Phnom Penh Hash House Harriers

Fwd: World Hash Events: July 2020

From Hazukashii

Hello hashers,

Due to the ongoing COVID situation, many hash clubs have gone into total hibernation, or virtual with circles conducted via ZOOM.  Some clubs have adapted to social distancing by setting the trail dead, and allowing the pack to run trail at any time during the day they choose.  I have also seen a few reports of clubs that have been able to continue on as they always have, just meeting and running together.  For some of those clubs that have suspended activities, life is beginning to make a turn back towards normal.  One example is the Phnom Penh Hash House Harriers that recently posted . . .  "We're Back!!  Yes! This coming Sunday 24th (May) P2H3 hits the truck and heads out of the city for the first run since we started locking ourselves away!"  This is so great to see, and hopefully we'll see a lot more reports like this from all over the world.

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As some of you may understand, I thoroughly enjoy the history of the Hash House Harriers.  One of the earliest email lists for hash chatter was the original Hash-L at USC.  I was reminded when I looked up the links for the Way Back Machine below, that 10 years ago, the last post on that old list server was my "World Hash Events: July 2010" as stated by BBBB.  http://harrier.org/pipermail/hash-l_harrier.org/Week-of-Mon-20100531/006086.html  Remember back when E-mail was the primary method of communication?  Had a lot of great discussions on that old list.  BBBB hosts the new list via his website at http://mail.harrier.org/mailman/listinfo/hash-l_harrier.org   

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The word has already gone out far and wide, that INTERHASH 2020 / 2021 . . . is now postponed until 2022 (but in case you missed it).  The INTERHASH committee recently posted the following information:

Over the last two years, our team, has worked tirelessly in preparation to host the Interhash in Trinidad and Tobago but Global events, in particular, the spread of the Covid-19 virus, frustrated our efforts to fulfill our mandate to host the event for the period 23rd- 26th 2020.  A difficult decision had to be made after consideration of the factors which undoubtedly created a total lack of access to Trinidad and Tobago and the services necessary to hold the event, but most importantly, consideration was given to the health and welfare of both the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and the international participants, which had to come first.  It has become clear that it would not be feasible for us to host the Interhash in Trinidad and Tobago until 2022, and following consultation with the Interhash Council, the Interhash Trinidad and Tobago has been postponed and would be hosted in Trinidad and Tobago on the dates listed below:

•       Red Dress Run – April 28th 2022
•       Interhash Trinidad - April 29th – May 1st 2022.
•       Tobago Pre Lube - April 23rd -25tth 2022.

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Looking at the Hash Events Calendar, every event ended up getting postponed or cancelled in April, May, and June.  Half of July has already done the same, but there are a few still going forward at this time, including our H5 2000th Hash out here in Honolulu, Hawaii (fingers crossed).  The few other events still holding on are posted below. 

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On the bright side, all the reduced activity has allowed me to catch up on a few things with the website, and have added over 100 new shirts to the International "Digital" Hash T-Shirt Museum.  There are now over 1600 shirts thanks to recent contributions from several hashers.  I also received several from the 70s and 80s from the son of "Spit" who unfortunately passed away several years ago.  His son found the shirts and popped up on FB and asked what hashing was all about.  After some discussion, he kindly took pictures of all his Dad's shirts and sent them in, including one that rates as one of the oldest hash T-shirts still in existence, from the Hunter H3 in Australia.     

There is no date on the shirt, just the run number of 150.  After a bit of research, I was able to find the history page of the old Hunter H3 website that was abandoned in 2002 . . . http://www.angelfire.com/on2/hunterhhh/3.html that lists the 150th run took place on 4 Dec 76.  The website goes on to describe the trail as . . . "This run was set by Grimps and Chuck Hurley at Walleroo State forest. The trail was wrecked by a force 10 gale and 40 brave souls ventured out on the run. Only to be soon hopelessly lost following paper that moved faster than they could. The On On was celebrated with much enjoyment and curried prawns followed by grilled steaks. Whacker entertained everyone by crashing his car and Hash act after Hash act followed. In fact, everything was there that you would expect to see at a circus, zoo and mental asylum."

Always looking for more submissions, instructions on how to submit can be found at http://gotothehash.net/hashshirts.html - I am particularly interested in the big events, and any shirts from the 1970 (or before if any such shirts still exist).

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From the Way Back Machine, hash happenings this month . . .

