of Japan's Ancient Capitals and Related Properties (T)
- Black River Gorges National Park (T)
- Capital Fortifications of Hanyang : Hangyangdoseong Capital City Wall, Bukhansanseong Mountain Fortress and Tangchundaeseong Defense Wall (T)
- David Gareji Monasteries and Hermitage (T)
- Delhi - A Heritage City (T)
- Diocletian's Palace and the Historical Nucleus of Split (extension) (T)
- Ensemble of Phanom Rung, Muang Tam and Plai Bat Sanctuaries (T)
- Etosha Pan (T)
- Former M-13 prison/ Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (former S-21)/ Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (former Execution Site of S-21) (T)
- FRIM Selangor Forest Park (T)
- Historic Monument of Kangavar (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Historical Relics in Pyongyang (T)
- Iconic Riverfront of the Historic City of Varanasi (T)
- Inle Lake (T)
- Jame' (Congregational) Mosque of Esfahan (T)
- Jerusalem (T)
- La Haute Ville d’Antananarivo (T)
- La Moneda Palace (T)
- Le noyau historique ou la 'Cuve' de Gand, et les deux abbayes qui sont à son origine (T)
- Le Palais de Justice de Bruxelles (T)
- Les Mausolées Royaux de Numidie, de la Maurétanie et les monuments funéraires pré-islamiques (Algeria) (T)
- Les passages de Bruxelles / Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert (T)
- Long-lived trees of Iran (T)
- Monastery of St. Amenaprkich (New Julfa Vank) (T)
- Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)
- Mrauk-U (T)
- Mt. Kumgang and the Historical Relics in and around the Mountain (T)
- Mt. Myohyang and the Relics in and around the Mountain (T)
- Nasqsh-e Rostam and Naqsh-e Rajab (T)
- Persepolis and other relevant buildings (T)
- Phnom Kulen: Archeological Site/Ancient Site of Mahendraparvata (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Sea of Galilee & its Ancient Sites (T)
- Serial Nomination of Tehrans Modern Architectural Heritage (T)
- Shwedagon Pagoda on Singuttara Hill (T)
- Surakhany, Atashgyakh (Fire - worshippers, temple - museum at Surakhany) (T)
- Taq-e Bostan (T)
- Tbilisi Historic District (T)
- Temples, Shrines and other structures of Ancient Kamakura (T)
- That Luang de Vientiane (T)
- The Galilee Journeys of Jesus & the Apostles (T)
- The historic ensemble of Orchha (T)
- The Historical Village of Abyaneh (T)
- The Historical-Cultural Axis of Fin, Sialk, Kashan (T)
- The monastery of Noravank and the upper Amaghou Valley (T)
- The Padang Civic Ensemble (T)
- Trakai Historical National Park (T)
- Uplistsikhe Cave Town (T)
- Wooden Monasteries of Konbaung Period : Ohn Don, Sala, Pakhangyi, Pakhannge, Legaing, Sagu, Shwe-Kyaung (Mandalay) (T)
- Zadar - Episcopal complex (T)
Reviewed TWHS
Top 50 Missing Sites
- Amritsar
- Bagan
- Chhatris (cenotaphs) of Orchha
- Cultural Landscape of Santorini
- Dzongs of Bhutan
- Ephesus
- Jericho
- Lake Titicaca
- Minoan palaces of Crete
- Okavango Delta
- Plain of Jars / Sites Mégalithiques de la province de Xieng Khouang
- Shwedagon Pagoda
- Silk Roads
- Sistema Vial Andino/Qhapaq Ñan
- Tana Toraja Cultural Landscape
- The Grand Canal
- Torres del Paine National Park
- Towers of Silence
- Ur
- Varanasi
Top 200 WHS
- Surtsey
- Hawaii Volcanoes
- Berlin Modernism Housing Estates
- Brasilia
- Cordoba
- The trulli of Alberobello
- City of Bath
- Stone Town of Zanzibar
- Matera
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Rome
- Istanbul
- Venice and its Lagoon
- Kunta Kinteh Island
- Semmering Railway
- Grand Canal
- Qhapaq Ñan
- Silk Roads: Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor
- Fatehpur Sikri
