When I first moved to Chiang Mai I did so in order to take advantage of the wonderful mountainous (kinda) scenery that exists up here in the North. After being here for 2 months I quickly realized that I wasn't doing any of that stuff because it was far away, not in the bars, and not so much fun to do on my own. Since I was new to the area I couldn't just ask random strangers if they wanted to go on a hike with me because they would probably assume I am a serial killer and was seeking to lure them to my lair.
Then one day I met the Hash, and they did all of the things that I love many times a week like clockwork.
They are silly, they go to lovely places, and even though it was a non-issue to me at the time, they get some exercise which is something all of us could probably use a bit more of.
To make matters better, the people involved in the Hash all lived in various parts of the city and were aware of off the beaten track wonderful things that you are not going to see featured on any map. Try as I may to find these things on some sort of website, they probably aren't there and most of them don't really have names anyway. They could be something as simple as what you see above, which was a very odd "resort" where people would pay money to stay in very basic huts and live like a farmer (no thanks.) But the area was lovely and away from the city so I was glad I got to see it. I would have never found this otherwise.
Other things like a King Kong that is made of hay I probably would have heard about but again, had no idea it existed because the part of town that I lived in was quite far away from it. I was just as amused as anyone else was that something like this exists and there was quite some craftsmanship that went into it.
Little places like this where you have to scale a very dodgy bamboo bridge in order to cross a small creek is something that is simply located in the middle of some farmland and while to us it is an obstacle, this is day-to-day life for the farmers and seeing things like this is just extremely cool in my book. Again, there is no way I would have discovered this on my own. And that brings me to my next "discovery" that is probably the most beautiful of all.
In a completely global sense, the Hash House Harriers are a bunch of jokers who like to mess around and poke fun at one another and even at themselves. Silly costumes are part of the routine and dressing as silly as you possibly can is rewarded.
This was around 10 years ago that I first was introduced to the Hash, and eventually I ended up being the GM of one of the Chiang Mai groups. You only hold this office for one year but it is quite an honor to be nominated.
Getting involved with the Hash House Harriers changed my life, my global perspective, and probably is helping me to live a bit longer because it relieves stress, helps with social anxiety, and is just overall good for you. We probably drink too much but at least we do so after getting more exercise than your average 55 year old does. So this is a good thing.
As usual, I encourage you to come join us in Chiang Mai or at any of the thousands of Hash chapters that exist around the world.