 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Cuong for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0938 83 31 83 or 0906 79 11 55 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! 27 July 2014 LONG HAI MOUNTAINS - Minh Dam Secret Zone Phew! What a trail that was... Some 30 or so Hashers (including FB's "Irish fusiliers") boarded the chariot for Long Hai and disembarked half an hour later at Bo Bo's cafe, outside Long Hai township. A quick chalk talk and then it was "On On" for about 1 km or so along a dirt road that soon narrowed into the more familiar dirt track, winding its way through a few local residences before reaching an open area that allowed time to regroup for what was to be a fairly tortuous climb ahead (well it was for yours truly, anyway!). The first set of several hundred steps wasn't too bad, but that was only the beginning! After a short level stretch of paved track, we were off again up many, many more steps (how on earth do they build them all?). The second lot of steps were very deceiving. They suddenly ended on another flat piece of track but, just as we all started to relax, "Oh no, more steps"! They finally ended at a small pagoda, which signalled the beginning of a fairly long but not too arduous trek through the bush - soft underfoot, but lots of foliage and many rocks to catch the unwary. What seemed like ages later, we emerged into a garden area full of monks, with many shrines dotted about the hilltop - for we had indeed climbed the mountain! A quick climb up a few more steps and we were on the splendid "lookout rocks" - with panoramic views over the Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and East Sea. Many, many photos later, we left the monks to their chanting and headed downhill (yay!) to the Minh Dam* Secret Zone (historical area) car park. *This week's local trivia: there's no Dam at Minh Dam - Minh and Dam were two wartime VC generals. The sight of four bright red eskies filled with ice cold San Miguels, water and softies was enough to make the long trek worthwhile! Especially when Ice Water unpacked her now legendary bread, port and pickles to complement Chippie's chippies(!) - yum yum! After much libation and fellowship, the Circle was called - with not one, not two, but FOUR Hares all present and correct! Rowdy Water, Ice Water, Falcon and SamSon were awarded a "perfect score": 10/10 by returnee Kojak (we think he's been away too long, mumble, mumble...). Kojak praised the length of the trail (subsequently shown on Viking's GPS to be more than 4 km uphill, to 292 metres above sea level at an average climb rate of 22 mins per km! - see route map in photo gallery below); and also the local "colour" including residents, pagodas, monks, shrines, historical artefacts and, of course, the wonderful scenery from the top - indeed an interesting trail, albeit very hard going at times! And then the numbers started getting even bigger, with 7 Hash Virgins (mostly but not all the aforementioned "Irish fusiliers"), visitor "Do 'em up Deb from Koh Samui Hash, returnees Kojak, No Name Bob, SamSon, Faulty Brakes and Chippie - and then so many Sinners that they had to form a line to go and collect their own drinks for the Down Down! The Circle was eventually abandoned to widespread anarchy as various participants began their own icing competitions and the remainder did their best to empty the eskies before we headed back into town on what was an extremely pleasant, rowdy at times, but thoroughly enjoyable bus ride that mirrored the whole day! STOP PRESS: Rowdy Water and Falcon have laid a "challenging but extremely photogenic" trail on Big Mountain, starting at the infamous '600 steps', across Rowdy's Ridge (great views!), and finishing at the beachside cafe Down Down with shelter in case of rain. This will be VTH3 stalwart Falcon's final run before heading off to Australia, so it's an opportunity for everyone to come along and say "Thanks" for all his work on our behalf over the past couple of years! We'll meet as usual on Sunday in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden at 2 pm for 2.30 pm start. On On!  Reporting: Uncle Hares: Falcon, Rowdy Water, SamSon, Ice Water Hash Flash: Uncle. Circle photos: SamSon, Viking, Rowdy Water (see also Viking's GPS plot and 'lookout rocks' photos near end of photo gallery) VTH3 #639 PHOTO GALLERY>>>>>>> VIKING'S GPS PLOT (LEFT) AND "LOOKOUT ROCKS" PHOTOS AND ONE FOR OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL - WITHOUT WHOM WE'D BE VERY THIRSTY! 
