Happy Sunday! This week, John is hosting the 394th Lens-Artists Photo Challenge, challenging everyone to see history through the camera lens.

Ever since I learned about UNESCO heritage sites in school, I’ve been longing to visit one. I was so excited when I visited the Toshodaiji temple in Nara, Japan because it would mean I’d be able to check off a life goal to visit at least one UNESCO heritage site. However, as I was researching for this post, I learned that I actually already visited two UNESCO sites prior to Toshodaiji – Independence Hall in September 2022 and Edinburgh Castle in April 2023. Of the three, the one I enjoyed the most was Toshodaiji – the lush of greenery there made me very happy.

In 2023, when I took a trip to Monument Valley, I opted for a tour where I would ride in a trailer and tour the 17 miles unpaved road plus some sites that I only get to see with a tour guide. It was my first time I’ve ever joined a tour of any kind but since I didn’t know much about Monument Valley, I figured that it would be a good idea to have someone show me around instead of me blindly showing myself.

The first site was this traditional Navajo housing structure. It looked surprisingly well-built, in my opinion, and the coolest part was the inside. It was actually a double-layer structure with a wood stove in the middle of the room to keep the place warm. According to the guide, this structure would primarily house women and the women from multiple families would reside there and take care of each other.

Finally, most of castles in Japan easily exceeds a couple of hundreds years. I got to visit three of them during my trips to Japan. Of the three I visited, Himeji Castle is one of the few original castles still standing today. It was built in the 14th Century before going through major expansions under different feudal lords. Over the years, it’s survived earthquakes and was never bombed during World War II.

The only other castle I’ve inside of is Kumamoto Castle, which is not an original castle like this one, the experience is not the same. Walking through Himeji Castle felt like walking through time. Walking through the corridors and climbing the steps inside the main castle makes one’s imagination go wild as how life was like those days.