 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! 26 October 2014 MINH DAM SECRET ZONE - "Combination trail" Another lovely day in paradise - the weather was just right for Hashing in the Minh Dam Secret Zone! Our happy crew disembarked for a Chalk Talk by co-Hare Basil, a group photo, and then "On On" along the bush track towards the mountain top and its shrines at the lookout rock. Camel Bone led the way, followed by Tiny Tim and Space Cadet, with KFC snapping away happily as duty Hash Flash. After two days without rain(!), the former trail in the same area marked by Rowdy Water and Ice Water was clear to all - but we weren't going that way today! On and on (and up and up) we went, over mostly dirt track occasionally covered by undergrowth, and a few rocks sprinkled here and there for goodwill! Surprisingly, Camel Bone, Ice Water and Strawberry were last to arrive at the mountain top - some confusion along the way, perhaps - or was it because they returned to the bus and then started again? Some indecision by others, also - but everyone eventually made it to the top! And Hash is not a competition, of course, so no-one's vying for "first past the post" (in fact, FRBs are often candidates for some Circle punishment, especially if any short cuts were involved!). Lots of happy snaps and selfies on the lookout rock, and then it was back to the car park (but downhill this time!). Basil introduced the Hash virgins to their fellow Hashers and then the Circle was called. Camel Bone volunteered for duty Ring Master and accordingly welcomed three Hash virgins to the fold. Plenty of Vietnamese Hashers today, so no problem interpreting the proceedings for one Virgin who doesn't yet speak English, but nevertheless enjoyed the day very much! Tiny Tim rated the trail just 3/10 because it was fairly short, but Camel Bone exercised his casting vote and added 2 points to make it a more reasonable 5/10! Co-Hare Basil once again did the honours on behalf of the Hare team, with SamSon once again absent on work detail! New Hash monickers were bestowed on Jessica: Strawberry(!), then Mark and son Tony were indelibly and forevermore Hash-named Tiger and Oggy respectively. (What, you don't know "Oggy and the cockroaches"? Shame on you!) After the "new shoes" sinners, we had a special mention for returnee Stubble - who stayed on trail the whole day, unlike last time when he managed to emerge 2 kilometres further up the road after reassuring everyone that "he knew the area"! Mother Teresa and Superteen asked a sponsorship question without notice. The answer is, "San Miguel sponsor VTH3 because they know we're supportive, and we enjoy a mutually beneficial relationship with more than 1,000 hits on our website every week helping to publicise their brand to our global audience"! Ice Water was again thanked by the Circle for providing her delicious snacks, and thanks also to Mother Teresa and friends for sharing their "national dish" of salted pork and Russian bread. With darkness closing in, we took the Minh Dam Base caretaker's advice to head down the mountain while we could still see the road - which was an excellent prelude to the international song festival that followed. KFC led the way with another(!) rendition of his favourite anthem "Ho Chi Minh", supported by Aussie, Russian and Japanese songs from Camel Bone, Mother Teresa, Superteen, Stubble, Space Cadet, Tiny Tim and Basil respectively! Multicultural? You betcha! STOP PRESS: Hares SamSon and KFC have set what they call "The Lost Trail" on Long Son Island for this Sunday. "Lost trail" because they got lost when setting it!!! We'll meet on Sunday, as always, in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden at 2 pm for 2.30 pm start - see you there! On On!  Reporting: Basil, Uncle Hares: SamSon, Basil Hash Flash: KFC and friends. GPS: SamSon VTH3 #652 PHOTO GALLERY>>>>>>>   ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ THERE THEY ARE ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ < < < < < < < < < < < < < < AND THERE THEY WERE!!! > > > > > > > > > > > > > > 
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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! 19 October 2014 NUI DINH - back to our favourite mountain! We loaded a bunch of enthusiastic Hashers, and a couple of very full eskies, onto the bus for our ride to Nui Dinh (5 km west of Ba Ria) in fair Hashing weather: cloudy, no direct hot sun. We offloaded after an uneventful ride (the best kind!), near the bridge just past the roadside coffee shops. Co-Hare Basil gave the Chalk Talk and it was "On On" along the fairly easy, mostly level but occasionally rock-strewn track. But that was only until the inevitable happened and the ground gradually began to slope upwards. The uphill trail was genuinely challenging, and soon stretched the gaps between the FRBs and back-markers. We passed some interesting local artefacts including an amazing well that was