5 YEARS AGO:    http://harrier.org/pipermail/hash-l_harrier.org/Week-of-Mon-20150525/008576.html

10 YEARS AGO:  http://harrier.org/pipermail/hash-l_harrier.org/Week-of-Mon-20100531/006072.html

15 YEARS AGO:  http://harrier.org/pipermail/hash-l_harrier.org/Week-of-Mon-20050613/003109.html

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Upcoming hash events for the month of July 2020 are listed below.  See the website for more details: http://gotothehash.net/e/hashevents20-07.html   

Jul 1-4 - Postponed to December
Birthday Bash
Hosted by Wild Wolf Productions in Pattaya, Thailand.

Jul 10-12 - Postponed to 2021
German Nash Hash
Hosted by the Stuttgart H3 near Stuttgart, Germany.

Jul 10-12
Alpacalypse Now!
Hosted by the Seattle H3 in Granite Falls, WA, USA.

Jul 10-12
Ohio Interhash
Hosted by the Athens H3 in New Marshfield, OH, USA.

Jul 18-21
2000th Run
Hosted by the Honolulu, Hawaii H3 in Honolulu, HI, USA.

Jul 24-26 - Cancelled
Camp Gonnawannalayme
Hosted by the Flour City H3 in Geneseo, NY, USA.

Jul 24-26
3rd Annual Backwoods Campout!
Hosted by the Palmetto H3 in Bowman, SC, USA.

Jul 31 - Aug 2 - Cancelled
The Boy Who Hashed Birthday Bash
Hosted by the Hogwarts H3 in Pittsboro, NC, USA.


See the whole two year calendar of events at http://gotothehash.net/hashevents.html         

If you know of an upcoming event not posted to the calendar, please send me the info. 

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Hashing is fun!  See you on trail someday . . . :O)

On-On,
Hazukashii
Keeper of the old rusty pail, and Chief of the Royal Order of the Smelly Shoe!
http://GoToTheHash.net  (Since 1998)     

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On on!

Boat & BBQ Hash on Sunday, 31st May

Hashers!

Next Sunday (31st May) we will have a Boat and Bbq Hash. We need to know numbers so that we arrange a big enough boat and plenty of food. Please join the Facebook event (linked below) or send an email to pphhh1@gmail.com to reserve your space.

The cost is $10 and we will meet on the riverside next to the statue of two horsemen opposite Wat Ounalom at 2:15pm.




On on!

Sunday Hash 24th May

Tomorrow's trail is set. Meet at Naga Ferry (https://goo.gl/maps/3zXVhnhGaj7FfVsr5) or Kampong Chamlong at 2:15pm. On On. Hares are Vesel Virgin and Flaccido Domingo. There is no truck.

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On on!

Fwd: In the Spotlight – Cambodia

In the Spotlight – Cambodia
By Ed "Hazukashii" Howell
14 May 2020

Cambodia (a.k.a. Kampuchea) is officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia.  This wonderful country is full of many beautiful historic sites, with the most famous being the lost temple of Ankor Wat near Siem Reap.  Cambodia has vacillated between communism, authoritarianism, unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy, and various other forms of governing.  Unified under the Khmer Empire in 802 AD, the country flourished for over 600 years, followed by over 300 years of decline due to the rise of Thailand to the west, and Vietnam to the east.  In 1863, France claimed the lands as a protectorate, and it eventually became part of the greater French Indochina.  Gaining its independence from France in 1953, the country soon became a central part of the Vietnam War, with the Khmer Rouge taking power in 1970.  This eventually led to the mass genocide of the late 1970s under Pol Pot.  After the Cambodian – Vietnamese War, the country was under Vietnamese control for 10 years, until the United Nations interceded until 1993, when elections were held.  Cambodia is currently considered an elective constitutional monarchy under the Cambodian People's Party.

Due to the civil unrest in the area, Cambodia was late in relative terms, to be graced with the arrival of the Hash House Harriers.  Primarily located in 3 locations, that being the capital city of Phnom Penh, the coastal city of Preah Sihanouk (Sihanoukville), and the northern city of Siem Reap, the hash has seen many incarnations.  First arriving in the capital, the Phnom Penh H3 was founded on 23 August 1992 by Lorna "Job" Jacques, according to the hash genealogy.  A common warning was given in those early days, that hashers should not shortcuts as you could end up running over mines! 

