PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Tien for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0168 385 1068 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! 23 February 2014 SMALL MOUNTAIN - LIGHTHOUSE HILL (the long way!) An enthusiastic 20+ Hashers boarded a fleet of taxis at Offshore Bar 1 for today's run beginning on Ha Long street - including the lovely Rita and a few more familiar faces, as well as half a dozen new ones. A chalk talk explained the need to follow red and yellow eco-paint and markers and then it was "On On" up the small Hem (lane) behind the Front Beach shops, cafes, bars and restaurants - sharp left, and then a right turn about 400 metres past the Arms Museum and up a set of steps that led to a dirt road. After another 500 metres, we turned left and followed the markers through the trees and unforgiving bamboo, until we emerged onto the sealed road that winds its way up to the lighthouse. But it was never going to be that easy on a trail laid by Falcon and The Gardener! We turned left and headed back down the road for 300 metres, then made a right turn back into the undergrowth and followed the red markers all the way to the top of Lighthouse Hill - phew! A short rest at the top to enjoy the Lighthouse and views of Vung Tau City, and then it was the downhill sector on a trail that was mostly new, thick with bamboo, and quite slippery in places. We finally reached the dirt road just before the army base, and from there it was a long way downhill to Ha Long (beach road) and then a level hike to the park on Le Loi at Front Beach, and the familiar "twin goldfish". Great snacks were provided by Mother Theresa and, after many San Miguels and Russian vodkas, the Circle was called. The trail was awarded a congratulatory 9/10 by The Flying Finn, who promptly joined Hare Falcon in a "Down Down" salute! (co-Hare The Gardener sent his best regards to everyone but was unavoidably absent...). VTH3 Hash Virgins Greg, Glenn, Andrew, Cameron, Gavin and Tom were welcomed. Danish Paul was given the Hash-monicker The Quiet Viking and, to celebrate Man's Day in Russia (and the end of a very successful Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics), the Russian male Hashers were toasted in true Hash style! Next Sunday's Trail will be set by Falcon and SamSon on Long Son island (see NEXT RUN box).. "On On!" Reporting: Falcon, Uncle Hares: Falcon, The Gardener, Tim Hash Flash: The Flying Finn VTH3 #617 PHOTO GALLERY>>>
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PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Tien for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0168 385 1068 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! 16 February 2014 LONG HAI MOUNTAINS - Minh Dam Secret Zone Residents are gradually returning to Vung Tau after the festive season, and more familiar faces appeared at Offshore Bar 1 (OSB1) beer garden again this Sunday - welcome back, one and all! With even the most "hardened" Tet revellers now slowly returning to work, we expect yet another increase in numbers next week. Buses were still at a premium this week due to Tet bookings, so we loaded and boarded a rather ancient - possibly even antique(!) - "Hashmobile" and headed off slowly through Long Hai, out past the resorts and "On On!" to Minh Dam Base (aka Secret Zone), where we offloaded in the car park for a Chalk Talk (run brief) - again emphasising the need to follow the red markers and treat the yellow ones as "don't come this way" warnings. The right-hand track out of the car park led us up to a trail through occasionally dense undergrowth. After carefully bypassing many possible exits that were fortunately marked with yellow eco-tape, we followed the red markers along a well-used trail to the Banh Lai temple. After a quick stop to appreciate the scenery and take a few "happy snaps", we continued up the mountain, finally reaching the top. A huge, seemingly precarious but obviously "rock solid" boulder at the top was climbed by many Hashers keen to appreciate the stunning views - then it was down a steep track that led us via different levels of vegetation and several boulder-strewn stretches to emerge back in the car park. Refreshments awaited - courtesy once again of Mountain Goat and San Miguel! The Circle was eventually called and the trail awarded a very creditable 8/10 by Andy ("Taffy"). Co-Hare SamSon wasn't able to join us so the Down Down was dutifully accepted by co-Hare Falcon. We welcomed VTH3 Hash Virgins Ken and Pearl from Darwin, renamed Ms Loan as Purple Fox in recognition of her colourful wardrobe, and "punished" several others for various misdemeanours including not climbing the rock at the top of the mountain! And then it was back onto the ancient bus for the trip back to OSB1. A pleasant bonus this week was our 29-seater bus being pre-booked for Tet so the obliging bus company gave us a 45-seater instead. There's no question it was very, very old - but it was also very big and everyone had plenty of room to relax on the homeward trip! Next week will be a local run - Small Mountain has been suggested, but availability of Hares has not yet been determined so keep an eye on the NEXT RUN box in case of changes. On On! Reporting: Falcon, Uncle Hares: Falcon, SamSon Hash Flash: The Flying Finn VTH3 #616 PHOTO GALLERY>>>
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Tien for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0168 385 1068 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! See also San Miguel Special Festive Season Offer - but be quick: last draw 12 February 2014! 