There are over 5000 Hash House Harriers chapters around the world and I have been to a few dozen of them. Some of them barely manage to function and others absolutely thrive. It seems as though they are quite a bit more popular over here in Asia than other parts of the world but chances are if you know a bunch of people, that at least one of them has been Hashing at some point in their lives. I know I randomly encounter people who know what the Hash is when I am just out and about in a HHH shirt and when that happens, I know we are going to get along. We are bound by a mutual respect and love of Hashing, which is kind of like running but a lot more fun.
Chiang Mai is a truly special place though as far as HHH events are concerned. We are able to have runs that are almost entirely nature or jungle-oriented all while living in one of the most populated cities in Thailand. The other places here that have Hashes such as Phuket, Pattaya, and especially Bangkok, don't have access to nature like we do because the areas are just too populated and all the nature has been cut down. Chiang Mai is unique in that regard.
Take an aerial view of a recent run as an example.
You can tell by this view that there are streets and civilization just to the East of our position but there is virtually none of it in the areas where we are actually running and this is absolutely ideal. Some of these places are national parks and others are privately owned farmland. I will admit that we don't really pay a great deal of attention to who owns that land when we plan a run and it isn't often that the owners are even aware that we are there, let alone get upset about it. If they do "bust" us we explain what we are doing and then show them the bags of trash that we picked up on their land while we were doing our run. In that regard what we are doing is kind of like a community service and mostly the land owners don't care because we always leave a place in better and cleaner shape than when we arrived.
Almost all of us that live here live in some sort of urban sprawl that is nearly completely devoid of nature so being exposed to real nature like this a couple times a week is pretty good for the soul I think. It does take a bit of a trek in our busses to get to these places but it is never more than say 30 minutes or so. The other Hashes that exist in the world and especially in really urban areas like Bangkok, New York, Tokyo, Taipei, etc, there is virtually zero chance of any nature at all. I think that this is a big part of the reason why our international events are so greatly attended. Not only do we have access to all of this nature basically on our doorstep but we also have a rather busy international airport that many international destinations can fly directly into. CNX is the code for our airport and they fly all over the place because of tourism demand.
When I go on Hashes in other places in the world even in Kuala Lumpur, I have a good time but I am also a bit disappointed that almost everything is done on streets or construction sites rather than actual nature. In that regard Chiang Mai is really unique so if you don't have a Hash chapter where you are, maybe combine a trip for some sightseeing to Chiang Mai with a visit to what many consider to be one of the best Hashing destinations in the world. You are welcome to join us on any of our 3x a week runs.
On On!
