I’d like to pick one destination from this website for this post, a country officially called the Kingdom of Morocco. It is a country in North Africa but is the only African country that is not currently a member of African Union. Interesting. It has international borders with Algeria, Spain and Mauritania so you can travel to Morocco thru these countries.

I haven’t traveled to this country yet so let’s see what’s in this travel journal. According to the travel summary, the traveler took a ferry from Tarifa, Spain to Tangier, Morocco and spent a week in this country. The trip itinerary listed 11 destinations. Can’t picture out where it is? Don’t worry coz on the right you can see an interactive map of Morocco where the 11 destinations are numbered according to the itinerary. I clicked on the 8th destination, Merzouga (see photo). It then showed on the right side a photo and the journal entry. If you want to see more photos or videos in this particular destination, just click on the tab Photos & Videos. That’s what I did after reading the journal, and saw more pictures of Merzouga: a desert area where you can ride a camel.

If you want to share your travel experiences, this site is something I would like you to try. You can post your trip summary, trip itinerary, trip journal, travel photos and videos, tips and reviews of places you have been to. Readers can also leave a comment. This site is a traveler’s complete resource for recreating that memorable trip experience, which starts from planning a trip until the trip is over. Next time you embark on a destination, try Sosauce Travel. It’s free.

Genting Highlands is located on a mountain peak at 1700 meters above sea level. Our hired bus took us about an hour’s drive from Kuala Lumpur to reach this place. Genting Highlands is also known as the “Las Vegas of Malaysia” or the “City of Entertainment” where you can find the officially authorized land-based casino in this country, in other words this casino is legal.

Me and my colleague didn’t want to miss the chance to see what’s inside this so called Las Vegas of Malaysia, so we made this Las vegas our first stop when we arrived Genting Highlands. At the entrance you can see that the security was tight and you should be properly dressed. There were some tourists who were not allowed inside but we passed security check and happily walked in. Just think, we were properly dressed .

A lot of visitors were playing inside. You can see customers playing slot machines and other casino games like poker, blackjack. I observed that the Poker Tables were definitely of good quality. I wonder where they were ordered.

Our trip inside the casino was short. We didn’t even walk further down the room. We went in halfway, looked around and decided to leave. We didn’t play. We would rather spend our few hours in Genting Highlands for sightseeing.

As I was blog hopping, I noticed that some bloggers are using Akismet to catch spam as shown in the Akismet counter they placed on their template which displays how much spam Akismet has caught.

So I did my research about Akismet. I found out that it’s totally free for personal use. And it’s also one of the default plugins if you are using WordPress. You only need to activate it and enter your WordPress API key. Since I’m using WordPress, I tried activating Akismet the other week. It did wonders in removing spam. You also have the option to de-spam comments caught by Akismet which you think are real comments.

However, there are still some few comments that are left untouched in my ‘Comments’ section prior to activating Akismet. They are awaiting moderation. Here are few of these comments said to come from hotels, casinos, forex. I’ll post them here for my remembrance…hehe…

These comments are familiar. I’ve received them before.
-my kid would find it stupid
-i’m not really sure it’s the right kind of stuff 4 my grandpa
-A mate of mine sent me a link to this story and I told him I really loved it. Great work - keep it up!!! 

There are also nice comments….
-What an exceptional blog.
-That’s an ultra gorgeous article, thank u for sharing your idea!!

So if you’re an experienced blogger what do you think of these? Approve or delete?

Anyway, for those WordPress users experiencing so much spam in their comments, activate Akismet now. It saves a lot of your time deleting all the spam you receive.

Update on my Akismet spam catch: 95 spam caught since I first installed Akismet on 5th Sep.

Sightseeing Modes
Visitors can hire bicycles at 30 Baht (about 1.00USD) a day. However, if you want to take a more relaxing tour, a tram service is also available at the historical park that would pass through a hilly terrains marked with ruins. Elephant rides in the vicinity are also available at 100 Baht (3.00USD) per person per 30 minutes.