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 PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Cuong for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0938 83 31 83 or 0906 79 11 55 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! 20 July 2014 JESUS HILL, SMALL MOUNTAIN - "Re-Hash run #1 of 9 July 2011, reprised" Start point Offshore Bar 1, as usual. What wasn't so usual was an encouraging 35 Hashers at registration - which is the most we've had at a local run for some time, particularly during the Russian 'holiday season'. It was also three times as many as we had for the first "Re-Hash the Hash" run that resurrected VTH3 on 9 July 2011 - so that's a clear indication of healthy growth. Off we went across the park and Le Loi, along Quang Trung until the junction with Ha Long, then a left and right past sidewalk fish markets and then left around the corner leading towards Phan Chu Trinh. At Hem 220 (Duc Anh hotel) turn right up concrete laneway bending to the left through a small village - plenty of dogs, hens, geese, occasional grunters (pigs, not Hashers!), then a more rural setting for the trail with lots of small stones on a dirt track. From now on, the trail wound its way slowly up Small Mountain, offering many photo opportunities of Vung Tau City and Back Beach panorama; what must be one of the world's smallest cafe's (see photo gallery below); then a small cave (affectionately known as "OXO/UXO's cave" in days gone by...). It was uphill all the way, but a far more gentle slope than most are accustomed to in VTH3! "When you finally see specks of blue sky shining through the leaves, you're nearly there!" We emerged at the foot of the 214 steps leading to the 28-metre tall "Statue of Jesus with Outstretched Arms*" (38m if you include the 10-metre high base). For those who wanted more, it was just another 129 steps up a spiral staircase inside the statue to reach the balconies on the statue's outstretched arms. Sadly, closing time was 4 pm so not everyone made it in time. *For the trivia buffs: "Statue of Jesus with Outstretched Arms" was erected in 1971. We shared the area with hundreds of tourists so there was time only for a water stop, photo opportunities, then a careful descent of 614 "tourist steps" past several coffee shops, statues depicting various biblical scenes, and lookout points over Hon Ba island (incl. Mieu Ba temple), the "Cape of Greeting the Wind", Back Beach and the East Sea. Finally at ground level again, we went out onto Ha Long then turned left and left again into the big, new'ish park to find "Anti and the Eskies" (no, that's not a pop group - Anti was nursing an injury so kindly offered to chaperone the eskies from Offshore Bar 1 to our pre-selected Down Down location). Lots of ice cold San Miguel and softies to clear the throat while snacking on Ice Water's lovely bread, meat and pickles - with this week's specialty: sticky rice cakes - until the Circle was called. The trail was rated an abysmal "minus 10" by returnee Captain, who was immediately overruled by duty Ring Master Uncle who removed the "minus" bit and left it at 10/10 (Captain is more used to downunder marking, where no trail ever receives a plus score!). Thanks were also given to those involved in setting the original trail, which was the scene more than three years ago of VTH3's first "Re-Hash the Hash" run. Five Hash Virgins from Russia and Romania, returnees Jeff and Captain, and five "and a half" sinners were introduced, welcomed, "serenaded" and/or "punished" as the case may be. Good luck to our two Russian backpackers as they continue their travels... A special case was made for Ice Water, who was thanked by everyone for her culinary expertise and good humour, then punished for wasting ice (again)! Everyone was reminded that registration for Vietnam's inaugural Nash Hash is open - details on the "Hot News & Events" page. And also Saigon Hash's 24th birthday weekend bash 5-7 September - see also "Hot News & Events". And congratulations to the volunteers who are distributing our new promotional posters, flyers and tri-lingual business cards - "Good luck, everyone"! In the meantime, next week's trail has been set by Rowdy Water, Falcon, SamSon and Ice Water in the Long Hai Mountains. They report that it's a challenging but pretty trail with good views on the way up(!) - passing not one but two pagoda compounds, and finishing in the Minh Dam Secret Zone car park. We'll meet as usual at Offshore Bar 1 beer garden: 2 pm for 2.30 pm start, Sunday, 27 July - in any weather! On On!  Reporting: Uncle Hares/chaperones/guardians: Falcon, Rowdy Water Hash Flash: Uncle. Circle photos Anti VTH3 #638 PHOTO GALLERY>>>>>>>    PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Cuong for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0938 83 31 83 or 0906 79 11 55 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! 13 July 2014 MAGIC MOUNTAIN - "The Holy Grail" Some new and many familiar faces boarded the large bus at Offshore Bar 1 for the trip to Magic Mountain (west of Nui Dinh), in search of "The Holy Grail". We took the usual exit off the highway towards Nui Dinh but then took the second left-turn after about 150 metres onto a newly-sealed road. A sharp right at the end of this road and we were heading towards Magic Mountain. We pulled into a ground-level pagoda to park the bus, dismount and attend a chalk talk by co-Hare Rowdy Water - and then it was "On On" in very fine climbing weather (no rain...), up what quickly became an almost vertical, boulder-strewn slope. "On and On" it went, and went, and went - lots of different undergrowth along the way, but always the same boulders waiting to catch the unwary... Many Hashers stopped for more than one breather as we continued up the well-marked, relentlessly testing trail towards the peak - where the climb finally started to level out somewhat, to widespread relief! One last short climb and there it was: a mountain-top pagoda comprised of a series of shrines in small caves, connected by many rows of steps around the peak to facilitate access. We were greeted by the pagoda guardians, who proudly showed us around the various shrines and marvellous look-out rock with views all the way back to Vung Tau City. It was also time to relax with a