When people think about the Hash chapters that we have in Thailand they mostly think of Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, or maybe Phuket. There are several other ones but they have much smaller membership because it isn't an area where there are seasonal tourist residents like our ranks are.
Ubon is kind of far away from lots of other things and it isn't as English friendly as say, Chiang Mai is. But as other places just start to get overrun with people and everything becomes cement, maybe places like Ubon are the way of the future for the Hash.
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There really isn't much good reason to ever end up here if you were a traveler in this country and most of the foreigners that are there are living there because their spouse is from there. Nothing wrong with that. A great many of our own members in Chiang Mai are here for the same reason.
While the crowd was quite small despite this being an advertised event, they were really welcoming of me even though I didn't know any of them prior to this day. I love that about the Hash House Harriers, if you turn up unannounced almost anywhere in the world you are treated as a family member because the HHH is one giant global beer-loving family.
The run itself kind of reminded me about how almost all of the Chiang Mai Hashes used to be in the past perhaps 5-7 years ago. You almost never see another vehicle and there is plenty of nature and livestock to see along the way. When the people who live there see you, they are welcoming, not upset that you are on their land and this always makes me feel good.
I thought that it was fantastic that the Thai women were more focused on having food than they were on anything related to beer. That seems to be a universal trait about Thai women... well that and the desire to never have the sun on their bodies.
I don't mean to get down about my own home area of Chiang Mai, but to me it seemed really nice to be somewhere that wasn't filled with so many cars and noise. This is a truly quiet part of the country even though the main city does have quite a few people in it. Perhaps the absence of tourism is a driving force behind why it can be that way. It might be something worth looking into for me in the future.
There were no FRB's (front running bastards) in this crew and the trail was only 6km. I kept my mouth shut about how this seems really easy by Chiang Mai standards and just let the home team have the win because they deserved it.
One of the most awesome things about being here and visiting their Hash was that I left that day feeling as though I had made 20 new friends. Everyone was so welcoming to the point where I felt kind of disappointed to be leaving. I do admit that I spoke to a few of them about life in Ubon and may come back to visit again. It was just really nice to be somewhere that doesn't have traffic jams most of the daylight hours.
Is it time for a change in my life? Well, one Hash run isn't going to determine this for me but I will be back Ubon... thansk for your hospitality!
On ON!
