GabLabCebu Profile
Recent Reviews GabLabCebu
Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
GabLabCebu Philippines - 07-Aug-23
With many recent mixed reviews on this site, I wasn't sure what to expect of Seokguram and Bulguksa. All I knew was that I had to include them on my June 2023 trip to Korea at all costs, as I knew them to be renowned as masterpieces of the great Silla kingdom. I visited them on the morning after a late night exploring Historic Gyeongju, which had tired the rest of my party out, meaning I was to explore this site on my own and be back at 12:00 to join back up and head to Yangdong. With under 4 hours to check both components off my list, I rushed for bus 700 at the central bus station (I think you can also take bus 11, though the route may be different), which passes by Bunhwangsa and Bomun Lake on the approximately 40-minute ride to Bulguksa
Read OnSansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries
GabLabCebu Philippines - 08-Aug-23
To me, the Sansa embody the ideal and typical Korean temple. They may not have the historic significance of Bulguksa or the unique library of Haeinsa, but they are much better preserved, containing some of the oldest standing wooden architecture in the peninsula, and some of the most beautiful too. For that, I have to say they are a much-needed WHS, and I had a dilemma on which of the seven to fit into my trip to Korea in June 2023. Upon examining the evaluation file, I found that only four were actually advised for inscription - Tongdosa, Buseoksa, Beopjusa,Daeheungsa
Read OnPreah Vihear Temple
GabLabCebu Philippines - 07-Aug-23
Seeing most photos of Preah Vihear with the clear blue skies, I can't help but wonder if my January 2023 experience visiting this great site might have felt different if the weather had been milder. Arriving at the top of the mountain after a long morning drive from Siem Reap, the fog and light drizzle gave me Machu Picchu vibes, especially as I approached the fifth gopura, the lowest one on the slope (you'll see the five in reverse order as you ascend). This fifth gopura was the least impressive and most ruined; the enchanting atmosphere, especially with the wide road sloping up into the heavens and the opposing stairs down into the fog of Thailand, was what made its appearance so exciting
Read OnGyeongju
GabLabCebu Philippines - 06-Aug-23
The Korean nation has been unified by just three powers in its history, the Silla in Gyeongju, the Koryeo in Kaesong, and the Joseon in Seoul. For that, these are probably the three most historically rich and significant cities on the peninsula. The Joseon cultural heritage is the basis for four different WHSs in Seoul (with a fifth one in nearby Suwon), but Gyeongju's Silla heritage has been somewhat strangely divided into two sites
Read OnSambor Prei Kuk
GabLabCebu Philippines - 04-Aug-23
As the capital of the Chenla Empire, Ancient Ishanapura is one of the greatest and most influential ancient cities in Southeast Asia. Today, it, along with all of Cambodia's other ancient ruins, lie in the shadow of the great Angkor; however, I would argue these oldest sites of the Khmer, along with those in Burma, being the oldest in the region, are just as, if not more, important than the greatest Thai, Vietnamese, or Javanese ruins. They are the reason the heights of such sites as Angkor and Bagan could be reached, and nowhere is this more apparent than in Sambor Prei Kuk.
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- GabLabCebu
- Country
- Philippines
- Most Impressive
- Te Wahipounamu, Ancient Thebes
- Proposal
- Baroque Churches of Southern Cebu, Dalaguete Range and Chocolate Hills Karst Landscapes of the Visayas, Kitanglad Mountain Range of Bukidnon, San Sebastian Church in Manila
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 07.08.24
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- Waterton Glacier International Peace Park
- Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
- Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
- Dinosaur Provincial Park
- Writing-on-Stone / Áísínai’pi
- Grand Canyon
- Yosemite National Park
- Olympic National Park
- Redwood
- Yellowstone
Visited WHS
Rating StatsAngkor 5Petra 5Rome 5Cordoba 4.5Grand Canyon 4.5Iguacu 4.5Kraków 4.5Redwood 4.5Gyeongju 4Prague 4Quito 4Seville 4Acropolis 3.5Ancient Nara 3.5Biblical Tells 3.5Cuzco 3.5Dubrovnik 3.5Granada 3.5Himeji-jo 3.5Salamanca 3.5Sambor Prei Kuk 3.5Sintra 3.5Wadi Rum 3.5Wulingyuan 3.5Arequipa 3Belem 3Brasilia 3Budapest 3Jeju 3Macao 3Ayutthaya 2.5Bethlehem 2.5Grand Canal 2.5Jongmyo Shrine 2.5Koh Ker 2.5Kotor 2.5Masada 2.5Namhansanseong 2.5Rabat 2.5Vienna 2.5Bryggen 2Lima 2Sucre 2Warsaw 2Rio de Janeiro 1.5Nice 1Reviewed WHS
