Going to a Hash House Harriers chapter in a different country definitely makes you to experience the culture in another country. I'm used to HHH in many countries where the majority of the hashers are expats who would like to meet like-minded people who love to exercise. Hashers that I met before were crazy expats who loved to be a drinking club with a running problem.
Not so in Malaysia. Apart from the beautiful Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur, the HHH that I experienced were more an extreme bush-bashing club. At least in the more rural areas, the clubs are a bush-bashing club with a drinking problem and not a usual drinking club with a running problem.In this part of the world you are forced to do the whole run in trackless bush area unless you would prefer to sit on ice. The fastest runner will get a reward unlike in the countries I have been hashing so far.
The HHH chapter Taiping Lake HHH was a nice club with charming people. I thought their runs were really easy and on a running track. When I knew it was through trackless muddy area, I would have gone for a small run.
There was a doctor there who didn't like to run and now I know why. They told me jokingly that their run was very short and easy. Short maybe and easy depends on the runner and the weather. Trackless bushland after heavy rainfall will make you sink into the mud about half of your body.
Despite my protectors Hassan and...(what's your name?) I had a fairly hard time. My jogging shoes were worn out after 1 1/2 years and there was virtually no profile left on the sole. So imagine driving a car with tyres who lost their grip in slippery muddy area. But I think even if I did have shoes with spikes I wouldn't like to run in the rain, scramble through the mud, tripping over thorns and get dirty.
The track was signposted by paper and this was washed away by the weather. So apart from the slippery mud hills and the rain, we had the battle with the bush. Our paper track was totally washed away and we got lost. I got nearly hysterical after scrambling up and down through the sliding mud hills and all of us unable to find the paper signs.
It was getting darker and darker until it became completely dark. There was nothing worse than bush-bashing in the dark through unknown jungle terrain. After searching for the right path I suggested my two companions to rest and scream:" on on." We may as well have yodeled but in Malaysia the "on on" scream would be more effective.
The rescue team was about to come and we waited for some time until we heard the horn and saw their torch.Even more charming sexy guys whose job was to rescue the lost runners, but they lost the track too. All the paper was washed out and gone.The whole up- and downhill through thorns, roots, mud started again. Something tweaked my feet and I thought already I was bitten by a leech.
Finally we could find our way out and after stripping off my socks I found around 10 leeches on my feet with only the fat ones visible. I decided to let them enjoy their dinner and stay on my body before I stepped on them to give them their final treat. I felt so sorry that I didn't have salt to make them suffer more.
In this part of Malaysia I also noticed that the extreme competitive sport is the primary goal while in expatriate HHHH communities that I know the social part was more prevalent than the competitive sports part.
As I reached home I found one last leech between my fingers. Since I wasn't patient enough to wait until he or she finished her supper, I just removed it lege artis(according to the rule of the art). The best way to remove a leech is to strip off the thinner tail with your finger and than strip it off. It was still alive as I hit him with my slipper....
My clother were so dirty and I didn't want to wash off the last leech from my socks. The next day I had a hard time to wash my favourite green Hash T-shirt and just threw away the socks with the leech.It was an experience where I would laugh after the fact was over. Just washing extremely dirty clothes before a big travel was not really pleasant.
And when I may say something, I was also not particularly impressed by the abruptness of the Lady Hash Cash. All the people in the club were helpful and friendly but this lady made me feel very uncomfortable. Remarks like:" You are not experienced in hashing." or "This is our club" were different from what I experienced in the HHH chapters all over the world so far.
On the contrary, as an international guest your first run would be on them and free of charge. As I had an operation in Istanbul, the HHH Istanbul who were primarily Americans and Englishmen suggested to just take a walk and join the social part.
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