8 quirky UNESCO sites you have to check out

Every UNESCO World Heritage site is infinitely amazing, but these eccentric few stand out with their unique features

Did an extraterrestrial force imprint the Nazca lines in Peru?

 
UNESCO sites – places with special cultural or physical significance listed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) – are a big draw when choosing a country to visit. But with more than 1,000 sites listed, where do we begin?

Set aside your usual quest for the “most beautiful” and “most amazing”. Instead, these quirkiest UNESCO sites will leave you equally amazed and possibly puzzled.

The Land of Tequila

The agave fields of Jalisco, Mexico is a 35,000ha land of tequila harvesting

 
Talk about honouring one of Mexico’s longest-standing cultural traditions – the tequila! The Agave Region in Jalisco is a whopping 35,000 ha area dedicated to the growth of agave plants for the tequila spirit.

The Teuchitlan cultures shaped the land from 200 to 900 AD, and the region has been producing spirits since the 16th Century. The agave culture is seen as a part of Mexican national identity. This is perfect for a tequila-tasting adventure!

Also read: Is mixing beer and tequila a recipe for disaster?

Animal and Vegetable “Crop Circles”

 
The mysterious Nazca Lines are giant ancient geoglyphs found in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. Drawn by the Nazca culture in 400 and 650 AD, the hundreds of figures range from simple patterns to complex shapes like an astronaut, hummingbirds and trees, covering 500km2.

The only way to view these geoglyphs is from the air in chartered tour planes. There is currently no known origin or function of the Nazca lines, making this site all the more mysterious.

City of ‘Gingerbread’ Houses

The old city of Sana’a in Yemen looks like it’s made of gingerbread houses

 
Yemen’s largest city, Sana’a, looks like it houses a population of gingerbread men. Its buildings have a fairly uniform chocolatey-brown façade, decorated with white geometric lines resembling sweet icing. All that’s missing is a couple of gumdrops for door handles!

Curious as it looks, Sana’a should be respected – it is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world.

The Ancient Stone People

The moai stone statues of Easter Island are thought to represent ancient ancestors watching over the islands

 
We can’t talk about the quirky without mentioning the iconic stone statues of Chile’s Easter Island! In 300 AD, Polynesians settled on this island – then known as Rapa Nui – where they carved out stone people, “moai”, and ceremonial shrines with primitive tools and picks.

The moai range from 2m to 20m in height, and are thought to represent the ancestral guardians of the island. Today, Rapa Nui National Park features numerous moai in various states of completion.

Also read: Here’s where you can possibly uncover the next Jurassic giant

Of Bikinis and Nuclear Bombs

 
Did you know that Bikini Bottom, the home of cartoon klutz Spongebob Squarepants, was possibly named after this UNESCO site? Bikini Atoll, in the Marshall Islands, was test-nuked multiple times by the United States after World War II.

Today, the island is safe to visit, if only so you can boast that you’ve been to a nuclear testing site, or that you’ve “unravelled the bikini”.

Highway of the Giants

The Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland features more than 40,000 black basalt columns rising out of the coast

 
Aptly named the Giant’s Causeway, this formation consists of some 40,000 massive black basalt columns rising out of the sea in Northern Ireland. This dramatic spectacle has inspired legends of giants travelling across the ocean to Scotland, with these black pillars as a pathway.

Geological studies revealed that this striking landscape was created by volcanic activity about 50 million years ago, during the Tertiary era.

The World’s Loneliest Place

 
Henderson Island, one of the four Pitcairn Islands of the United Kingdom, is the most isolated place in the world. There are no landing strips for planes and no regular ships that dock here. Even most ships sailing to Pitcairn don’t visit Henderson, which is some 200km away.

There has never been a regular human presence here recorded at any point in history. You could travel here for some definite peace and quiet – just make sure you have a ride out!

Singapore Botanic Gardens nominated by UNESCO

Artificial arches with orchid flowers in Singapore’s famous Botanic Gardens (Photo: Asif Islam / Shutterstock.com)

 
Our very own Singapore Botanic Gardens is in the final phase to be inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site! This is Singapore’s very first nomination, with the Gardens being an important heritage landmark.

Also read: 4 Singaporean things that foreigners know us for

Among its significant features is the Pará Rubber tree, a major crop that transformed the socio-economic landscape of the region. Its orchids are also world-famous.

Learn more and pledge your support at www.sbg.org.sg/unesco

By Pamela Chow for Weekender Singapore

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