Run 418
The “What? Two times in a row?” run. 418
Wow! For the second time in a row we managed to have a “full service” Hash run.
And, no, get your mind out of the gutter. We don’t mean that sort of “full service”.
Rather, we had a hash with a bus trip, drinks stop, food, and a decent amount of people.
As usual, we started at Mr. Mập’s, the restaurant which kindly supports as a base for the hash.
A few brave souls trickled in early so they could warm up with a couple of beers, and then gradually more people started arriving. And then more. Until it looked a bit a hash from days gone by, with people milling around, asking the usually sort of questions.
“Where will we be going?” - It’s a surprise, wait and see.
“How long will the run be?” - It’s a surprise, wait and see.
“Where will we end up” - It’s a surprise, wait and see.
As you can probably tell, full details of a run are normally a closely guarded secret.
This is so that lazy buggers can’t cheat by walking directly to the drinks stop / end point, and skipping the exercise involved in walking there. (more on this practice later)
However, for this run we’d been warned that:
The bus trip was a bit longer than usual
The run was a bit shorter than usual
We would end up at a beach
And … there would be a jetski.
Now, experienced hashers would probably guess that at least two of these points had the potential to go wrong.
However, much to everybody’s surprise, the asthmatic bus performed fantastically, and we got to the start point of the run with no hiccups.
Well, only one hiccup. Some people (constantly, hint hint) start the run well-lubricated, so to speak. Meaning that their bladders can’t cope with a long bus trip.
So … Just after we’d got over the hill towards Cam Ranh, a certain person forced the bus to stop so he could take a leak. Which he then did directly in front of the bus, although he did have the decency to face away from us.
At this point, one of the side benefits of the Hash (i.e. teaching dodgy English phrases to local Vietnamese) came into play. Example words being bandied about were “shake”, “snake” and “worm”.
Luckily, it was then only about 15 minutes more to the start of the Hash, so nobody had to go through that experience twice.
The circle at the start of the hash proved to be somewhat unusual, is it was more of a ‘long thing oblong’. This was because it was held by the side of a busy road, and if it had been a circle, a number of hashers would have soon been run over by the traffic.
In the interests of safety, Miss Mary Poppins did a very quick introduction as usual, and then it was “On On!!
Which began with a long straight walk over the bridge towards Cam Ranh town. No need for chalk arrows and paper here.
Halfway along the bridge, Screwgineer (Our Hare, along with Miss Mary Poppins) drove up on his motorbike, where a certain (disappointing - hint hint) hasher hopped on the back and got a ride directly to the drinks stop, without having to do any more walking!
This was closely followed by Major Pain in the Arse, at the back of the pack, cunningly noticing that we’d doubled back close to the route. As per time-honoured tradition, she then took a shortcut, and suddenly ended up near the front of the hash.
“Major”, as she’s commonly known, has rather short legs, so her being at the front of the hash is a rare occasion, and one which surprised a few hashers.
Luckily, also in time-honoured tradition, Dick Fromage stayed true to form, bringing up the last of the pack, so the balance of the universe wasn’t greatly disturbed.
The run ended up on a surprisingly clean bit of beach on the side of Cam Ranh lagoon. As usual, soft drinks and ice cold San Miguel beers were consumed, Screwgineer’s jetski was duly admired, and then we set off on the second half of the run.
This consisted of a 1.8 km walk, down the beach and looping back to the bus. Long and scenic it wasn’t, but then we had been warned.
The only highlight of note was that Dick Fromage decided to try his charms on a poor Vietnamese soldier, armed with an AK 47, guarding the local army barracks.
Luckily, a) the gun wasn’t loaded, and b) the soldier, obviously trying to be a role model for Dick Fromage, managed to remain tolerant and even tempered throughout.
Back at the bus, it was time for a yummy dinner, cooked up by Screwgineers Mom, while some people tried out Screwgineer’s jetski.
Unfortunately, it was a surprisingly windy and overcast day, so there weren’t many takers, which was unfortunate, as it turned out to be warmer in the water than on the beach.
On the other hand, this meant that there was less chance of people injuring themselves, and there were no mishaps.
Then it was time for the circle, where … (tbd)
The “What? Two times in a row?” run.
Wow! For the second time in a row we managed to have a “full service” Hash run.
And, no, get your mind out of the gutter. We don’t mean that sort of “full service”.
Rather, we had a hash with a bus trip, drinks stop, food, and a decent amount of people.
