And I'm off ... my first Hash on the island of Taiwan and boy it's been a long time coming. Throw in a night's camping and a wild boar BBQ and this will not only be my first but probably my best Hash run.
Backpack and sleeping bag, excited ... my first camp in many years.
For all my friends that don't know here is a short summary of what hashing is all about:
Hash House Harriers is a international group of social and non competitive running. An event is known as a Hash where participants call themselves Hashers or Hares and Hounds.
Hashing originated in 1938 in Malaysia, when British officers and expats began meeting on Monday evenings to run.
The object of the Hash House Harriers
- To promote physical fitness among members
- To get rid of weekend hangovers
- To acquire a good thirst and satisfy it with a beer
- To persuade older members that they are not as old as they feel.
Kaohsiung's Grand Hotel
Tony Our cool headed driver.
Our Transport, can't go wrong with Toyota
Grace, our Navigator.
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We took the highway out of the city, going through rolling green hills with prawn farms, rice, corn and guava plantations all along the way. I have been privileged to enjoy a couple of beautiful places around Taiwan, but this drive to Maolin is certainly in the top 2 of scenic places I have visited.
We arrived at the campsite with breathtaking views.
Direction is important, I'm only happy to be a passenger.
Pretty hills.
Welcome to Maolin
Spectacular views from the campsite
I meet up with a couple of hash members. Pablo (thank you for organizing a tent to sleep in and giving me a lift home) Johan (my 200km cycling buddy) and Megan (first timer, like me and my "room mate")
We all sign in for the run, and rules and directions are explained to all the newbies.
5 min later the hares E.T and Magical Mastiffbator are off followed by the walkers and 2 min later all the runners or hounds.
E.T one of the hares of the Maolin hash.
Hounds ready to go.
Kaohsing HHH Run no 2348...Mariza's hash Run no 1
Awesome trail running, uphill of course...but like I always say, where there's a up there must be a down, right?? and after walking most of the up hill I landed my takkies on one of the most breathtakingly beautiful down hills. With a light drizzle of rain the conditions was perfect.
Thanks to Sucker who put his stick up the wrong nest...a nest full of wasps, leaving runners and walkers behind him with one or multiple "steke" We finished after 45min at a waterfall with refreshments. When all runners and walkers clocked in we head back to the campsite for traditional down downs.
Back at camp.
Crowd gathered for down downs.
I had three rounds of down downs:
- for being a newcomer
- for the "steek" comment
- and finally for the awesome "fake" sign language interpreter at Mandela's funeral!
According to him...Thank you and Your Welcome!!!
New comers downing it!
Hares...cheers to awesome venue and run.
A Christmas feel at down downs.
Sucker...defending himself... all in vain.
After down downs we moved to the balcony where locals were busy BBQ-ing some wild boar. Served with perfectly cooked rice and with good old Kikkoman soy sauce we all enjoyed a good meal.
Wild Boar cooking on the open fire.
Dig in!
Ice cold and a must after a hash run.
What will man be without fire?
After enjoying a couple of cold ones around a cozy warm fire and getting to know a couple of hashers, I was off for a hot shower and good nights rest in a tent under beautiful yet cool skies.
I had a great time at my first Hash run, I've seen beautiful landscapes and would like to thank everyone for making it "memorable".
Until my next happie
Greetings from Taiwan
Mariza
xxx
