VTH3 Run Reports

VTH3 #662

4/1/2015

С Новым Годом Chúc mừng năm mới

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04 January 2015
SAND DUNES - Russian Orthodox Christmas!

It took much longer than usual for the bus to arrive this week, but everyone agreed afterwards that it was worth the wait!
We offloaded at the landscaped red dirt road about 1 km past the Seaview Apartments. A bilingual Chalk Talk by Peach Melba followed, then it was "On On" along the highway to Ba Ria for about 100 metres until we encountered "duty human signpost" Mother Teresa showing the way onto a hard-packed, rock-strewn track leading towards the ocean (if you're wondering how we know the track was hard-packed and rock-strewn, just ask Uncle - he tested it with a layout and pike that would have done Greg Louganis proud!).
As we reached the fishing boats, we turned right and headed for the sand dunes that stretch for miles along this part of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, interspersed with fishing villages.
And this is where the fun began. It was plain to see from positioning of the familiar red markers that the Hares had enjoyed themselves, weaving in and out, up and down the dunes for the pack to follow. The ocean views were awesome, as always, but now we had several changes of terrain and vegetation as well - including some dense bushes which hid the wasps that took a few bites out of Superteen and Camel Bone!
And how good was it to see all our fellow Hashers stretched out along the dunes! (we usually run through jungle, where it's often difficult to see more than a few metres ahead - so today was "a special treat").
The markers eventually showed the way back inland from the dunes, where farmers were harvesting watermelons in preparation for Lunar New Year. They were also kind enough to shout warnings about the prickly bushes we were heading for, which saved a few Hashers from being "needled"!
Once through the shrubbery around the farm, it was back towards the highway on the red dirt road, which made it easy to see who had been running because they were covered in the thick, red dust they'd kicked up!
And then we had our next surprise for the day - being greeted by "Santa" Terminator bearing gifts of San Miguel and candies for adults and children respectively!
Lots of socialising followed, with Russian Orthodox Christmas being toasted with genuine vodka and lots of Russian flag waving! The delicious bread and salted pork provided once again by Mother Teresa and Mountain Goat was supplemented by yet another surprise - the sudden arrival well "off the beaten track" by an ice-cream vendor! Camel Bone was very popular as he shouted ice cream cornets for the kids!
It was soon time for the team photo and a vodka-fuelled Circle, with apprentice Grand Master Oggy keeping a watchful eye on proceedings.
The Trail was awarded the magnificent and well-deserved score of 10/10, only to lose 0.5 demerits for the wasps (boo, hiss)! Hares Terminator and Mountain Goat were applauded accordingly, and showered in "snow" as they Down Down'ed their reward!
Hash Virgins, holidaying Finnish couple Miki and Malla, and Mr Son's son(!) Hoang Thai were welcomed to the fold; as were returnees Peach Melba, Faulty Brakes, Ronald Reagan and Hifi, with FB giving a textbook demonstration of how to manage "stiff-arm pouring" without missing the target! (see photos below).
Sinners were next, with "crimes" ranging from waving the Russian flag to living in Finland, and many in between. Uncle even managed to get in on the act but can't remember why - it was one of "those" vodka-fuelled Circles!
We thanked Basil for managing everything so well for us; and Terminator, Mother Teresa and Mountain Goat for being sufficiently caring to provide the vodka(!) and delicious snacks!
Then Uncle called for volunteers to set next Sunday's trail, with nil response. So he put his own hand up - but he and Anti will be returning to Australia after next Sunday, so we urgently need more volunteers because "no Hares" means "no trail", and "no trail" can mean a very boring Hash!
On On!