As usual, we started at Mr. Mập’s, the restaurant which kindly supports as a base for the hash.
A few brave souls trickled in early so they could warm up with a couple of beers, and then gradually more people started arriving. And then more. Until it looked a bit a hash from days gone by, with people milling around, asking the usually sort of questions.
“Where will we be going?” - It’s a surprise, wait and see.
“How long will the run be?” - It’s a surprise, wait and see.
“Where will we end up” - It’s a surprise, wait and see.
As you can probably tell, full details of a run are normally a closely guarded secret.
This is so that lazy buggers can’t cheat by walking directly to the drinks stop / end point, and skipping the exercise involved in walking there. (more on this practice later)
However, for this run we’d been warned that:
The bus trip was a bit longer than usual
The run was a bit shorter than usual
We would end up at a beach
And … there would be a jetski.
Now, experienced hashers would probably guess that at least two of these points had the potential to go wrong.
However, much to everybody’s surprise, the asthmatic bus performed fantastically, and we got to the start point of the run with no hiccups.
Well, only one hiccup. Some people (constantly, hint hint) start the run well-lubricated, so to speak. Meaning that their bladders can’t cope with a long bus trip.
So … Just after we’d got over the hill towards Cam Ranh, a certain person forced the bus to stop so he could take a leak. Which he then did directly in front of the bus, although he did have the decency to face away from us.
At this point, one of the side benefits of the Hash (i.e. teaching dodgy English phrases to local Vietnamese) came into play. Example words being bandied about were “shake”, “snake” and “worm”.
Luckily, it was then only about 15 minutes more to the start of the Hash, so nobody had to go through that experience twice.
The circle at the start of the hash proved to be somewhat unusual, is it was more of a ‘long thing oblong’. This was because it was held by the side of a busy road, and if it had been a circle, a number of hashers would have soon been run over by the traffic.
In the interests of safety, Miss Mary Poppins did a very quick introduction as usual, and then it was “On On!!
Which began with a long straight walk over the bridge towards Cam Ranh town. No need for chalk arrows and paper here.
Halfway along the bridge, Screwgineer (Our Hare, along with Miss Mary Poppins) drove up on his motorbike, where a certain (disappointing - hint hint) hasher hopped on the back and got a ride directly to the drinks stop, without having to do any more walking!
This was closely followed by Major Pain in the Arse, at the back of the pack, cunningly noticing that we’d doubled back close to the route. As per time-honoured tradition, she then took a shortcut, and suddenly ended up near the front of the hash.
“Major”, as she’s commonly known, has rather short legs, so her being at the front of the hash is a rare occasion, and one which surprised a few hashers.
Luckily, also in time-honoured tradition, Dick Fromage stayed true to form, bringing up the last of the pack, so the balance of the universe wasn’t greatly disturbed.
The run ended up on a surprisingly clean bit of beach on the side of Cam Ranh lagoon. As usual, soft drinks and ice cold San Miguel beers were consumed, Screwgineer’s jetski was duly admired, and then we set off on the second half of the run.
This consisted of a 1.8 km walk, down the beach and looping back to the bus. Long and scenic it wasn’t, but then we had been warned.
The only highlight of note was that Dick Fromage decided to try his charms on a poor Vietnamese soldier, armed with an AK 47, guarding the local army barracks.
Luckily, a) the gun wasn’t loaded, and b) the soldier, obviously trying to be a role model for Dick Fromage, managed to remain tolerant and even tempered throughout.
Back at the bus, it was time for a yummy dinner, cooked up by Screwgineers Mom, while some people tried out Screwgineer’s jetski.
Unfortunately, it was a surprisingly windy and overcast day, so there weren’t many takers, which was unfortunate, as it turned out to be warmer in the water than on the beach.
On the other hand, this meant that there was less chance of people injuring themselves, and there were no mishaps.
Then it was time for the circle, where … (tbd)
And finally, it was back on the bus for the ride home. This was a surprisingly civilized affair, apart from the one person who decided to have a half hour snooze on the floor at the back of the bus. (Observers were left wondering who felt dirtier after the experience - the ‘snoozer’ or the bus!)
As for the identity of the snoozer, you’ll just have to work it out for yourself - he’s already been hinted at twice already in the writeup.
And so ended another great hash. It’s good to be back in the saddle. May there be many more.
Thanks again to our sponsors, Mr. Mập’s, the restaurant, and San Miguel.
“On On!”