INTO THE DANGER ZONE-URBAN JUNGLE

Things fall apart in the Northern Marianas islands very quickly. Stainless steel will even begin to get bad. This is as hard as it gets on stuff just about. This kind of rust is really common and you don't have to drive on the beach to get it. Things don't last to long here. I had a hard time with my cameras and I'm lucky I did not lose one to the hot, salty humid air.

BE SURE TO CLICK ON PICTURES TO SEE FULL-SIZE VIEWS!


USE YOUR EXPLORER'S BACK-ARROW TO RETURN TO NORMAL VIEW.


Yes, I did find a kitchen sink at this spot as well. Junk is everywhere on Guam. Not just because people won't drive to the dump-- it is because it's easy to get away with and the severe typhoons and ruin everything make for lots of broken stuff and garbage. When I went through a large typhoon we did not have any utilities for a month and people's stuff goes everywhere. The jungle thankfully hides this stuff quickly. Some of it however, is not funny. Car and truck batteries are a major pollution problem. And this junk-- includes entire buildings. 100s of them all over the island. Homes, businesses, most of them abandoned due to typhoon damage.

TO THE DANGER ZONE -- EXPLORING ABANDONED BUILDINGS -- AM I ALONE?


The images you are about to see were taken under VERY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS. DO NOT attempt to go into urban junkyards and abandoned buildings. In the USA IT IS VERY OFTEN ILLEGAL. I believe you can still be shot for trespassing in a few states. Get permission and or a tour by asking the owner of a place if you want to take shots in urban junk. Don't just go like I did here. Anywhere you go, you could get arrested by police, mugged, shot or worse. This is adrenaline photography! At the edge of sanity, in the tropical jungle of Guam I found this old building again. Hidden and complete with a car. Since the graffiti is written in who knows what slang. I was surprised to find little profanity in English at least (mostly Asian lingo used here) so I able to show you these pictures without censuring them. But I cannot stress how dangerous this is. It is also illegal as you I say you may be trespassing. There are a whole number of precautions I took. If you have a place you want to go like this--- it's about as dangerous as you can get. As you will see, I'm not alone here. And don't carry a gun unless you have a concealed weapons permit you will go to jail for that should you be arrested for trespassing. Be aware.


This old building was a laundry mat back when I first went to Guam in 1992. Guam is covered in hidden buildings that have been abandoned due to typhoons or the military. A huge junk yard. The good part is that the jungle quickly claims these places. They get a class 3 to 5 typhoon about once a decade at the very least. I went through a class 4 called "Chata'an". They destroy everything and people often cannot rebuild. They are so common that nearly all buildings have full 24-7 power plants that can run constantly for weeks. And people's homes no matter how well built, get destroyed. So do businesses, like this. Most people are able to rebuild, often with junk-huts in some places. Just like in the USA, there are gangs of dangerous punks, criminals and transients. A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane. It's called a typhoon because of where it is. I am a couple hours from Japan, and in the middle of those islands like Guam, Okinawa, -all well known for there roles in WWII. And there is still allot of junk and stuff they left behind. It is a US territory, but local laws conflict and it's still a bit of the wild-wild west. Even more reason to stay out of dangerous places like this.


Exploring like this is just like this. Take a look, you see very well? It's hot, dark, and every sound echoes. You strain your eyes to see things and make sure nothing is there. It's a trip. I did not change the lighting of this shot, this is what it was really like. Spooky. And it should be. I was taking a serious risk here. I had serious protection, however, no matter what precautions you take, you can never be ready for who might be on the other side of this wall. Just listen carefully and be fast but very aware.

Stop --I suppose it's a warning. This building is occupied by gangs and drug addicts. Really nasty. Dangers are all around, you always must listen carefully for the slightest sound, have an
escape plan, and carry a cellphone. Be aware of things that might prick you on the floor. This is so dangerous, I feel like I should not give any advice--whatever you do you can go to jail for this so don't do it. Where I was here it was about as risky as swimming with sharks and no cage. This was a really bad area because-- you may not believe this, but the news paper announced a couple of years ago they were going to have to put the mentally ill out of the hospitals. That's right, so most of them became transients and a number of them walk this area and the beaches very near. The urban jungle can be far more dangerous then the jungle itself. I was also at risk of wild pigs. They can kill or seriously hurt you here. It's something I was surprised to hear. Wild bore are a problem in the states as well.

The remains of one of those wash machines or dryers. There are snakes and huge monitor lizards but they did not do this. Of course though, a jungle, I had to think of Jurassic Park here. What tore this apart? Who?


Parts of this building clearly showed why it was abandoned. And the jungle is very quick to claim it. There are 100s of buildings on Guam that are barred so well it is like they soon vanish.

I was walking and stepped down as I went through this spooky place. Sometimes thinking like I was playing a first person shooter computer game, like Doom! I really had no idea who was there and no clear way to get out. This ground belongs to squatters and some of them are seriously mentally ill and were released because the programs and hospital shut down.


