unesco
YAY for ephesus
We don’t normally capitalise our headings but for this one, we had to! To be inducted into the UNESCO World Heritage List is no easy feat.
Following a vote on July 5, Ephesus was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List and so this called for us to cheer!!
A visit to Turkey is usually bound to include a visit to Ephesus. And for us, UNESCO collectors, it was no different except the fact that back in 2013, Ephesus was NOT on the list yet. This came as a great surprise to us back then as to how it could not already be.
Every year, it brings in about 2 million visitors and seriously on the day we were there, we were sure half of that number was there. There were apparently three cruise liners in for the day at Kusadasi, which explained the crowd numbers. Maybe it’s always like that but for us, it felt like we were at a theme park.
The sun was up and there was little shade so apart from the crowd and the heat, we had nothing to “truly” complaint about.
We were wow-ed from the start when we could see the ruins of the pillars and amphitheatres.
Then to walk the old stone streets, see the mosaic art, admire the different sculptures and structures all the while weaving past the wandering local cats.
The most famous structure and probably the epitome of Ephesus is the Library of Celsus. We could see it from the distance and we couldn’t wait to stand below and gawk at it!
And gawk at it we did…
Congratulations to Turkey for getting Ephesus recognised as a UNESCO Heritage Site 🙂
Ephesus was listed as a UNESCO Heritage site in 2015.
To see the other UNESCO sites we have visited, visit our unofficial bucket list
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buddhist cave art in the yungang grottoes
With Le back into full-time work, time has just been slipping away. It has been over six months since we returned from our last overseas trip and we just are getting edgy to plan our next one.
At the moment, we have a few short local getaways planned but we are hoping for an overseas trip at some point for 2-3 weeks at the end of the year. We’ll see how it pans out.
In the meantime, let’s go down memory lane for a little bit. We thought we would look back on a UNESCO site that we visited back in 2012….
It was April 2012, and we were in China. We were rather unaware that it was still going to be COLD…. So very very cold!
The day we went to Yungang Grottoes it was absolutely freezing and windy. We can recall so clearly how we had the hoods of our windbreakers pulled tightly over our “beanied” heads, our scarves wrapped around our necks and up around our faces… just enough to reveal our eyes.
The cold air was slicing through us despite our multiple layers…
But walking around the grottoes in that cold air was worth it! It was worth every teeth chatter, it was worth every shiver, it was worth the sting on our cheeks from the wind.
Before arriving at the caves, we walk down a path with tall majestic carved columns, then over a bridge with the frozen lake below.
We had no idea what we were in for…
There are more than 250 caves and more than 50 000 carved statues of all shapes and sizes. Impossible to see them all in the time we had there.
The sizes of the statues vary from tiny to massive – some are inside the caves while others are outside.
The level of detail on the carvings was mindboggling. And to think this artwork dates back to the 5th and 6th Century, it had us in complete awe.
The visit to these grottoes was definitely an experience to remember for many reasons. By the end of that day, our cheeks were frozen solid!
Yungang Grottoes was listed as a UNESCO Heritage site in 2001.
To see the other UNESCO sites we have visited, visit our unofficial bucket list
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a photo essay of uluru
Once commonly known as Ayers Rock it is now better known by its indigenous name of Uluru.
Uluru is sacred to indigenous Australians.
This magnificent monolith that is located in the Australia Red Centre is 340 metres high and has a circumference of about 9.4 km. Made from hard red sandstone, it doesn’t stay red all the time – Uluru changes colour during sunrise and sunset and is a sight certainly worth witnessing. It is at its brightest red in the middle of the day.
We were fortunate to walk around part of the base of Uluru and looking up, is really something. An experience we will never forget. It still gives us goosebumps thinking about our time here as it really was so extraordinary and magical.
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park was listed as a UNESCO Heritage site in 1987.
To see the other UNESCO sites we have visited, visit our unofficial bucket list
Hope you enjoy our photo essay of Uluru 🙂
Have you visited Uluru? Or is it on your bucket list?
We welcome your comments here.
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looking back at our visit to the colosseum
It’s been a very long time since we were in Rome. And when we are not travelling, we like to mentally and visually revisit places we have been. So this week, we pay a visit to the Colosseum. Italy was one of those places that we didn’t appreciate enough when we were there, so it is back on our list of countries to see all over again.
We remember lining up outside the Colosseum, then waiting to buy our tickets and then waiting some more for the guided tour to start. We felt like we were spectators entering a stadium to watch a football game….
Then the minute we lay our eyes on the inside of the Colosseum, we are transformed back thousands of years. We ignore what is really there, we cannot help but picture a stadium of roaring Romans. We can hear cheering and booing. We can see gladiators… well, we actually visualise Russell Crowe and his entourage from the movie *cringe that Hollywood has brainwashed us* 😉
Actually out of all of Rome’s iconic sites, the Colosseum is probably our favourite. How we would love to visit it again one day!
The Colosseum, as part of the Historic Centre of Rome,
was listed as a
UNESCO Heritage site in 1980.
To see the other UNESCO sites we have visited,
visit our unofficial bucket list
Have you been to the Colosseum? We’d love to hear your thoughts of it.
wise monkeys abroad 