hand-made by a local monk, who was meditating as we passed by (see photo gallery). We eventually arrived back at the coffee shops, having done a 5 km circuitous route involving dirt track, lush vegetation, at least one stream, and bitumen road - with uphill and downhill gradients. Captain Hornblower pulled a major FRB stunt by arriving back on a Xe-Om (motorbike taxi). But he paid double the usual fare, so "face" was saved all round! We were pleased to welcome Big Mac back after a long absence in Australia and he became duty Ring Master, having rated the trail one of the best he'd ever followed (and he's been Hashing for more than 30 years, so that's praise indeed!). Unfortunately, he dropped his phone in the river and now knows for sure that it wasn't waterproof - but no trail marks were deducted for this unfortunate incident ("everyone participates in Hash activities at their own risk"!). The trail was awarded 9/10, and Basil did the Down Down honours in the unfortunate work absence of his co-Hares KFC and SamSon. We welcomed Hash Virgin Ms An, and returnees Big Mac and Jim. Then it was time for GeoffP and Rosa Le's naming: Rosa will henceforth be known by the tongue-in-cheek "GPS" in recognition of her penchant for getting lost (well, she did it once, anyway!). Husband GeoffP wasn't so straightforward - he was to be named "Camel" because of his extraordinary ability to retain fluids! But no - it was not to be: Jim challenged him to change his name to "Bone" (we won't even go there!), so the Circle voted for "an aggregated compromise" by awarding the Hash monicker of "Camel Bone", which should be good for a few campfire yarns in the future! And finally, the group thanked Ice Water for continuing to provide such delicious snacks every week like clockwork (she also does a mean job as Hash Cash and "behind the scenes organiser", so is an extremely valuable mismanagement team member). Newlyweds Taffy and Som Tum were also conspicuous by their presence on this day - a warm VTH3 welcome back to you both! STOP PRESS: Hares SamSon and Basil have now confirmed a 5.5 km "combination trail" in Minh Dam Secret Zone (Long Hai Mountains). The GPS route map will be circulated on email today (Friday, 24 October). If we don't have your email address and you'd like to receive information updates, just let us know at [email protected] or via "Contact VTH3" page on this website. We'll meet as always in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden at 2 pm for 2.30 pm start - see you there! On On!  Reporting: Basil, Uncle Hares: SamSon, KFC, Basil Hash Flash: Mr Duc. Circle photos: Hard Drive VTH3 #651 PHOTO GALLERY>>>>>>>  ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ T H E S E G U Y S ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < < D I D T H I S > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >   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! 12 October 2014 BIG MOUNTAIN - Adventure Trail with a twist A big, black cloud appeared above us as volunteer Scribe GeoffK completed registration, but today's Hashers were keen to experience the "Adventure Trail" and "VTH3 runs in any weather", so off we went. Co-Hare SamSon gave the Chalk Talk and cautioned everyone about the challenges to be encountered on a fairly long trail through mostly dense undergrowth. "Go slow through the tricky bits, and stay safe," was the message - and then it was "On On" to Vi Ba, turn right, down to Venus 2 nightclub then turn left at the pagoda and "On up" to the top of Big Mountain! It was a tough climb but we were soothed somewhat by the lovely fresh air and dreamy views of Vung Tau City, the Bay and both peaks of Small Mountain through the mist. And it was about then that SamSon decided to "upsize" the Adventure Trail by adding a few more challenges and additional bushwalking. There was not much time to relax as we continued through the undergrowth, but at last we were finally heading downwards to the middle of the mountainside. Then we suddenly took a sharp right and followed a familiar trail from days gone by - although it wasn't easy to recognise because of the dense vegetation after the rains. We finally emerged onto Vi Ba and headed straight over to Lam Son park where our generous sponsor's gold and silver "San Migs" were waiting, thanks to GeoffK who is carrying an injury and volunteered to deliver the eskies, which also contained "Vietnamese delicacies by Ice Water" - which were very welcome, as always. We waited for everyone to make it safely down the mountain and then the Circle was called by duty Ring Master Ronald Reagan. GeoffP was so impressed by the terrain and length of the trail that he "broke with tradition" and awarded an awesome 10/10 to SamSon and Ice Water, who promptly executed a textbook "Down Down" in appreciation! We also had great pleasure in welcoming back a couple of popular returnees: KFC and James "Jim" Grant. Jim is a former VTH3 Grand Master (circa 2004) who