The hash genealogy lists the UNCTAD H3 as the next iteration forming in February 1993.  After a bit of research, UNCTAD stands for United Nations Conference on Trade And Development, which really does not make sense.  Tapping into my own military background (and a bit more research), my best guess would be that it is actually the UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia), which sounds much more likely, as hashing has followed the military in numerous combat and peace keeping environments over its long and sordid history.  As an example, in 1993 I was able to run a hash in Somalia during UNOSOM (United Nations Operation in Somalia).  Much like this one-off hash, the UNTAC was probably a short-lived hashing experience while UN forces were deployed to Cambodia. 

The Sihanoukville H3 was founded by Colin "Mister Memory" Jerom in 1995, but was short lived.  Another iteration of a club in Sihanoukville was formed by John "Flasher" Critchley in late 2002, assisted by Peter "Miscarriage" Burke and Tim "Missing link" Salter.  This hash club was based at the Seabreeze Hotel, which was part owned by Missing Link's brother John "Colonel Klunt" Salter.  According to Flasher, the club ran a few times, and had even attracted a few locals to join, but abruptly ended when Colonel Klunt got called away for other career pursuits in Thailand.  Shortly afterwards the hotel closed.

In 1997, Don "Big Boy" Boring created the myth of the Phnom Penh Full Moon All-Lesbian Nude Bike H3 (P2FMALNBH3).  This is simply listed as the Phnom Penh Full Moon H3 in the hash genealogy, so I was first started looking into its origin.  In recent discussion with Big Boy, he reminded me this was only the gag shirt he created for Interhash 1998 in Kuala Lumpur.  A second shirt was printed as a tribute to his fellow members of the Seoul H3 on the occasion of our 1500th hash.  In an interesting twist of irony, I actually hared the Seoul H3 1500th hash up above Seoul (near the DMZ) on 12 February 2000.  This club (only commemorated by the two shirts), never ran a trail, never existed (same as the Bordighera H3), but you can see the second shirt in my museum on page 43 - http://gotothehash.net/t/hashshirts43.html - in the bottom right corner.       

The next hash club to form was the Angkor H3 in Siem Reap, founded by Franklin "Darjeeling" Pate in 2003.  Darjeeling had previously hashed in Sri Lanka, where he had founded the Colombo H3 back in 1980.  The original Ankor H3 was short lived, but in 2009, Hanno "Short Stump" Stamm restarted the club which had been dormant for a few years.  According to Short Stump, the Ankor H3 "was very successful with many runs having more than 100 runners.  We also organized the [Mekong Indochina Hash] in 2016."  Unfortunately, Short Stump departed Siem Reap in 2016, and the hash quickly faltered. 
The next noted club was the Gentlefolk Abroad Saturday H3, as a splinter group off the Phnom Penh H3. Founded by Richard "Chicken Shit" Pullen in 2005, as the name alludes to, this was likely a more social aspect of hashing that was also short lived. 

Outside of the three major locations previously listed, exists a hash club that is still clinging to life, but runs very sporadically.  The Stung Treng Evergreen H3 was founded by Barbara "Hand Job" Rochester, with the first run being held on 4 October 2011.  Only 13 trails have been set (the last one in 2016), but if you contact Hand Job, she can set you up with some locals in the area and potentially organize a hash for you.  Stung Treng is located in Northern Cambodia, south of the Laotian border.

I have had the pleasure to hash in Cambodia on a couple occasions.  The first was their 20th anniversary hash back in 2012, and the most recent being back in December of last year for their 1500th Hash.  On both occasions, we boarded a river boat along the Tonle Sap River, and steamed our way up to one of the islands in the middle of the Mekong River.  The 1500th was an excellent 12 Km trail on dirt tracks, through cow pastures, and along dusty backroads, that ended back along the river.  An excellent circle, with food and adult beverage accompanied an amazing sunset, followed by a return boat trip down the Mekong that lasted until well after dark.  Current GM, Flaccido Domingo, let me know that the first annual Cambodia Nash Hash took place in Kampong Cham in 2012.  This went on for four years until 2016, when they decided to host them every two years. 

Hashing in Cambodia is amazing, and tie that in with a couple days sightseeing in Siem Reap, and a couple days on the beach in Sihanoukville, you can easily fill up a week or two vacation.  So, when you get the chance to travel again, keep Cambodia in mind.  Just hit Cambodia on the links at http://gotothehash.net

For many more articles like this on the history of hashing, check out . . . http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html \

On on!

