the slope on which the city is built is irregularly terraced in ancient se asian style as many staircases as streets thread their way up and down , laid out seemingly at random , following land contours rather than grid logic , adding to the architectural complexity of the layer of waterways with a maze of vine encrusted overpasses , arched bridges , spiraling ramps , crooked alleyways , cracked hidden steps debouching on broad esplanades , avenues , parks gone to seed , pavilions , balconies , apartments , jungle choked palazzos , echoing gloomy temples whose divinities , if any , seem to have left no forwarding address ... all empty , all utterly abandoned .