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple
- Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries
- Preah Vihear Temple
- Gyeongju
- Sambor Prei Kuk
- Namhansanseong
- Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen
- Hahoe and Yangdong
- Getbol, Korean Tidal Flats
- Seowon, Neo-Confucian Academies
- Baekje Historic Areas
- Gaya Tumuli
- Ancient Thebes
- Cuzco
- Sucre
- Rio de Janeiro
- Brasilia
- Iguacu
- Seville
- Salamanca
- Medina of Marrakesh
- Rabat
- Nubian Monuments
- Baptism Site "Bethany Beyond the Jordan"
- Te Wahipounamu
- Pyramids (Memphis)
- Wadi Rum
- Ancient Kyoto
- Petra
- Horyu-ji Area
- Ancient Nara
- Historic Cairo
- Himeji-jo
- Genbaku Dome
- Itsukushima Shrine
- Mozu-Furuichi Kofun
- Kii Mountain Range
- Saint Catherine Area
- White City of Tel-Aviv
- Biblical Tells
- Old City of Acre
- Bahá’i Holy Places
- Caves of Maresha and Bet Guvrin
- Masada
- Old City of Jerusalem
- Bethlehem
- Macao
- Ayutthaya
- Wulingyuan
- Grand Canal
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou
- Jeju
- Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras
- Baroque Churches
- Grand Canyon
- Padua’s fourteenth-century fresco cycles
Visited TWHS
- Aguas Livres Aqueduct (T)
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
- Arbel (arbel, nebe shueb, horns of hittim) (T)
- Auckland Volcanic Fields (T)
- Baroque Churches of the Philippines (Extension) (T)
- Bet She'an (T)
- Butuan Archeological Sites (T)
- Caesarea (T)
- Cal Orck'o: Footprints of time (T)
- Capital Fortifications of Hanyang : Hangyangdoseong Capital City Wall, Bukhansanseong Mountain Fortress and Tangchundaeseong Defense Wall (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (T)
- Colonial Urban Plan and Fortifications of the Walled City of Manila (T)
- Coron Island Natural Biotic Area (T)
- Early Synagogues in the Galilee (T)
- Egyptian Museum in Cairo (T)
- Ein Karem, a village and its cultural landscape (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Former M-13 prison/ Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum (former S-21)/ Choeung Ek Genocidal Centre (former Execution Site of S-21) (T)
- Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Jerash Archaeological City (Ancient Meeting Place of East and West) (T)
- Jerusalem (T)
- Kitanglad and Kalatungan Mountain Ranges: Sacred Sites of Bukidnon (T)
- Lake Titicaca (T)
- Makhteshim Country (T)
- Mayon Volcano Natural Park (T)
- Monuments, Sites and Cultural Landscape of Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)
- Mt. Malindang Range Natural Park (T)
- Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods (T)
- Phnom Kulen: Archeological Site/Ancient Site of Mahendraparvata (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (T)
- Route of Magellan (T)
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela in Portugal (T)
- Sacred Titicaca Lake (T)
- Sea of Galilee & its Ancient Sites (T)
- The Galilee Journeys of Jesus & the Apostles (T)
- The Historic Towns and Landscape of Taal Volcano and its Caldera Lake (T)
- Timna (T)
- Wanuskewin (T)
- Waters and seabed of Fiordland (Te Moana O Atawhenua) (T)
Reviewed TWHS
- Former M-13 prison/ Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum / Choeung Ek (T)
- Phnom Kulen (T)
- Lake Titicaca (T)
- El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area (T)
- Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt (T)
- Sea of Galilee (T)
- Bet She'an (T)
- Makhteshim Country (T)
- QUMRAN: Caves and Monastery of the Dead Sea Scrolls (T)
- Cal Orck'o: Footprints of time (T)
- Timna (T)
- Chiang Mai, Capital of Lanna (T)
- Auckland Volcanic Fields (T)
- Guano Islands, Islets, and Capes National Reserve System (T)
- Arbel (T)
- Ein Karem (T)
- Sacred Titicaca Lake (T)
- Aguas Livres Aqueduct (T)
- Coron Island Natural Biotic Area (T)
- Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Routes in Portugal (T)
- Jerash Archaeological City (T)
- Mayon Volcano Natural Park (T)
- Caesarea (T)
- Ancient Greek Theatres (T)
- The Galilee Journeys of Jesus & the Apostles (T)
- Central Park (T)
- Historical Lisbon, Global City (T)
- Pombaline Lisbon (T)
- Early Synagogues in the Galilee (T)
- Chocolate Hills Natural Monument (T)
- Waters and seabed of Fiordland (Te Moana O Atawhenua) (T)
- Jerusalem (T)
- Route of Magellan. First around the World (T)
- Amalienborg and its district (T)
- Baroque Churches of the Philippines (Extension) (T)