Travels Around the Globe

Hashing in Pattaya

Rob — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 03:57:17 +0000

Pattaya Hash House Harriers

I finally made it to my first Hash run in Pattaya, Thailand. I’ve been trying to meet with various groups in Cambodia and Vietnam but my schedule wouldn’t match up when I was in the right city. I made it last night and I have to say it was a blast.

To quote Wikipedia on the subject:

The Hash House Harriers (abbreviated to HHH or H3) is an international group of social, non-competitive running, social, and drinking clubs.

The template for a hash run is loosely based on hare hunting. One or more hashers (the “hares”) lay out a running trail, that the rest of the club (pack or ‘hounds‘) follows. The trail may include false trails (check-backs or CB), short cuts (or splits), breaks, and checks (a marking on the trail that requires the pack to search the area to discover the correct direction of the trail. These features are designed to keep the pack together regardless of fitness levels or running speed.

The organization of the Hash House Harriers is decentralized, with each chapter (also called kennels) locally managed and with no higher-level organizational hierarchy. There are more than 1700 kennels with at least one Hash in most major cities in the world. Most hashes gather on a regularly scheduled basis, with some occurring only sporadically, e.g. on Leap Year days, or Friday the 13th, when that occurs.

Hashers frequently describe themselves as ‘a drinking club with a running problem’, and the social element of hashing is of equal importance to the running. The seriousness of the running and of the drinking varies with each Kennel. Some Kennels focus on running while other focus on drinking. The length and difficulty of runs varies accordingly between each Kennel.

After taking a bus to the run site we were given some basic instructions and then off we went. The run lasted nearly an hour and covered about 7km over some pretty crazy terrain. We were way off in the countryside of Thailand running through pineapple farms, through streams and riverbeds, up and down hills and through bush so heavy at times you couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of you.

After the run, everyone gets together for a little after-party and goes over the race. The race had approximately 60 people from all over the world there and it was truly and good hearted group of people. I would definitely recommend the experience to anyone and everyone – especially when traveling abroad because it gives a great chance to see parts outside of the normal tourist areas and is a great way to make new friends.

Pattaya Hashers

Rob — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 02:23:55 +0000

I’m off this afternoon to meet with a group called the Hash House Harriers. They’re running club with chapters all over the world. I guess we meet this afternoon at 3 and take a bus somewhere outside of Pattaya for a little running, drinking and socializing. It should be an interesting adventure.

More details on Hashers here

Pattaya, Thailand

Rob — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 06:27:23 +0000

Flew from Ha Noi, Vietnam to Bangkok, Thailand and then took a 2 hour bus to Pattaya, Thailand. In case you’ve never heard of it, Pattaya, is the equivalent of a city-wide brothel/strip club. It easily ranks as the most decadent place on earth with somewhere in the vicinity of 200,000 bars in a 10-square-mile area. The action around here never stops with mostly men arriving from all over the world to live it up in a city without rules.

After Vietnam being here is a big shock. There are high rises and shopping centers being built just about everywhere and there is constant noise coming from all over the city from discos, bars and people just generally being rowdy. I was here before two years ago but it definitely seems like the city is really starting to mature into a huge destination for the world. Unfortunately, the prices aren’t cheap either but you can still find good deals around town.

One good thing for Pattaya is the abundance of good medical and dental care so I’m taking the opportunity to head to the dentist this afternoon. It’s been while since I’ve been to one and I’m not looking forward to it but it needs to be done so I need to suck it up and go.

I should be in Pattaya for at least 4 more days and then I’m off to destinations unknown…

Some info on Pattaya through Wikipedia.

Ha Noi

Rob — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 23:43:44 +0000

After a grueling 14 hour bus ride from Hue to Hanoi I’ve arrived. The bus was cramped, loud, hot and nearly impossible to sleep on but it’s over now at least.

I’m staying in the old quarter of Hanoi which is an impossibly dense area of shops, stalls, houses and motos all packed within 10 square blocks or so. The city is cramped, hot and humid but so far it seems like quite a bit of fun…

Leaving Hue

Rob — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:40:41 +0000

After only 24 hours I’m leaving Hue and it isn’t soon enough for me. So far, this has been my least favorite city in Vietnam or Cambodia. I may be tired or something but there is an aire about the city that seems unfriendly towards tourists with everyone trying to rip you off, if possible, low-quality food at high cost and generally unpretty compared with other cities in Vietnam. If you’re into temples and pagodas this could be the place for you but if, like me, you’ve seen about 50 temples already one more isn’t going to help.

Leaving Hoi An

Rob — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:57:10 +0000

I’m leaving tomorrow at 8am with the bus to the city of Hue. Hoi An turned out to be much more charming and endearing than I first gave it credit for. I think the key to really discovering this city is to rent a bicycle for $1.00 a day and ride all over the city. The area is nearly flat and the traffic is not very heavy without many cars or motos. Also, it’s a must to ride around the riverfront area at night when all the lantern shops are open and the restaurants are brimming with tourists.

