If those walls could talk

Nature is reclaiming the land

Wandering out into the forest behind an old Ryukyuan castle and finding this amazing place was a great fun in itself. At the back of an extremely old pile of ruins was a young, half built hotel that had been left to dwell in the jungle. I don’t quite know the story but my friend, who interested me in this place also told me a bit of the story. Apparently the hotel was built and the company ran out of money. So they stopped production and the jungle took back the land, claiming ever nook and cranny. All the equipment that the hotel had purchased is still sitting in the massive abandoned space. The place looks like the set of a horror film. It was brilliant walking through, taking photos, and seeing the largest spider I have ever come across (photo below). We spent 4 hours walking through the creepy hallways and climbing up and down the half built stairways. I snapped 450 photos in the short time and was on the look out for Habu snakes (Okinawan highly poisonous snake) and banana spiders. I was lucky to come across only one of the two. Warning, many photos are next!

Valet parking

So, as I mentioned before, I came across the largest spider I have ever seen in real life. To get some perspective, Steve climbed up on the battered roof to get a better look and poke fun at the beast.  Poke fun was exactly what he did. First he used his finger to tease it, which the spider could have easily eaten. Then, after no reaction, Steve got a stick. I was in shock when the spider grabbed on to the stick and started gouging at it with its giant fangs. I was horrified because it was my job to document this entire event using up-close zoom with Steve’s video camera.  I felt like I was right in the action and it creeped me out. I have had a phobia of spiders ever since I was small, so this was too much to take. There was another giant yellow and black spider next to it in its own web. I think they were friends. It looked small comparatively, but if you saw either of these in your back yard you would turn and run the other way. After our long walk through the hotel and spotting those two giant spiders, I was ready to exit the area back to the safety of my car and bug spray! I hope you enjoy the photos, it sure was fun taking them!

Spider the size of his face