"World Heritage" as a Guide

In an earlier post, I mentioned places that had been designated UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I first heard of this designation in 1995 when I visited a place in south-central India called Hampi. I had never heard of Hampi before going to India but I kept coming across backpackers who raved about this place of ruins set among fantastic rock formations. When I finally arrived, I could NOT believe what I saw. More accurately, I could not believe that I´d never heard of what I was seeing. The ruins were as interesting and expansive as any antiquities I´d ever come across which, at that time, included the pyramids of Giza, the temple of Karnak and other Egyptian sites; the Forum, the Colosseum, St. Peter´s and the rest of central Rome; the Mayan ruins of Tikal and Copan; the Acropolis in Athens and other Greek ruins, among others. Here I was in rural India standing in front of a bronze plaque announcing the World Heritage designation and I could see immediately that I needed to explore. I ended up spending three weeks there. God willing, I´ll go back.

Anyway, on this trip we keep coming across World Heritage Sites. We first noticed a plaque at Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico. Then, a couple weeks later we saw that Carlsbad Caverns was one as well. Both were the types of destinations I seek: "You´ve got to be kidding me" destinations. I got on-line and found that Mesa Verde which we visted in Colorado is one, too. Now that we´re here in Spain, we´ve hit several. Currently we´re in Granada, home to the Alhambra fortress/palace, another site which we´ll visit in the next few days.

It´s become clear, if you want a destination that is without doubt worth your travel time and dollars, aim for World Heritage Sites. There are currently something like 850 sites. About 650 are "cultural" sites i.e. human built and the others are "natural" sites e.g. the Grand Canyon. It´s interesting to note that, of the 20 sites in the United States, 12 are natural sites. If you want to instill an interest in travel and history (and our future) in your kids, get them the map and subscribe to the World Heritage magazine. It´s good stuff. Here´s the link to the list: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/

I also put the link to the right of the blogs on this page. Check it...