I suppose I must fall into the "cultured tourist" category, having visited #2 - #10 at least once (and in several cases, multiple visits over a half century. Angkor, unfortunately, was off the "Visit" list during the brief period I spent in SEA.

Yes, they are "touristic" (and perhaps over-reflective of Western perspective), but as were the "Grand Tours" of the sons Bitish aristos (and newly wealthy merchant class) in the 18th & 19th centuries, the sort of progress across Europe that many of us college age kids (and even young families) dreamed about (and in some cases were able to undertake) back in the 50s and early 60s. Of all the trips recalled by my wife and me, an early 80s 3 week "circuit" by car taking our 7 & 13 year old daughters, Amsterdam - Bremerhaven (a sister and BiL Army docs), an hour aside for the 13 year old to see the Border fences, Lubeck, Bavaria, back across to Paris then to Bruges and finally back to Amsterdam (packed with side steps and side trips) remains quite vivid, mainly because of my wife's our daughters' positive reactions to thir first exposure to the "sights". In retrospect, 2 non-qualifiers, Bruges and Lubeck, remain fixed on my list of "places where you need to go".

Istambul I've always wanted to return to, and I remain haunted by memories of the islands rising from Homer's Wine Dark Sea. I'd even agree to stand a few 4-8s to experience sunrises in the Aegean again.