Location: Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa, South Korea (3 locations)
Visited: June, 2012 and Sept, 2013
Site Type: Cultural
Inscribed: 2000
Opinion and Background:
I know what you are thinking… what the heck is a dolmen?
UNESCO world heritage site
Travel tips from a local? That seems to be a trend these days, and one I don’t fully buy as locals aren’t travel wizards that magically know where all the best spots are. But it is hidden gems like Guanajuato that have made this trend so huge, as it is a fantastic place mostly traveled by local Mexicans. Read more
Location: Near Andong and Gyeongju, South Korea
Visited: Sept, 2010, Oct, 2013
Site Type: Cultural
Inscribed: 2010
Opinion and Background:
Historic, average, gorgeous, bland, amazing, underwhelming, overwhelming! There are so many conflicting words that come to mind when I want to describe these two folk villages. How do you evaluate two places as a single entity when they give you completely different feelings? While Yangdong made me wonder why this was even considered “World Heritage Site” worthy, Hahoe is officially, my new favorite place in Korea. Read more
Nowadays, Macao is mostly known for being the gambling capital of the world in terms of money spent every year. What a lot of people, including myself, didn’t know, is that the city was (until 1999) owned by the Portuguese, and much like Hong Kong was controlled directly by a foreign power (non-Chinese) for hundreds of years. Macao was actually the first foothold a foreign power laid in China and I was interested on checking it out. Read more
Location: Milan, Italy
Visited: August 11, 2012
Site Type: Cultural
Inscribed: 1980
Opinion and Background:
Santa Maria delle Grazie is a small church located in Milan whose call to fame comes from containing the painting known the world over as “The Last Supper.” While the inscription for making this a UNESCO World Heritage Site includes both the church and the masterpiece, it is obvious that most people have Leonardo da Vinci’s work in mind when they visit this site. When you purchase tickets to see the painting (which must be done weeks, if not months in advance to get a fair price) you have a very strict time slot when you are allowed to see it (15 minutes). Knowing this, I scouted the area the day before which happened to be a day when “The Last Supper” was closed. The whole area looked like a ghost town with virtually no tourists Read more