Vietnam – Hoi An

Hoi An

Rob — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:35:21 +0000

The time to see Hoi An is definitely at night when many of the restaurants and stores around the city light up with amazing sculptures, wood art carvings and thousands of Chinese paper lanterns and the weather is much more tolerable. The city is small but the riverfront area is bustling with many good restaurants that you can have a full meal for $5.00 or so. I think tomorrow I’m going to rent a bicycle and cruise around the town and bit and get a different perspective on things.

Of course more info from Wikipedia on Hoi An

Leaving Nha Trang

Rob — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:22:53 +0000

After 4 days, 3 nights we have left Nha Trang for Hoi An by taking an 11 hour bus ride. I left at 7pm and didn’t arrive in Hoi An until 6am the next morning. At least on these longer bus rides they have sleeper seats in the rear of the bus which allow you to lie down and sleep for most of the ride.

I’m not sure what to make of Hoi An yet but it seems to be fairly small and boring. While I’m not complaining, the rural Vietnamese towns are starting to look identical and I probably don’t need to visit another Pagoda for a while so I’ll need to explore and see if there is something a little cooler to do around town that the standard riverboat tour or going to a temple.

I did manage to get a bunch of pictures online of Nha Trang, so enjoy.

Vietnam – Nha Trang

Nha Trang, Vietnam

Rob — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 08:57:29 +0000

I’ve been staying in Nha Trang for the last 3 days and having a good time enjoying the local scenery and people. I’ve been lucky to hook up with a nice moto driver that speaks decent English so I’ve been keeping him around. He’ll take me anywhere I need to go, wait around if needed and knows the city. This afternoon we went to a local restaurant where he showed me a local favorite snack of deep fried pigs feet with a nice chili dipping sauce. It was good.

Went hiking in the mountains north of Nha Trang yesterday to some pools and waterfalls that I don’t think many tourists get to see. We went a bit early in the morning but the entire trip I was the only person it seemed like on the trail. The water was fast flowing and plentiful with huge boulders crowding down to the river. It took about 45 minutes of hiking over boulders and through the stream to get to the final pools. Fun, hot and a good way to spend the morning. Afterwards, I went back to the hotel to relax and then went out to check out some local happenings later that night.

This morning I spent a couple hours at a local gym for a workout and sauna and then went to a mineral bath/mud bath resort. It was my first time sitting in a big tub of hot mud but it was fun and after 30 minutes soaking in the sludge I was off to the mineral pools for another 30 minute soak. The place was packed with families which seemed mostly Vietnamese. I was the only non-asian person I saw there for the first hour.

The city itself is quite stunning with large, interesting rock formations all over the city and coastline. The water is blue and cool but not cold. The city is big but not overwhelming like Saigon and the people seem quite friendly. I do get a sense of there being more scams and tourist rip-offs in this city than any other I’ve visited in Asia, though. You really have to make sure you aren’t getting overcharged for just about everything and even if you agree on prices you aren’t guaranteed the other person will respect it. Even with overcharging tourists the prices are still reasonable.

I managed to take some cool pictures of the pagodas, waterfalls and the Vietnamese fishing fleets but I have to find a PC where I can access the USB port. Unfortunately, the PC at the hotel doesn’t give me easy access to the USB port but it is free….

I almost forgot one of the main scenic notes about Nha Trang is the 30+ islands of various sizes right off the coast. It’s breathtaking to look out in the morning and see dozens of islands of all different sizes and shapes just miles off the beach. It reminds me of a bizzare, giant scuplture placed in the water…

More later…

Sick as a Dog

Rob — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 07:33:54 +0000

I’m finally better today but for the last 3 days I’ve been suffering from a serious case of food poisoning that I must have picked up in Saigon. For 24 hours I could hardly get out of bed because of stomach pains. It kept me up most of the night as well. I finally was well enough to get to the pharmacy and pick up something to fix me up. Immodium is awesome.

So, spent a few horrible days in Mui Ne, on the southern coastline of Vietnam. The place is small, quiet and frankly boring. There is little to see in the way of natural beauty or culture. The entire city is spread out along miles of coastline which keeps people from grouping together at bars or restaurants for any fun. The city seemed deserted the entire time I was there…

After getting over being sick I headed out on another 5 hour bus ride to Na Trang. This is another beach community in the northern part of the country and couldn’t be more different. It has culture, city life and the geography is stunning with huge rock formations and dramatic seashores.

I spent the morning going to a huge Pagoda in the center of town that has a 15m high Buddah statue as the centerpiece. You can go inside the statue where it doubles as a nice temple. After the pagoda, I took a trip about 45 minutes outside of town with my moto driver to visit some waterfalls. After getting to the waterfalls, I had to hike about an hour up the river to various pools and falls. I was the only one around and it was really fun. I got to swim around and basically stomp around in the water like a 10 year-old for a while.