- Ellora Caves
- Angkor
- Petroglyphs of the Mongolian Altai
- Decorated cave of Pont d'Arc
- Iguazu National Park
- The Sundarbans
- Okavango Delta
- Lake Baikal
- Three parallel rivers of Yunnan
- Kenya Lake System
- Central Amazon Conservation Complex
- Major Town Houses
- Biblical Tells
- Nasca Lines
- Stonehenge
- Caral-Supe
- Teotihuacan
- Mesa Verde
- City of Luxembourg
- Riga
- Paris, Banks of the Seine
- Florence
- Carthage
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou
- Chengjiang Fossil Site
- Joggins Fossil Cliffs
- Fasil Ghebbi
- Golestan Palace
- Versailles
- Imperial Palace
- Rapa Nui
- Bisotun
- Petra
- Persepolis
- Western Ghats
- Machu Picchu
- Kilimanjaro National Park
- Sagarmatha National Park
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
- Hwaseong Fortress
- Kaiping Diaolou
- Dutch Water Defence Lines
- Fortified City of Carcassonne
- Fortifications of Vauban
- Great Wall
- Himeji-jo
- Hill Forts of Rajasthan
- Agra Fort
- Genbaku Dome
- Auschwitz Birkenau
- Arab-Norman Palermo
- Upper Svaneti
- Budapest
- Kraków
- Dubrovnik
- Oporto
- Hoi An
- Maritime Greenwich
- Great Barrier Reef
- West Norwegian Fjords
- Mexico City and Xochimilco
- Cuzco
- Andrefana Dry Forests
- Ha Long Bay – Cat Ba Archipelago
- South China Karst
- Masjed-e Jâme'
- Soltaniyeh
- Selimiye Mosque
- Ogasawara Islands
- Jongmyo Shrine
- Tsodilo
- Huangshan
- Wudang Mountains
- Itsukushima Shrine
- Mahabalipuram
- Khajuraho Group of Monuments
- High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago
- Los Glaciares
- Ilulissat Icefjord
- Primeval Beech Forests
- Yakushima
- Ujung Kulon National Park
- Tasmanian Wilderness
- Jiuzhaigou Valley
- Tropical Rainforest Sumatra
- Redwood
- Kinabalu Park
- Cape Floral Region
- Alejandro de Humboldt National Park
- Wrangel Island
- Rainforests of the Atsinanana
- Bwindi Impenetrable National Park
- Ngorongoro
- Yellowstone
- Galapagos Islands
- Aldabra Atoll
- Komodo National Park
- Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries
- Yin Xu
- Ancient Kyoto
- Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution
- Ironbridge Gorge
- Grand Canyon
- Nubian Monuments
- University of Coimbra
- Bauhaus Sites
- Dengfeng
- Jantar Mantar
- Cerrado Protected Areas
- Lorentz National Park
- Virunga National Park
- Namib Sand Sea
- Fujisan
- Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
- Orkhon Valley
- Chief Roi Mata's Domain
- Singapore Botanic Gardens
- Kew Gardens
- Uluru
- Bali Subak system
- Persian Garden
- Wadi Rum
- Sintra
- West Lake
- Thingvellir
- Lima
- Arequipa
- Vigan
- Potosi
- Québec
- Melaka and George Town
- Ouro Preto
- Meroe
- Great Zimbabwe
- Cliff of Bandiagara
- Mount Qingcheng and Dujiangyan
- Shushtar
- Kremlin and Red Square
- Wooden Churches of Maramures
- Chartres Cathedral
- Churches and Convents of Goa
- Route of Santiago de Compostela
- Vatican City
- Meteora
- Ravenna
- Lalibela
- Blue and John Crow Mountains
- Göreme NP and Cappadocia
- Imperial Tombs
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Temple, Mansion and Cemetery of Confucius
- Etruscan Necropolises
- Taj Mahal
- Pyramids (Memphis)
- Haeinsa Temple
- Kii Mountain Range
- Lumbini
- Mogao Caves
- Borobudur
- Potala Palace
- Sigiriya
- Itchan Kala
- Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
- Luang Prabang
- Fujian Tulou
- Ping Yao
- Erbil Citadel
- Pearling
- Damascus
- Pont du Gard
- Pompei
- Acropolis
- Mycenae and Tiryns
- Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces
- Hani Rice Terraces
- Tequila
- Kuk
- Viñales Valley
- Timbuktu
- Aksum