09 February 2014 BIG MOUNTAIN - "Stepping up in the world"! Nearing the end of the Christmas/New Year/Lunar New Year festive season, some familiar faces returned to the fold on Sunday - among them Hung Low, Uncle, Mountain Goat, Hard Drive, SamOnHash, Tiny Rabbit (now not so tiny...), Tiny Tim (never was tiny!) and Blackhawk. Registration over, it was "On On" along the familiar route to Vi Ba via the residential area stairs. A Chalk Talk (run briefing) by Hares Falcon and The Gardener stressed the need to follow the red eco-markers and turn back at the yellow ones (remember that bit, Butch and Kurt?). A long jog/hike to the end of Vi Ba, then sharp left through another residential area until we reached the mountain itself - and that's when we really started going up in the world: one step at a time for what seemed like a very, very long time over a vertical, rock-strewn "trail". We finally emerged at one of the many shrines/pagodas we were to encounter this day, and then enjoyed a short respite from all the rock clambering by strolling along a reasonably level track before hitting some "real" steps - all 132 of them! And so it continued: up, along, up some more, along some more - until we finally came to the small but very well preserved shrine at the top of the ridge overlooking Vung Tau Bay to the south and the shipyards to the west. A quick stop to revel in the scenery and take a few photos, and then it was "Down Down" the familiar 872 steps to ground level! Our usual beachside resting spot was full to the brim with Tet revellers, so we adjourned upstairs to munch on the salted port, Russian bread, meat and fresh vegies provided once again by Mountain Goat - all washed down with gold and silver bullets courtesy of our major sponsor San Miguel, and delivered by our still-injured but nonetheless dedicated Beermeister, Ronald Reagan. The Circle was eventually called by guest Ring Master Hung Low, and the trail was awarded 14/10 by Uncle - who deducted 4 points for the Hares accidentally leaving a "potentially confusing" handful of red and yellow eco-tape on the trail, but added 8 for the "interest factor" - many thanks to Hares Falcon and The Gardener for yet another superb effort! Hash Virgins 'Susan' (Vietnam), Pete (Canada), Elena (Russia) and Gary (Australia) were welcomed in style. "Foot fault" sinners Susan, SamOnHash, Elena and SamSon were punished accordingly. And Mountain Goat was toasted by the Circle for her continued brilliant efforts as unofficial, unpaid Hash Caterer! The highlight of today's Circle was the "Hash-naming" of two popular Finns - Pekka and his good friend Vesa. Using "shampoo" kindly donated by San Miguel, Hung Low announced that Vesa will henceforth be known to all Hashers as Marathon Man (he runs 24 km every day), and Pekka was given the very apt monicker of The Flying Finn (if you've ever seen him loping along with his hiking sticks, you'll know what we mean). Sadly, Vesa leaves us this week to return to the land of the midnight sun - "Bon Voyage, Marathon Man"! Here's one for the VTH3 trivia bucket: our 2.5 Finns (Uncle's Dad was Finnish) have 212 years of life experience between them - adding credence to the saying that "Finns don't grow old, they just keep walking...". And then it was time to head back to base, drain the remaining silver bullets, stow the blue bucket and adjourn to the beer garden for "On On" after an extremely enjoyable day! Next week's run #616 will celebrate the end of the festive season and a return to "business as usual" with an away run in the Long Hai Mountains (Minh Dam Secret Zone), to be set this week by Hares Falcon and SamSon. In the meantime, a final "Chuc Mung Nam Moi!" for the year ahead to all our readers, everywhere! Reporting: Uncle Hares: Falcon, The Gardener Hash Flashers: Pekka, Hung Low VTH3 #615 photo gallery>>>
PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Tien for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0168 385 1068 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! See also San Miguel Special Festive Season Offer! 02 February 2014 SMALL MOUNTAIN - "TET RUN" A much smaller than usual, but nevertheless enthusiastic group of Hashers helped to maintain our mantra: "VTH3 runs every Sunday including holidays, and in any weather"! The weather was no problem this week, but most of our Vietnamese fellow Hashers had understandably taken time out to enjoy the annual Lunar New Year ("Tet") holiday with families and friends - and most expats are given two weeks off work at this time of year, so many had disappeared for a break. Wounded Hasher Ronald Reagan couldn't keep entirely away from it all despite broken toes(!), and he turned up to give our hardy band some encouragement as we headed off for "uncharted waters" - a new and "interesting" trail on Small Mountain, as we were told by Hares The Gardener (formerly CNR) and SamSon. Particular thanks must go to Vietnamese Hare SamSon for not only taking the time to help set the trail midweek, despite the usual hectic lead-up to Tet, but also joining the group on Tet Day 3 - a mighty effort indeed, from a very aptly named SamSon! The trail was notable for several reasons: not least the interesting religious and historical constructs and artefacts (see photos below) and changing terrain and vegetation along the way; but also the fact that it involved not one, but essentially two ascents and descents of Small Mountain (Lighthouse Hill) - which made for a fairly long and arduous Sunday afternoon workout, with varying degrees of difficulty including a couple of very steep descents to test the "staying power" of our intrepid Hashers. Having stopped briefly to enjoy the views over Vung Tau and the East Sea from the lighthouse, everyone managed to make it down to ground level in one piece - and it was here that, in view of the smaller than usual numbers, and that it will always be a sin to bypass a nearly empty bia hoi, we opted for "the shortest distance between two points" and settled down for several coldies and a chinwag about the day's adventures. It was eventually decided in English (well Canadian and Australian, anyway), Russian, Finnish and Vietnamese that the day had been a resounding success thanks to the combined efforts of everyone involved (including Hare Raiser, Beer Meister, Ring Master and general all-round VTH3 veteran stalwart Falcon, who had 'hotfooted it' all the way back from Phan Thiet in time to make the run - despite the notorious Tet traffic!). The burgeoning Hare combo of Falcon and The Gardener (formerly known as CNR) have now set a "part old, part new but all interesting" trail on Big Mountain for Sunday 09 February - see NEXT RUN box on the Home Page. We will meet as usual in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden: 2 pm for 2.30 pm start because, as we said at the outset - "VTH3 runs every Sunday including holidays, and in any weather"! And on that positive note, we wish everyone "Chuc Mung Nam Moi" (Happy Lunar New Year)! Reporting: The Gardener, Uncle Hares: The Gardener, SamSon Hash Flash: Pekka VTH3 #614 PHOTO GALLERY>>>
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