It's ALL strange. There are no signs on the road and the Thai people don't seem to know anything about it. We feel like we are looking for a non-existent place. A figment of someones' imagination or a joke on the foreigners? It gets stranger, even. The Black House with it's nearly endless array of skulls of all types, everywhere you look, and the large snake crawling freely around the grounds, add to the weirdness of the place.

There are no set stops . You just find a bus that goes in the direction you need to go and let the driver know when you want to get off. I find a local bus at the bus station in town, close to Fun-D Hostel. I tell the driver, "Black House". He nods. I hope he will let me know when I need to get off. Two other foreigners, from the Netherlands, get onboard. The bus, as is usual, sits for a while, hoping other riders will show up. We ride for what seems like too long. I ask the drivers helper, "Black House?" She nods, and in about two minutes the bus stops along the road and we are motioned to get off. 

Once off, there are no signs and nothing to indicate anything about a Black House. We walk the street, and attempt to ask a few locals. None know of the place. The hostel told us it was around here and the bus people knew when to tell us to get off. We decide to walk down the street closest to where we left the bus. It's a nice walk, but no sign about what we are looking for. Finally, a van comes by with foreingers on it . We wave them down and ask about the Black House. Up ahead and to the left he says. Following his directions, we eventually find our house. A strange start to a strange day.

What we find is the total opposite of The White Temple I visited the day before. Whereas it dealt with heaven and overcoming evil, this portrays darkness and death.

 The Black House is actually about 40 buildings. We are all surprised. There are not hordes of people like at the White Temple I visited yesterday. Of course not, not many can find this place. The buildings are temple-like in their construction, but they are NOT temples. No worship goes on here. 

The place is a collection of buildings scattered around the hillside and decorated with all types of artistic skulls. There are skulls of cattle, elephants, deer, cats and dogs, snakes . . . the list goes on. Large snake hides and bull hides adorn the tables . Chairs are made from horns of large animals.

We are surprised by all this. We seemed to all have the opinion there would not be much to see here, it was just a way to fill a morning. Actually, many foreigners don't know about it, or they just think it is not worth the time to find. 

We started to fear the same thing when there were no signs and the locals didn't seem to know what we wanted to find. But, now that we are here, it is a jewel of a discovery.

Like the White Temple yesterday, it has been built by a Thai artist and is an ongoing project. Like the White Temple, it will take many years to finish. In contrast, the White Temple is gleaming white and a vision of heaven. The Black House is dark and full of death. Everyone in Chiang Rai seems to know the White Temple but few know about the Black House. Visitors flood to the White Temple by bus loads, but few are here at the Black House .

Hidden here on small back roads, and being a little difficult to find, seems to add to the mystery of this place. There are no signs explaining anything about the place. There is no entry fee. You just walk up and down the hills until you are satisfied.

The buildings are dark. The furniture inside is dark. The rafters and ceilings to the floors are draped with skins or skulls of dead creatures. Skins of tigers or bears, or reptiles are everywhere. Many skins I cannot even identify. I don't know if anyone can. Bizarre furniture made from bones of exotic animals fill the buildings. Strange collections of taxidermy animals and bones greet you at every turn. This would not be a place for vegetarians to visit, with all the animal death on display.

The large snake crawls freely around the grounds. People gasp and move back when they first walk upon it. Then, they start to take photos of it . It seems to be free to go wherever it desires, but, eventually, before it leaves the acres that hold The Black House, someone appears to catch it and take it back into the center of the grounds. Apparently, from somewhere, they were watching it all this time.

On the grounds is something, black, of course, that looks like a giant fish or something. If you enter though the mouth you find what looks like a torture chamber.

It seems everything here is made of dark wood and dead animals. Where the White Temple was shiny and bright, this place is dark and foreboding. The artist that is creating this Black House was a teacher or mentor of the artist of the White Temple, from what I can find out.

If you go to the toilet you will be surrounded by skulls and skeletons, just like everywhere else here.

My two friends and I spend several hours walking around the Black House. I have seen countless temples in these Asian countries but it would have been a shame to miss the White Temple and Black House in Chiang Rai. They are unlike any other places I have visited.

Back in town, as I am walking around, I come to a Long Neck Tribe Museum. The displays and information is educational about the lives and ways of these hill tribes. I visited one earlier in the year in Thailand but would like to make a trek into the hills here around Chiang Rai to visit a few of the villages.