Kids on bike at Si Satchanalai Historical Park

Opening Hours and Admission
The Si Satchanalai Historical Park is open daily from 8AM to 5PM but according to some websites it is open daily between 8.30AM to 4.30PM. Admission fee is 40 Baht (about 1.20USD) for foreigners and for Thais it is 10 Baht (0.30USD). For more information, you may call 055-679211 or the local TAT office on 055-252742 to 3.

Getting There
If you want to visit Si Satchanalai Historical Park by car, take Highway No.101 to Km.64, turn left and cross the bridge over the Yom River, then turn right for another 2 kms.

If you want to take the bus, the trip takes about an hour leaving from Sukhothai’s main bus terminal between 6AM and 5PM to the historical park. For current timetable details, you may contact 055-614529 (+66 country code if calling from abroad).

Related Posts:
Si Satchanalai Historical Park, Thailand
The Charm of Si Satchanalai Architecture
Must-See Temples At Si Satchanalai

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1. Wat Chang Lom, this impressive temple is distinctly Sri Lankan in appearance. The characteristic stupa is supported by 39 laterite elephants which are already worn-out. These elephants are unlike those found at other temples.

Elephants supporting the chedi of Wat Chang Lom

2. Wat Chedi Chet Thaew or “temple with seven rows of pagodas” is located south of Wat Chang Lom. In this temple you can see the main chedi with lotus bud-shaped top and 33 subordinate chedis adorned with Buddha images and other stucco decorative images reflecting Sri Lankan, Pagan, Srivijaya, and various architectural style. This temple is believed to contain the cremated remains of the Sukhothai royal family.

Lotus bud tower (chedi) in Wat Chedi Chet Thaew

3. Wat Suan Kaeo Utthayan Yai is located near Wat Chedi Chet Thaew just across a dirt road. You can see a large image hall within this monastery. This temple is also known as Wat Kao Hong or the “nine-room temple”.

4. Wat Suan Kaeo Utthayan Noi also called Wat Sa Kaeo contains a Chedi with lotus - bud spire with a Buddha image niche on its front and a pond in the West. The architecture is unique in Si Satchanalai due to the brick building in front of the temple. The ruins consist of a whole laterite image hall with laterite roof.

5. Wat Nang Phaya, located southeast to Wat Chedi Chet Thaew, is known for the laterite blocks used to construct the chapel, the external walls are decorated with intricate stuccowork in the art style of the early Ayutthaya era. Another attractive feature of this temple is the main, Sri Lankan-style pagoda supported by a high base adorned with sculptures of elephants similar to those at Wat Chang Lom.

Stucco detail on the viharn building of Wat Nang Phaya

6. Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat Chaliang is located a couple of kilometers to the southeast of Si Satchanalai Historical Park. This large historical complex in Chaliang is one of the most impressive sites here. The decorative stucco work at the main entrance of the temple exhibits the Bayon art style of ancient Khmer. You can also see from this complex a rope footbridge where you can take great photos of the Yom River.

Gate detail at Wat Phra Si Rattana Mahathat Chaliang

Photo credits: vtveen, jbeaulieu, roadstars, hewy @ flickr.com (in this order)

Related Posts:
Si Satchanalai Historical Park, Thailand
The Charm of Si Satchanalai Architecture

So if you travel to New York City (NYC) with a number of tourists, you would like to book a charter bus NYC. You can do this thru NYC Bus Charters (NYCBC). They offer charter transportation for groups of any size with their 9 to 57 passenger vehicles. They have clean and well maintained vehicles, and their service is always on time. Their drivers are carefully selected. They are courteous and experienced, and drive safely. Much more, NYCBC provide 10% discount for companies that purchase transportation tickets way ahead of time.

