Crittery and Creepy

A few days ago, I found a dead bloody rat lying in the road in front of the house. Since motorbikes pass by, I wanted to move remains so that it wouldn’t get crushed even more. The rat seemed so noble in passing, it deserved a proper burial. I moved it by stick and shovel to the grassy lot next to our house and covered it with dirt and cut grass. I went back inside and sat down in the living room to work on the computer. I hear a sound at the door and looked over to see a two foot long snake INSIDE trying to get out through the door. It behaved like it was a pet dog wanting to go outside to pee. I only hope that it had come in when I went out to deal with the rat.

As of yesterday, there is an enormous spider crawling around the house. It is preparing to kill me. And the rain has created a swarm of frogs that fill the marsh with throaty, rumbling croak. There is a foot long gecko that lives on the North side of the house and feeds on bugs that are attracted to the nighttime windows.

Today I went with J. to Doi Sutep. The religious complex is pretty touristed, in part because it has an incredible view of Chiang Mai.

The view South to Chiang Mai.

The stupa.

We had gone to look for lamps south of the city and had stopped at bucolic milk garden to get some dinner and avoid a sudden downpour of rain. The restaurant is adjacent to a weird complex of houses that were never finished being built. The are weathered and overgrown with vines and moss. Stairs to nowhere, sagging and splintered roofs. The sun began to set and we decided to explore the property further. It was actually just the edge of a large housing development that was never fully realized. The massive gate to the complex has an abandoned guard booth, the streets are overgrown with plants. There are about 30 large homes, all but maybe 5 are abandoned. The streets are deserted, the main office building and clubhouse next to the river are in disuse. The once well maintained frontages and parks have normalized with the surrounding nature. It is creepy to the extreme, like some plague had sweep through. I want to go back soon and take a bunch of photos. I have never seen anything quite like this, as it is rare to see abandoned everyday environments. I had a similar experience walking through the darkened Central mall before any of the stores had opened. It was somber and quiet and somehow chilling.

SOME PHOTOS:

A weird doll we chose so they could identify our table when they brought the food. It’s a boy, BTW.

J.

MORE SOON.