Welkom in Douliu Taiwan

'n Dag uit in die mooie Taiwan  was net wat ek nodig gehad het om my gemoed na 'n week van baie verlange en hartseer huis toe te tem...

This Saturday, January 25, will be officially OPPOSITE DAY. So, this announcement should be read in the spirit of that day.
The Douliu Hash House Harriers wish not to invite you to join their semi-monthly hash. We will crawl or skip backwards around and in the environs of Huwei last Saturday, December 52. You will certainly have a lousy time, just lying around watching others going on with their pointless lives. Afterwards, tonic water and celery sticks will be served on the veranda of the mayor’s house, where the concepts of God, the virtues of alcohol and sexual abstention and Harry Potter as a cultural icon will be discussed.
Here's some basic info:
Date and place: Last Saturday, December 52, 1:00 AM at the baseball stadium in Douliu, which is just in front of the Douliu train station.
Fees: Free
Food and Drink: Plenty of tonic water, ginger ale and oolong tea, as well as celery and carrot sticks.

P.S. For those wishing to bring canine friends, please realize that they will mistreated and possibly used for a barbecue when the celery and carrots run out.

Disclaimer: The above was sanctioned by the management commission of the Douliu House Hash Harriers.

For those you who who are not inebriated enough to translate the above, it basically means that Doulio is hashing this Saturday. Meet at the Doulio baseball stadium at 1 and make sure that you bring extra clothing as the trail may wet your feet at the very least, if not your legs, according to one of the hares.

 

Douliu...met mooi blou berge

Sooooo , na my eerste en laaste Hash het ek myself dood voor die oe gesweer ek sal nie WEER gaan Hash nie, maar nadat ek die bogenoemde invite gelees het, vind ek myself op die nine forty five AM trein oppad na die distrik van Douliu. En mag ek byvoeg ek voel relatief opgewonde...
Dis om en by 'n 2½ uur trein rit noord van Gangshan na Douliu, en soos gewoonlik geniet ek dit gate uit.

 

Douliu Trein Stasie

 

 

Douliu Bofbal Stadion

Ek vind die bofbal stadion maklik genoeg, en word begroet deur 'n paar nuwe vriendelike gesigte en dan ook 'n paar wat eerder sal vrek voor hulle groet.Ek registreer vir nog 'n eerste hash en bly 'n "first timer".
Ons word almal ingeryg en aangery na die wegspring plek ongeveer 2km weg. Ek ontmoet vir George, 'n vriendelike 'Transvaler' wat homself al vir 2 jaar in Taiwan geniet en tot my pure genot vind ek uit hy is 'n vurige Stormer en Province supporter.

 

Ons hares vir die "What's up duck" hash is ook 2 ongelooflike aangename Suid-Afrikaners...Charl 'n Kaapse Klong en Shani 'n Kalahari nooi.
Hierdie kan net BAIE lekker raak!

 



Dapper stappers en drawers staan reg...

 



Die roete wat ons moet aandurf is warm, SOMER IN TAIWAN warm...en het iets van alles: teer, sand, water, klip, stront, opdraend en GEEN afdraend.

 

Opdraend...

 

Hugo with his big heart...

 

Plat pad in die hitte...

 

 

Found the duck!!

 

Dis nat...

 

Twee kanse dat ek met my tekkies deur die water loop.

 

Nat voete...coming through

 

 

Nou paadjies deur die landerye

 

Left or right...which one is right?

 Turned out Left was Right:-)

 

Met al my skete en pyne van 'n Taiwanese winter was dit my eerste drafsessie in 2 maande en dit het plek plek maar gesukkel.
Een van my mede Taiwanese drawwers, Joe aka Sauwei Chen het my op 'n stadium ingeharloop en my 'n yskoue Supau aangebied...my bek was so droog ek kon skaars dankie, xie xie of Thank you se...hy was my Supau Hero!!!


 

Yskoud, heerlik!!

 

 

Ek het probeer smile...

 

Die einde was in sig toe ons die park met brug binne gaan.



 

Eind punt.

 

 Stats

 

 Yskoud, en wel verdiend.

 

 

First timers...down downs

 

 Die crowd by down downs

 

Hares geniet a oomblik by down downs.

 

 

Charl en Shani

 

Ek en Joe my Supau Hero

 

Douliu sons ondergang.

 

Douliu Nag lewe.

 

Trein stasie...oppad terug huis toe.

 

 

Nie net het ek 'n ongelooflike dag van hardloop en die mooie natuurskoon in Douliu geniet nie, maar die fantastiese mense wat ek ontmoet het, verdien vele besoeke in die toekoms.

Tot weerderom

Groete uit die Ooste

Mariza

xxx



Hashing through Maolin

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.

The Kaohsiung Hash House Harriers meeting place is usually at the Grand Hotel in Kaohsiung. I met up with members there for a lift to Maolin. I was honored to meet Tony our driver, Grace our navigator, Keit (man with many stories about Kaohsiung) and Mr Bean aka Frozen Stiff (awesome guy who gave me all the in's and out's about Hashing)

Kaohsiung's Grand Hotel

Tony Our cool headed driver.

 Our Transport, can't go wrong with Toyota

Grace, our Navigator.
.

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:

1. for being a newcomer
2. for the "steek" comment
3. 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