#TTOT Round-Up: World Heritage Sites

Every Tuesday it's Travel Talk on Twitter! Follow the #TTOT hashtag to see what all the commotion and Tweets are about! There are two sessions to join, one at 9:30am GMT and the other at 9:30pm GMT.

Here's the round-up of this week's #TTOT: 

Q1 via economy_carhire: Suggest your top 3 Unmissable World Heritage Sites

• CareerBrkSecret: Of those I've seen: Iguazu Falls in Argentina/Brazil, Easter Island in Chile, Galapagos in Ecuador
• GFexplorers: 1) Ancient Cairo, Egypt 2) Great Barrier Reef, Australia 3) The Mountain railways of India (quite an experience!)
• umarket: Bukhara (Uzbekistan), Petra (Jordan) and Cappadocia (Turkey)
• beforeiam35: Angkor Wat, Machu Picchu and Underground River (Philippines) 
• marksmayo: Samarkand (Uzbekistan), Drakensberg (South Africa) and Wieliczka Salt Mine (Poland) - also one of the original 12 Unesco sites!
• BudgetTraveller: Taj Mahal is breathtaking. Hair on neck stands up everytime I see it 
  

The iconic Taj Mahal

Q2 via christinahegele: Nominate a NATURAL World Heritage Site that isn't already one

• journeytom: I probably would nominate somewhere in Slovenia perhaps Bohinj or Bled, definitely beautiful enough to be a heritage site
• kpouwer: The whole of Yangshou.. The limestone karst give Halong Bay a run for their money anyday! 
  
• BryanCSnider: Route 66 should be a heritage site. It played a huge part in American automotive history
• MzansiGirl: The whole of Cape Town - its so naturally beautiful 
  
• LewisLCHOLIDAYS: English beauty at its best! Isle of Purbeck for the World Heritage List!
• poohstraveler: Easy - Taroko Gorge in #Taiwan
• MalloryOnTravel: The whole of the Antarctic 
• aysproject: El Valle de la Luna (Moon's Valley) in La Paz, Bolivia
• middleseatview: Surprised not to see Rocky Mountain National Park (in the US) on this list
• FunJoel: Botswana's Okavango Delta -- the largest inland river delta in the world!

Q3 via hjortur: Do you think any destination has been spoiled by becoming a World Heritage Site? Why?

• traveldudes: The Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania. They don't care about protecting it, they just care about the profit
• foodieintl: Pompei. It's covered in garbage, collapsing and crumbling
• LifeOutofaSuitc: The Taj Mahal - too many people 
  
• StayAdventurous: Chichen Itza, now you can't climb the pyramid
• nomadicjoy: Vatican City. It doesn't need protection OR more tourist money then it already rakes in
• chandalier: Great Wall of China is getting very commercial
• bpmojo: Yes definitely... Machu Picchu and Angkor Wat come to mind... 
  

A rare moment of emptiness in Machu Picchu

Q4 via christinahegele: Is there a World Heritage Site you think doesn't deserve its status?

• NicoleTravelBug: In my opinion the Statue of Liberty and the Sydney Opera House don't deserve UNESCO status... sorry!
• Roopunzel: ALOT of the mountains listed are like huh? I mean, ok but its a bloody mountain!
• amandaelsewhere: WHAT IS THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA DOING ON THE UNESCO LIST!!?!? ::shakes fist angrily::
• Himalfootsteps: The Royal Botanic Gardens Kew - I love Botanic Gardens, but that one is just plain boring, seen many much better ones
• World2Discover: Personally, I don't understand why Brasilia is on the list. It was not that amazing to me, but maybe I missed its magic
• MiddleSeatView: Also, although I love it, downtown Bridgetown, Barbados is a tourist trap, not a WHS 
• toddwassel: As long as it fulfills the criteria I'm happy for as much heritage to be protected as possible

Q5 via landlopers: Have a favorite World Heritage Site? Let's see it!

connvoyage: Venice, Italy

MalloryOnTravel: Þingvellir National Park, Iceland

umarket: Bukhara, Uzbekistan

chippy2u: Great Barrier Reef, Australia

BudgetTraveller: Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

AlexBerger: Iguazu Falls

traveldudes: Petra, Jordan

redhunttravel: Easter Island (Rapa Nui)

And there you have it, "World Heritage Sites"!

Next week's #TTOT topic is: "Cruise Travel" submitted by guoster. Submit your questions HERE! And don't forget to tune follow the #TTOT every Tuesday at 9:30am and 9:30pm GMT!

As always, a HUGE travel community thank you to our #TTOT hosts and organizers: traveldudes, roniweiss, toddwassel, traveldesigned, insidetravellab, WildJunket, tbloggersunite and mobilelawyer!

Have YOU got anything to add to the World Heritage Sites travel discussion? 

© Connie Hum 2011