was involved in arranging the original sponsorship with San Miguel so many years ago. So he's at least partly responsible for the popularity of San Miguel in Vung Tau, because many Hashers have developed and continue to develop a taste for gold and silver San Migs as a result of Sunday afternoon Down Downs! We then farewelled VTH3 stalwart John "Falcon" Mills, who died recently in tragic circumstances in Australia. We saluted a good friend and offered our condolences to Trinh and young James. "RIP Falcon". STOP PRESS: Hareraiser SamSon has confirmed that he, KFC and Basil have laid a "wonderful" trail on Nui Dinh for Sunday (19 October). It's 5 km on the mountain and a mix of old and new trails - the GPS route map will be emailed to everyone today. If we don't have your email address and you'd like to receive regular updates, just let us know at [email protected] or via the "Contact VTH3" page on this website. We'll meet on Sunday, as always, in the Offshore Bar 1 beer garden at 2 pm for 2.30 pm start - and look forward to seeing everyone for another day of fun and adventure with our new and enthusiastic mismanagement team! They're working hard to support you - so don't miss your chance to return the compliment and have a great day out at the same time! Fun, exercise and meeting new people - it doesn't get any better than this! On On!  Reporting: SamSon, Uncle Hares: Ice Water, SamSon Hash Flash: SamSon. Circle and sundry other photos: Ciprian VTH3 #650 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! 05 October 2014 Big Mountain - a long way up but a very short way down! As we reach the end of the rainy season, the days are beautiful in Vung Tau and ideal for Hashing activities. And that was the setting for this week's "Adventure Trail" by Hares SamSon and Ice Water. Turn right at the SOS clinic, "Di thang" for 400 metres to the steps through the residential area just before Hem 89, then sneak past a couple of snoozing workers and on up to Vi Ba. Left turn and up the hill 200 metres until we'd passed the pagoda and reached the "bush track" off to the right, where SamSon delivered the Chalk Talk before we left the bitumen and ventured into lush vegetation as we climbed up, up and up on what has been called "a stubborn trail"! It was a long climb upwards, but nature's beauty was evident every step of the way! We called a short "Hash Halt" to ensure WiFi's recently broken but now mending leg could complete the journey, and then it was on up again until we finally reached the top. We saw entrancing views of Vung Tau City and encountered many local cultural and religious buildings and artefacts as we went around the mountain (see photo gallery). But then a sharp right turn put us on the brink of a vertical descent which looked as though we were about to vanish into an abyss! Slowly, slowly, was definitely the way to go until we safely reached ground level... And then it was "On On" to Lam Son park where our generous sponsor's gold and silver 'San Migs' awaited to help us wash down the Russian and Vietnamese delicacies provided by Mother Teresa and Ice Water respectively - many thanks once again, ladies! Duty Ring Master Radio Wave interrupted some 'vodka sampling' to call the Circle, and the trail was awarded a creditable 8/10 by Tiny Tim - but RW added a bonus point because he enjoyed wearing the GM regalia (see photo gallery)! So 9/10 for SamSon and Ice Water's "Adventure Trail" was well received by acclamation and a few quiet grunts from Terminator and Mother Teresa's toy poodle Yoffi! Very few Hashers this week, which was disappointing given the beauty of the trail and the hard work that had gone into finding and marking it, so we bypassed the "introductions and penalties" in favour of enjoying some very leisurely socialising! STOP PRESS: Because the "Adventure Trail" was so good and enjoyed by so few, Hares SamSon and Ice Water have decided to follow the same trail this Sunday (October 12) to give everyone else a chance to enjoy it! So let's see if we can give our hard-working Hares some real VTH3 support on Sunday! We'll meet as usual in Offshore Bar 1 beer garden at 2 pm for 2.30 pm start. On On! RIP - JOHN "FALCON" MILLS It's with great sadness that we advise the passing of long-time VTH3 stalwart and good friend John "Falcon" Mills, who died accidentally last week in Adelaide, Australia. Our sincere condolences to his wife Trinh, their son James and family - we share your loss, and we share your grief. May his soul Rest In Peace forever...  Reporting: SamSon, Uncle Hares: Ice Water, SamSon Hash Flash: Basil. Additional photos (see links below): Radio Wave VTH3 #649 PHOTO GALLERY>>>>>>> Link to small size photos contributed by Radio Wave: https://yadi.sk/d/nn5l44vXbqrnE Link to full quality photos contributed by Radio Wave: https://yadi.sk/d/j1rHDa05bqrgC THIS IS WHO THEY ARE...  ...AND THIS IS WHERE THEY WENT! |
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