Ludvan Profile
I am a serial WHS hunter, and targeting another 85 WHS to reach 500 traveled. At each site, I will do my best to 1) Study the history and significance of the site before I go, 2) Join a guide tour and/or visit the museum, 3) take photos, including if possible, the shot on the UNESCO website, and the UNESCO designation plaque or sign.
I try to balance between WHS-rich areas such as Western Europe where i can cover 10-15 on a trip, and the remote, eg, Easter Island where travel cost and time are quite significant for a single site.
Recent Reviews Ludvan
Teotihuacan
Ludvan USA - 17-Nov-24
I went there today for the third time, and finally was able to see the Temple of the Feathered Serpent. You have to go through Gate 1, instead of 4 or 5 that lead you to the Pyramid of the Moon or the Pyramid of the Sun. There aren’t as many tourists as there were at the other pyramids, which is a good thing. I climbed up a fairly well-maintained set of stairs to the platform, which was a pyramid build in front and on top the Feathered Serpent. The newer pyramid thus shielded the lower portion of old one from damage throughout the past 1,500 years or so. The platform itself has solid rails and was quite safe.
Read OnWarsaw
Ludvan USA - 25-Sep-24
Warsaw Old Town was razed by the Nazis in 1944, so the WHS designation was awarded for the restoration effort that is still ongoing. As such, we had to view it as a construction project instead of an old town. The job done is remarkable, but one always wonders if things are made more for the tourists, which are many. Mea culpa. As a tourist site, it is pleasant enough, with broad squares, the church spires, classical and Gothic architecture abound. But there isn’t anything that makes it different from any other old European city. There are no WHS class churches, no architecture master pieces, no stunning river views.
Read OnTaos Pueblo
Ludvan USA - 04-Nov-23
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.
Read OnHallstatt-Dachstein
Ludvan USA - 16-May-22
Hallstatt is a beautiful little town, and attracts lots and lots of tourists. We drove in from Salzburg through vary mountainous roads and some mistakes of the GPS. Once in town, you have to contend with parking, as there is no outside cars allowed in the tourist areas. The two small lots in the center fills up quickly, but once in, everything is within walking distance. The parking payment system is strange (for non-German speakers) but once you figure it out that the little yellow token is your parking stub, everything is logical.
Read OnWest Lake
Ludvan USA - 26-Aug-18
I have been to West Lake several times, both before and after major clean-up and reconstruction. As one of the famous sites in China's history, it is incredibly crowded year round. Prior to the clean-up in around 2000, it was a dirty, filled with filth, as it was a culture relic of the "Old Civilization" which the Cultural Revolution was trying to get rid of, or at least, neglect. Since that time, they have build many hotels and entertainment facilities to choke it with tourists and chintz, including color-lit water displays. Wonder how such crass commercialism deserves a UNESCO WHS designation.
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Ludvan
- Country
- USA
- Most Impressive
- Gobekil Tepe
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 20.11.24
-
12 Countries Complete
Armenia . Estonia . Fiji . Holy See . Laos . Latvia . Luxembourg . Malta . Moldova . Namibia . Singapore . Zambia .Visited WHS
Rating StatsAvila 5Mafra 5Rapa Nui 5Sanchi 5Chaco Culture 4.5Göbekli Tepe 4.5Salamanca 4.5Segovia 4.5As-Salt 4Evora 4Hattusha 4Oporto 4Troy 4Elvas 3.5Kerkuane 3.5Levuka 3.5Mistaken Point 3.5Old Havana 3.5Quanzhou 3.5Qutb Minar 3.5Shakhrisyabz 3.5Thessalonika 3.5Viñales Valley 3.5Divrigi 3Kulangsu 3Macao 3Nisa 3Novgorod 3Pergamon 3Vat Phou 3Warsaw 3Alto Douro 2.5Guimarães 2.5Humayun's Tomb 2.5Safranbolu 2.5Sheki 2.5Taos Pueblo 2.5Temple of Heaven 2.5Twyfelfontein 2.5Kuldiga 1.5Peking Man Site 1.5West Lake 0.5Visited TWHS
- "Lok-Batan" Mud Cone (T)
- Alexandria, ancient remains and the new library (T)
- Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath (T)
- Archaeological Sites of the Ancient Shu State: Site at Jinsha and Joint Tombs of Boat- shaped Coffins in Chengdu City, S (T)
- Baptism Site “Eshria’a” (Al-Maghtas) (T)
- Brooklyn Bridge (T)
- Casablanca, Ville du XXème siécle, carrefour d'influences (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Chinese Section of the Silk Road (T)
- Cittadella (Victoria - Gozo) (T)
- City Walls of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (T)
- Dali Chanshan Mountain and Erhai Lake Scenic Spot (T)
- Delhi - A Heritage City (T)
- Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo's Home-Study Museum (T)
- Diocletian's Palace and the Historical Nucleus of Split (extension) (T)
- Dreams in Stone - the palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria: Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee (T)
- Early Chicago Skyscrapers (T)
- Etosha Pan (T)
- Fenghuang Ancient City (T)
- Frontières de l'Empire romain : Limes du Sud tunisien (T)
- Group of Monuments at Mandu, Madhya Pradesh (T)
- Gwalior Fort, Madhya Pradesh (T)
- Harran and Sanliurfa (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Iconic Riverfront of the Historic City of Varanasi (T)
- Jerash Archaeological City (Ancient Meeting Place of East and West) (T)
- Jerusalem (T)
- Knights Fortifications around the Harbours of Malta (T)
- L'amphitheatre de Durres (T)
- Lake Titicaca (T)
- Le complexe hydraulique romain de Zaghouan-Carthage (T)
- Manama, City of Trade, Multiculturalism and Religious Coexistence (T)
- Mediterranean Wind Mills (T)
- Mount Vernon (T)
- Mývatn and Laxá (T)
- Pella (Modern Tabaqat Fahil) (T)
- Petrified Forest National Park (T)
- Qinghai Lake (T)
- Ring of cenotes of Chicxulub Crater, Yucatan (T)
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela in Portugal (T)
- Rural Temples of Cusco (T)
- Sarajevo - unique symbol of universal multiculture - continual open city (T)
- Satpura Tiger Reserve (T)
- Sea of Galilee & its Ancient Sites (T)
- ShuDao (T)
- Slender West Lake and Historic Urban Area in Yangzhou (T)
- Southwest Coast (T)
- Surakhany, Atashgyakh (Fire - worshippers, temple - museum at Surakhany) (T)
- Tbilisi Historic District (T)
- The African Great Rift Valley - The Maasai Mara (T)
- The Ancient Plovdiv (T)
- The Ancient Waterfront Towns in the South of Yangtze River (T)
- The Chinese Section of the Silk Roads (T)
- The Galilee Journeys of Jesus & the Apostles (T)
- The Great Rift Valley - The Kenya Lakes System (T)
- The Lijiang River Scenic Zone at Guilin (T)
- The Old Town of Jakarta (T)
- The Ribeira Sacra, Lugo and Orense (T)
- The Wine in Iberia (T)
- Thingvellir National Park (T)
- Thomas Jefferson Buildings (T)
- Torfajökull Volcanic System / Fjallabak Nature Reserve (T)
- Uplistsikhe Cave Town (T)
- VIKING MONUMENTS AND SITES / Thingvellir National Park (T)
- VIKING MONUMENTS AND SITES / Vestfold Ship Burials and Hyllestad Quernstone Quarries (T)
- Yangtze Gorges Scenic Spot (T)
Reviewed TWHS