UNESCO SITES for VIET NAM

Listed below are the UNESCO World Heritage Sites for Viet Nam. Unfortunately with our only two Ports of Call for Vietnam being Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. The UNESCO sites are not within an easy access for a day trip and so it is my personal guess as to why Princess Cruise Shore Excursions do not offer these on this particular cruise. 

I understand that some of our guests may be particularly intrigued with Vietnam and if these stops are of importance. I recommend a couple of options. First, extend your Pre-Cruise Days and contact Alex directly to see how she can assist you to make arrangements for meeting your particular needs.  Secondly, I would like to encourage you to explore the option to return and consider a River Cruise with Viking River Cruise as an example and be sure your itinerary covers these points of interest. The other option is  to consider a private tour or a smaller cruise ship sailing which will allow you more access to other Ports of Call in Vietnam and even other countries we will be visiting. 

The Diamond Princess is a larger ship and though it will provide you with many fantastic cruise ship amenities and options on your sailing days. Unfortunately, our access to some of these sites such as those listed below for the UNESCO Heritage Sites for Vietnam is not always accessible to larger ships such as the Diamond Princess. 

Stay tuned and come back to our blog for future postings as we spotlight the specific ports of call such as Ho Chi Minh City and Nha Trang. And a special thanks to Cristen for her question as to Vietnam's UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

VIETNAM

• Complex of Hue Monument
• Ha Long Bay
• Hoi An Ancient Town
• My Son Sanctuary
• Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
• Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long- Hanoi
• Citadel of the Ho Dynasty

Photo provided by: UNESCO & Wikipedia

UNESCO World Heritage

With our cruise visiting seven different countries, including USA when we land in Anchorage Alaska. There will be plenty of shore excursions and sightseeing to be had.

In my previous blog article “Diana’s Top Five Trip Thoughts for Now”, the number three thought highlighted, was Shore Excursions you might want to participate in. So in this article I wanted to introduce the UNESCO World Heritage Sites that our Ports of Call may entice you to visit.

To begin with what is UNESCO? The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. UNESCO, seeks to encourage the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage around the world which are considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. And by the way, irrespective of the territory on which they are located. What makes the concept of World Heritage exceptional, is its universal application. World Heritage sites, truly belong to all the people of the world and noted below I have listed some of the closer sites by their countries we will be cruising to so you can begin to research and explore your options.

THAILAND

• Historic City of Ayutthaya, Ayutthaya Province
• Historic Town of Sukhothai & Associated Historic towns, Sukhothai and Kamphaeng Phet Provinces
• Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries, Kanchanaburi, Tak and Uthai Thani provinces

CHINA

• Imperial Palaces of the Ming & Qing Dynasties in Beijing
• Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
• Temple of Heaven:an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
• The Great Wall, Beijing, Tianjin, and other provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions.
• Imperial Tombs of the Ming & Qing Dynasties, Changping District, Beijing (Ming Tombs)
• Mountain Resort & its Outlying Temple Chengde, Chengde City, Hebei Province
• Historic Centre of Macao, Macao Special Administrative Region/Hong Kong

JAPAN

• Buddist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area, Nara Prefecture
• Himeji-jo, Hyogo Prefecture
• Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto, Kyoto & Shiga Prefectures
• Hiroshima Peace Memorial/Genbaku Dome), Hiroshima Prefecture
• Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, Hiroshima Prefecture
• Historic Monument of Ancient Nara, Nara Prefecture

KOREA, Republic of

• Haeinsa Temple Janggyeong Panjeon, the Depositories for the Tripitaka Koreana Woodblocks
• Seokguram Grotto & Bulguksa Temple
• Historic Villages of Korea:Hahoe & Yangdong

ALASKA

• Kluane/Wrangell-St. Elias/Glacier Bay/Tatshenshini-Alsek

CAMBODIA

• Angkor
• Temple of Preah Vihear

Although Cambodia is not one of our visiting ports of call. I wanted to point out that Princess Cruise shore excursion options are available for Angkor and can be accessed prior to the cruise. If you are thinking about this option, be sure to contact Alex our travel agent for alternative options as well. 

Additionally, allow me to apologize in advance if some of these UNESCO sites are not accessible as I had posted. Believe you me, I am not an expert by any means and so some of these locations are truly new and a learning exploration for me as well. So let us explore together and we can further the adventures with our upcoming future study groups. Thanks for your understanding!


Photo provided by: UNESCO Education Blog

China's UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Came across this interesting and helpful website called
China Highlights. It had this easy read reference matrix
of China's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Here is the
website address:

http://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/world-heritage/

China Highlights website also has a number of other information
about China its customs, culture, photos and other helpful travel tools. Enjoy exploring and browsing!

Photo provided by China Highlight website