well-earned "water stop" from the esky which had "magically" appeared as if from nowhere! It simply wouldn't have been possible for anyone to have carried a heavy, ice-filled esky up that trail, so how did it get there? Maybe that's why it's called 'Magic Mountain'... The "jewel in the crown" of this hilltop pagoda is a dozen or more shimmering gold figurines inside a large cave - the "Holy Grail" that has hitherto remained so elusive (see photo gallery below). Now nicely refreshed, it was time to head back down the mountainside - a different and longer trail, but some very familiar-looking boulders and drops to test the knees and catch the unwary! We finally emerged into the ground-level car park and carried the eskies and food - provided yet again by our culinary expert Ice Water - to the 'golden gates' of the pagoda. The Circle was eventually called, and the trail awarded 9/10 (that's our interpretation of Harmen's original 2/10 followed by a hastily revised 7/10...). Old friends Mowgli and Rocket Rod plus Hash Virgins Harmen, Pru and Alex were welcomed, and a whole swag of sinners punished! This week's highlight was the Hash monicker of "Captain Hornblower" being bestowed on Irish John - whose "acceptance speech" was a model lesson in economy of words! An announcement that registration is now open for Vietnam's inaugural Nash Hash (to be hosted by Nha Trang Hash 24-26 October 2014), and it was onto the bus for a rather noisy journey back to base camp! Next week will be a "live Hare" trail up Jesus Hill on Small Mountain to mark the third anniversary of VTH3's "Re-Hash the Hash" program that commenced with a similar run on 9 July 2011. "Onwards and upwards"! We'll meet as usual next Sunday in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden at 2 pm for 2.30 pm start. On On!  Reporting: Uncle Hares: Rowdy Water, Falcon, Uncle, Anti Hash Flash: Uncle. Circle photos Som Tum, Anti VTH3 #637 PHOTO GALLERY>>>>>>> All photo contributions are welcome, but please pre-set your camera to 1600x1200 pixels (sometimes shown in 'Settings' or 'File size' as SQ1 or 3MP), so each photo file is no more than 120-150kb/s. Alternatively, download Shrink Pic, Image Resizer or similar software. We'd like to accept bigger files, but it's unfortunately not possible...   PLEASE SUPPORT OUR MAJOR SPONSOR, SAN MIGUEL! Contact Mr Cuong for all San Miguel products in Vung Tau: email: [email protected] phone, text/sms: 0938 83 31 83 or 0906 79 11 55 Home, office, party etc deliveries a specialty! 06 July 2014 BIG MOUNTAIN - "and the ice bucket fandango"! Clear blue skies and sunshine welcomed some new and old faces this week, as we boarded the fleet of taxis to offload the eskies at 352 Tran Phu, before proceeding the longest "it's only another 200 metres" in living memory to the start point at 540 Tran Phu. A group photo and 'chalk talk' later, and we were off - "On On" up a gradual slope that quickly turned from concrete to small stones then dirt as we headed deeper into the undergrowth. The track seemed to last forever, and it was "up up" all the way - although never too steep we must admit. Once we'd negotiated safe passage through the usual resident families of long, black, crawly things (caterpillars? centipedes? millipedes?), and with Som Tum safely back in tow(!), we continued onwards and upwards through what was by now some extremely lush, green vegetation. And then the trail levelled out somewhat, and took our intrepid Hashers around Big Mountain on such a scenic route that we could see the shipyards one moment, and Vung Tau Bay the next - camera buffs had a ball! Round and round we went until the trail started to angle downhill, past historic artefacts, local residents and many picknickers - everyone thoroughly enjoying life on the picturesque mountainside in their own way! It was not far past here that the trail turned into a narrow concrete path, just wide enough for one motorbike - a route that was quickly bypassed by at least two short-cutters who were duly 'acknowledged' at Down Down time! We finally emerged at the top of several hundred very steep concrete steps that took us down to street level, 360 Tran Phu - then around the corner to be reunited with the eskies in a very pleasant cafe setting overlooking the middle of what's generally referred to as "the fishing village". No-one really expected to go a whole day in the wet season without rain, so we were well prepared when the skies opened - having all moved under cover to continue chatting, drinking ice-cold San Miguels and soft drinks and munching on the lovely bread, meat and pickles supplied once again by Ice Water. With excellent timing, the deluge eventually eased and the Circle was called. Taffy gave the trail an excellent 8/10, several Hash Virgins and (mainly Russian) returnees were welcomed, and a complete line-up of sinners penalised before the Circle was closed and the "ice-bucket fandango" started. It finished, many icings later, with Som Tum taking an unscheduled ice bath in one of the large eskies! "Those who live by the sword..............." We finally straggled back to Offshore Bar 1 to offload the eskies - having been reminded yet again that Sunday evening is not the best time to go looking for taxis so far out of town as the fishing village! STOP PRESS: Hares Rowdy Water, Falcon, Uncle and Anti went searching for a way to the mystical pagoda that we've seen for years on the side of "Magic Mountain" - but so remote that no-one's ever tried to reach it before. AND THEY WERE SUCCESSFUL! So be sure to bring your camera along on Sunday and take your own photos of "The Holy Grail" and fantastic vistas over Ba Ria-Vung Tau province! We'll meet as usual in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden at 2 pm for 2.30 pm start! On On!  Reporting: Uncle Hares: Falcon, Rowdy Water Hash Flash: Uncle. Circle photos Som Tum VTH3 #636 PHOTO GALLERY>>>>>>> All photo contributions are welcome, but please pre-set your camera to 1600x1200 pixels (sometimes shown in 'Settings' or 'File size' as SQ1 or 3MP), so each photo file is no more than 120-150kb/s. Alternatively, download Shrink Pic, Image Resizer or similar software. We'd like to accept bigger files, but it's unfortunately not possible...   |
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