So next time you need a transportation service for your group whether you want to use one for hotel or airport transfers, tour your group to amusement parks or have a day trip around the city, Atlantic City, or visit conventions, trade shows, or need some tailored tours, book your trip with NYC Bus Charters. You can visit their website for a free and instant quotation on their special group rates. Or call them at (212) 875-8200 Ext. 110.

Si Satchanalai reflects a combination of Khmer, Sri Lankan and Thai styles. The architectural and sculptural structures of the Wat or temples are evidence of Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhism influences long before the introduction of Theravada Buddhism. Here is what one writer described it:

A journey to the old town of Si Satchanalai does not give only the pleasure of seeing old magnificent ruins. The art, the values, and the religious convictions of our ancestors have made themselves felt in everything that is left at the Si Satchanalai Historical Park. They are ancient records of the past that have a lot to tell about the glory of the Sukhothai Kingdom. (source)

There are four temples situated at the center of Si Satchanalai: Wat Chang Lom, Wat Chedi Ched Thaew, Wat Suan Kaew Utayan Yai, and Wat Nag Phraya. We will take a virtual tour to each of these temples in succeeding posts. You know, its candidate of the week in THAILAND’S TOP DESTINATIONS, so let’s learn more about it.

Related Post:
Si Satchanalai Historical Park, Thailand

We were eagerly waiting for the ship to dock at Turku port that night. Kids were getting bored and impatient but as the ship approached, excitement stirred. It took some time before we could enter M/S Isabella coz it just arrived from Stockholm and so passengers were getting off. As soon as all was clear, we were allowed to enter the ship. And this was the scenario, the cleaners were very busy changing the bed sheets, cleaning the room, etc. they were all in a hurry, running in the hallway trying to finish their assigned job on schedule. Then in a few minutes there was an announcement asking them to leave coz the ship’s departing. Well, they finished their jobs on time.

We booked a four-berth family cabin, our small but comfy room which was equipped with radio plus alarm clock, air-conditioning, toilet, and shower. You could take shower coz toiletries and towels were provided, even plastic cups if you want water from tap. So, don’t worry if you haven’t taken a shower prior to the cruise.

After eating our take-away pizza, the kids were very eager to escape from our cabin. They couldn’t wait to go to the entertainment section where there were arcade games, Wii room, ball pool area, and playroom.

Hubby wanted to have some fun, too. So he tried playing the poker game and luckily win some few Euros which he spent on another slot machine. Something like the pirate game (I forgot the exact name) where you drop one coin at a time and the machine keeps pushing out the numerous coins inside so we could have as much coin as we want, if we are lucky. The game was so exciting and addicting. The kids enjoyed watching their dad play and collecting the coins coming out from the slot machine. They also wanted to play. Hubby kept on dropping coins but we were not so lucky in the end. We lost. Haha…

There are a lot of things to make you enjoy aside from the games. There’s music, food, shopping, and more. So we all had a great time in this cruise.

Si Satchanalai Historical Park is located in Sukhothai province, Thailand. The park can be found on the bank of the Yom River at Tambon Muang Kao, Amphoe Si Satchanalai. Si Satchanalai is no more than 55 km. from the town of Sukhothai. Ruins of 134 monuments have been discovered in this area.

The site of an ancient community occupying over 2000 rai (320 hectares) of land was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site (# 574) on 12 December 1991, along with the associated historic parks of Sukothai and Kamphaeng Phet, all considered as the cradle of Thai civilization.

Shown here are photos of two temples found in this historical park.

Wat Lak Mueang in Si Satchanalai Historical Park, Sukhothai province, Thailand
Photo taken by Ahoerstemeier in January 2006 at wikimedia.org.
This temple was named “Lak Mueang” coz it was believed that it might have contained the city pillar of Si Satchanalei due to its unusual shape but subsequent research shows that this is just an ordinary Buddhist temple.

Wat Chang Lom in Si Satchanalai National Historical Park, Sukhothai Province, Thailand
Originally uploaded by Oatz at wikimedia.org