Signs tell you things about a place. Whether they are hotel rules, advertising ploys, general announcements, or messages with a political point, they provide a window into what is happening in a place, the kind of people who are there, and what they value or want to change. Here are eight signs from around the world.

In the Aramaic-speaking town of Maaloula, Syria, a sign says that having a clean environment is the goal. Against the backdrop of Syria's bloody past year, however, the sign seems out of place.

Here outside the Jungle Bar in Kanchanaburi, Thailand, sex is used to catch the attention of potential patrons. 

On a storefront window in downtown Beirut, Lebanon, an announcement is posted about auditions for an interesting reality show called "On the Road in America!"

At an airport bathroom in Madang, Papua New Guinea, an illustration is painted on the wall advising on the better way to use a toilet seat. Some visitors to this bathroom would have never seen a ceramic bowl before; hence the need for guidance. The text says "Don't sit down like this, please, sit down like this!!"

At a temple in Bagan, Myanmar, a sign is posted in English and Burmese advising what is not allowed in the shrine. The prohibitions include "spraying perfumes and offering incenses to the Buddha statues" and "paying obeisance in shorts and miniskirts".

Here in the West Bank town of Bethelehem is a message scribbled in spray paint and borrowing from the MasterCard ad campaign. It's a political message against the Israeli wall that hems in the city.

Of all the hundreds of cheap guesthouses and hotels I've called home for at least a night or two, this one on the Thai island of Ko Phangan had one of the more intriguing signs, encouraging the guest where he should eat regularly, who and how to "boom-boom", and to actually put condoms and tampons in garbage cans.

If that last sign in Thailand suggested hedonism, this one in the West Bank town of Hebron suggests great respect for religious law. Outside what Israelis call the Tombs of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs (it is called the Ibrahimi Mosque by Muslims), a sign informs devout Jews that the security gates are designed in such a way that operating them on the Sabbath does not break any Sabbath laws.

Joel Carillet, chief editor of wanderingeducators, is a freelance writer and photographer based in Tennessee. He is the author of 30 Reasons to Travel: Photographs and Reflections from Southeast Asia. To learn more about him or purchase his images visit www.joelcarillet.com