I looked down and to my surprise this hat was laying on the ground! It was in great shape. I'm sure the cops have been here several times. This hat was really laying right here like this. It added to my fears as I walked through the dangerous wreckage. A cut out here can be serious. I must always watch needles and sharp stuff left on the ground. Even with steel towed boots. And I have a few scars that might not ever go away because they happened in Guam. They look like burns later, but they were actually just mild cuts that got infected in the very humid air. The rain forest in Guam will create festering wounds no matter how much you try to take care of them. The jungle-rot and other bacterium love the very humid and very hot environment. It's so bad that I felt my main cameras should be in a watter-proof case all the time. I can't afford it and was battling fogged lenses and viewfinders the whole time. Cuts can take months to heal. Twisted junk made that a possibility.

The place is shredded. There are things to trip and fall on, all kinds of stuff. It took me a half hour to get from one side to the other. This kind of jungle walking is very dangerous and every step has to be calculated so you don't trip on the rusty junk or fall into a hole. If you ever try this, I can't tell you how dangerous it is. I made a mistake by not bringing someone with me. It is always good to have a friend or two with you. Instead I had a UHF handheld radio and a cellphone. No matter how old, even if it ever even had a plan or had someone else's plan--ALL cellphones that turn on and work are capable of dialing the one number-- 911. The FCC made this a federal law. The same law exists in Guam. So if you have old cellphones, remember you can always call for help even if you don't have a plan or have not used it in years. I was armed on this trip just in case. My non-lethal protection is real Mace. A medium sized can. Those key chain things are nearly useless. Everyone should know it is a felony to spray someone with pepper-spray, mace, whatever- for any reason other then being attacked or threatened. You could go to jail for spraying someone because your mad at them or in a bar fight kind of situation. That stuff is very painful and there are serious laws you should read before you carry it. Rules also apply to stun-guns and stuff. Use of such items for anything but direct self defense of an attacker is a felony.

This place needs some work! Then again it just might fall on my head and become another open room. The inside of this building was very frightening. The low light and rooms I had to walk by not knowing if there was someone in there was really a rush. I just kept moving.


Once I was walking in Guam on a hike and found a couch, in the middle of the jungle on an old road. It was great, complete with a busted up TV on top of some junk to look like a living room! It was funny, but the truth is junk on Guam is a huge problem. It has been estimated that there are thousands and thousands of car and truck batteries illegally dumped on this small island left to decay into the soil. Several beaches are so polluted signs are posted. But the good beaches as you might see from my pictures are great. It is a very nice place to visit. Just about everywhere you go you find junk, and illegal dumping. Thankfully you don't see it very often because the jungle grows over it. It costs money to recycle batteries, and remove busted cars and people don't want to mess with them so they throw them in the bushes. I am very disturbed as this will eventually have a terrible impact on the beautiful marine life on the small island of Guam.


I nearly thought I could drive this thing. Nearly un-touched, the further out you go the more you just might walk upon a car in the bushes. No real explanation needed I guess.


THE DANGER is in this junk. I ware serious boots when trying this, but I must admit the dangers of urban-exploration are so serious that I don't do it much. It is easier to do on Guam because there are not so many people watching and less police. You have to listen and think of every possible danger. Wild bore aside, I'm not alone here.
A bed. I was not alone here. Luckily, nobody was home. Made with some care this bed and the bottles near it were all very new. Someone lives here. There's the matres and some pillows and it's home sweet home with a blanket. I did NOT set this up. I don't do that. In fact, I would never touch any of this crap! YUK! But it reminded me quickly of the dangerous transients that live around this area. Some of them really were let out of the mental hospital. They said it was only the non-violent ones. Yah, whatever. It is amazing what budget cuts can do. Here I guess, it's not illegal to throw somebody on the streets who's mentally ill.


The roof here is gone, and the remains of washing machines and dryers look like they have been there for 100 years not just 15 or so. I went in this laundry mat and probably saw this very machine running back then. Things rust and age very seriously here. These islands are very small and humidity as well as salinity is extreme. The salty air destroys everything and I had a heck of a time trying to protect my cameras. Fogging up, getting too hot, I was really worried but if I was going to get the shot I had to use them.

Another view, a mangled machine of some kind and that bed is just inside. This guy's got a car, a nice washer and dryer, a bathroom (I can't show you because this is supposed to be a G-rated website) and a number of other things. Livin in style with no rent to pay! I guess the DEA got there. I have no idea since I went there once. That DEA hat was fresh. It had not been there more then a month. There must have been a bust of some kind here.

I have no idea what this is but something got it. My mind thinks of monsters, usually it's just kids with baseball bats and nothing better to do.


The bed is on the bottom of this shot. So this is the kitchen?

And here is the garden in the back. Really nice place. Glad they did not come home while I was there. Next time I go--I may re-visit this sight. The beaches of Guam are beautiful and awesome. Girls all over the place-- it's Japan's Hawaii. However, you gotta be careful hikeing around. This was a big gamble but I had to check it out.

It even comes with a whole bunch of mosquieto nets for free.


A SERIOUS WARNING HERE:
I took a risk going into a place like this that nobody should take. I know "don't try this at home" is getting very old. So I will tell you this, if you do want to shoot someplace like this, be very aware of everything. Take someone with you--constantly figure what you will do to get out of the place should someone try to attack you, and last but not least carry a cellphone. This place was very dangerous and I was taking a serious risk, as you can see because somebody lives here. What would they have done if they were home? I made a small survay of the area before I went in. Any hint of someone being in here right now and I'd have not gone in. This is were people who dont' want to be found hang out. Go in at your own serious risk.