We're Back!!

Yes! This coming Sunday 24th P2H3 hits the truck and heads out of the city for the first run since we started locking ourselves away!

 

Hare is Vestal Virgin.  More details to be posted Saturday afternoon.

 

On ON!

 

Fwd: In the Spotlight – Bangladesh

In the Spotlight – Bangladesh
By Ed "Hazukashii" Howell
29 Apr 2020

Bangladesh is located in the region of South Asia, surrounded mostly by India, except for a small section of the eastern border with Myanmar, and the Bay of Bengal to the south.  Although a fairly small country in size, it has the 8th largest population of about 160 million.  Geographically, Bangladesh is probably best known as the confluence of several major river systems that flow down from India, Nepal, and Bhutan, south of the Himalayan Mountain Range.  These rivers bring in a constant flow of water and rich soil, which form the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, the largest river delta on earth.  The capital city is Dhaka, formerly spelled Dacca, which was changed in 1983 to better match the pronunciation in Bengali.

Like most of the major cities of the world, the Hash House Harriers are no stranger to Dhaka.  The first hash club formed is still active today as the Dhaka H3 (Men Only) – (a.k.a. "The Night Runners of Bengal") which began on 17 Oct 1977.  Moving from Jakarta to Dhaka, Steve "Laggard" Jaggard is credited as the founder, when gathered up some mates to enrich the Bangladesh cultural scene forever.  Originally enjoying the countryside on the outskirts of the city, due to the exponential increase in traffic in recent years, and running on Monday evenings, the Dhaka H3 is limited to runs in the city.

The details of who founded the next hash club to form are a bit fuzzy, but the Dhaka Mixed H3 set its first trail on 2 Jan 1983, in order to provide women an opportunity to freely join in and enjoy the wonders of the world of hashing.  Not satisfied with hash clubs only in Dhaka, Trevor White founded the Chittagong H3 on 21 Jun 1984.  Chittagong (a.k.a. Chattogram) is about 250 Kms southeast of Dhaka, along the Bay of Bengal.  The Chittagong H3 only lasted for a few hundred runs, but is revived every couple of years by the older hashers of Dhaka, for special events.  Also in the Chittagong region, another club (Kulshi Hills H3) formed for a short period, but did not last too long.

The Dhaka Full Moon H3 began its very spotty existence in October 1997, when David "Fantum" Lewis wanted to expand the hashing activity even more around Dhaka.  The Full Moon hash fizzled after about a year when he departed, but was revived by Asif "WebF@rt" Ahmad in 2002, and had a steady following until 2008 when he also departed.  This hash club has seen a few short-lived revivals, but is currently in hibernation with about 100 trails to its credit.

After the turn of the century, the original Dhaka H3, through a series of events, began slowly allowing the presence of women on the hash.  So, in a show of protest, the Dhaka Men's H3 was formed on 26 Mar 2007 by Murshed "Coco Loko" Salam, which goes by the standard of Men Only, all the time, no exceptions.  Not to be outdone, in 2013, the women, led by Nippy Knickers and Joystick started the Dhaka Pussy Hash for women-only.  Meeting once a month on Wednesday evenings, this club is more of a social wine drinking event rather than a traditional hash. 

On my recent visit to Dhaka in February, I met up with a couple old friends, Sir Rail Jerker who I have known for over 20 years, he has hashed in Dhaka since the early days.  I also met up with WebF@rt, who provided wonderful hashpatality helping with arrangements for transport, entertainment, and lodging during my stay.  He also provided essential input on the history detailed above.  During this visit, I was able to run with the Dhaka H3 on a Monday night.  Due to the heavy traffic, and the advancing age of the pack, this club often just meets for an evening run led by a hare, with no actual trail laid.  But for this special occasion, the Gispert Memorial Run, women were allowed to join and there was a full 6+ Km trail marked with paper.  A large pack of over 45 hashers enjoyed a fun filled evening dodging cars and carts, while looking for paper.  Trail was followed by a fun circle, and an On After party that lasted until after midnight.

If you even get the chance to visit Dhaka, make sure to get out and experience the rich history of the region, but for the real fun, make sure you arrive in time for the weekend hashing where you can get out to the countryside.  See all the current details at http://gotothehash.net/southasia.html#bang

For many more articles like this on the history of hashing, check out . . . http://gotothehash.net/history/inthespotlight.html

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On on!