The UNESCO World Heritage Sites Book Was A Great Find!

http://www.fireflybooks.com/bookdetail&ean=9781554074631

I went to Chez Cora for a filling breakfast on Ave. Mont-Royal last week. On the way home a large, brick sized book caught my eye in the storefront window of Multimags. It was the official UNESCO World Heritage Sites guide published by Firefly Books. It's fantastic! I love UNESCO sites and I knew I had to buy it immediately after flipping through it. The 832 page book, published in 2008, contains all 878 world heritage sites around the globe and provides detailed information about each site and had tons of gorgeous pictures. I highly recommend it for those people who love history, historical sites, exotic places, and traveling.

I went through the guide and checked off all the ones I have had the privilege of visiting. My final tally was 34 UNSECO sites in 18 countries. I was surprised to see some amazing places I've been to not included, like; Gamla Stan (Stockholm's Old Town), Turku Castle, Eiffel Tower, Old Montréal, Golden Gate Bridge, and Varanasi along the Ganges River. Anyhow, the UNESCO sites I've visited are (in alphabetical order);

Australia
Sydney Opera House

Cambodia

Angkor

Temple of Preah Vihear

Canada

Canadian Rocky Mountain National Parks

Historic District of Old Québec

Rideau Canal

China

Historic Centre of Macao

Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang

Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

Summer Palace and Imperial Gardens in Beijing

Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing

The Great Wall

Egypt

Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis

Historic Cairo

Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

Estonia

Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn

France

Paris, Banks of the Seine

India

Agra Fort

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)

Elephanta Caves

Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi

Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya

Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi

Red Fort Complex

Taj Mahal

Japan

Ancient Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji, and Otsu Cities)

Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara

Laos

Town of Luang Prabang

Malaysia

Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca

Mexico

Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco

Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque

Russian Federation

Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and related Groups of Monuments

Tanzania

Stone Town of Zanzibar

Turkey

Historic Areas of Istanbul

United Kingdom

Tower of London

Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and Saint Margaret’s Church

USA

Independence Hall

Statue of Liberty

Vietnam

Complex of Hué Monuments

Ha Long Bay

Hoi An Ancient Town 

My Son Sanctuary

My 25 Favorite Travel Pics

While I don't care much about photography in general, I'm fascinated with travel photography.

I enjoy spending time looking at people's photos on the net. One website I particularly enjoy is travellerspoint.com. It has thousands and thousands of great travel pics and they are conveniently categorized by country. Please let me know if you know of any other good sites.

I always make sure to always bring a camera with me when I travel and I take pictures of almost everything imaginable. To give you an I idea of what I mean, I took of 17,000 throughout my last trip, albeit it was a 9 month RTW adventure. I don't use anything special. I like the compactness and convenience of a snap and shoot like a Sony Cybershot.

Below are, what I think are, my 25 best pictures.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Helsinki, Finland

Zanzibar Town, Tanzania

London, England

San Cristobal de las Casas, México

Sydney, Australia

Istanbul, Turkey

Cairo, Egypt

Luang Prabang, Laos

Countryside, Zambia

St. Petersburg, Russia

Beijing, China

Tokyo, Japan

Railay Beach, Thailand

Tallinn, Estonia

Ottawa, Canada

Kuta, Indonesia

Angkor, Cambodia

Vancouver, Canada

Paris, France

Hong Kong, Hong Kong S.A.R.

Beijing, China

Halong Bay, Vietnam

Kyoto, Japan

Nungwi Beach (Zanzibar), Tanzania

Nice looking beach, eh? Nungwi has to be one of the greatest paradises on earth. No kidding. 

Cheers,

Mark 

Hello and Welcome to Globetrotter Mark!

Hyvää päivää! สวัสดี! Merhaba! G'day! !السلام

Tere! приве! Jambo!  こんにち! Guten Tag! 

  Hej! !नमस्ते Selamat datang!

您好! Hola! Xin chào! 

Bonjour!

Hello and welcome to my newest place in cyberspace! Thanks for being here.

Traveling is one of life's greatest pleasures and that's what Globetrotter Mark is all about! Traveling and everything that is related.


Wikipedia defines travel as;

"the movement of people between relatively distant geographical locations for any purpose and any duration, with or without any means of transport." 

To most people traveling is a short-term escape to rest, relax and get away from everyday stresses like work and domestic chores. While my definition of travel certainly includes those ideas, it's also about being adventurous, exploring, learning, sharing and having lots of fun. It's one of my life's pleasures and I am very passionate about it!


Please let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Lemoine and I live in Montréal, Québec, Canada. I'm in my mid-thirties, engaged to be married, and I love to travel.


Besides the escape factor, I love traveling because I am very curious and I like to learn. I get a huge kick out of experiencing different cultures, making new friends, tasting new foods, and visiting historical and other important landmarks. I also enjoy the challenge and work involved in planning and organizing any trip.


I've been traveling since I was very young. My first trip was less than two months after I was born when my mother and I flew to Moncton to meet my family. I obviously don't remember that trip but the first one I do remember was a cross-province trip my family ventured on when I was only 5. We drove all the way out to Gaspé in a small Dodge RV. I remember thinking that a sink inside a car was the coolest thing on earth. 


While I have vacationed, camped, and road-tripped a lot with my friends and family throughout my childhood, teens, and early adulthood, my travel experiences never extended outside of Canada and the United States. It wasn't until I reached the age of 27 that I got my first taste of something truly exotic and foreign.


I spent the '03-'04 Christmas break in Finland and Russia. That first experience abroad was really, really awesome and that's when I caught the 'travel bug'. I've been really busy since then and I can now say that I have adventured to 26 different countries on 5 different continents in my lifetime. I haven't grown tired of it and I can't wait to leave again! 


Anyhow, enough of that. I'm surely going to share more about myself over time as this blog aims to share my travel stories, opinions as well as some hints & tips and anything else I feel like. Hopefully you find it useful and interesting. 


One last thing before I click on the orange "PUBLISH POST" button below and sign out out of here ... I would like to invite you all to check out my very first blog Bloggin' N Globetrottin'. It's a round the world travel diary which I recently completed with my fiancée. We visited 17 countries (and territories) during a 9 month span. The blog has plenty of information, stories and loads of great pictures.


So now that the formalities are out of the way ... let's get this blog rolling!!!


Mark