The Hangzhou Hashers were: Triple-X, Pain in the Clit, Magic Foot Long, Just “Laurie”, Just “Trisha”, Just “Theresa”, Just “Pinar”, Just Change”, Just “Eric” and Sweet FA, who all travelled in style on public buses (and in a BMW for the last 5kms of the journey)! 😉 One tiny hiccup was that before we got in the BMW and other car, at the ZhangCun Village (长村镇) bus station, we had 10 people, but when we got to the hotel, we only had 9… Sorry Theresa!!!!! Nevermind, she was soon picked up and we settled into a rooms and a nice warm lunch.
The Hangzhou public transport Hashers were the first arrivals except for the Hares who’d driven in the night before. We didn’t see them though as they were out busily setting the trail.
Also participating from the Hangzhou Hash were, Phonebox, Gasbag, and Just “Cathy” who came with the Shanghai Hashers. And, HEIDE, Frogger and Just “Joe” drove up in a car just for Saturday’s Hash and Bash (and they missed the start of the Saturday Hash by about 20 minutes…).
The Hares got back from setting the trail with about 30 minutes to spare… their rushing to finish the trail would cost them A LOT of Down Downs!!! 😉
It was a great trail through endless bamboo forests and along forest roads. There was some good bamboo forest shiggy. There was a great beer check on top of the main hill. Also there was a Chinese company doing a team building exercise of rappelling down a 60m drop off from a giant aqueduct.
Unfortunately, either the Hares stuffed up badly, or the front running bastards (FRBs) can’t read basic trail marks… I think the Hares stuffed up by not cancelling a deadend trail well enough. SO, most of the running pack went 2 or 3kms in the wrong direction… got stuck at a creek edge on the side of a very steep hill and then had to go all the back to the beer check and just head Home.
Some Hashers were out well after dark and some cars came to the rescue to ferry some of us back for the Circle. Happily, no-one was lost too badly… In the end, we had to eat dinner first and then the Circle was belatedly held. It was a very good Circle! 🙂 However, once again Shanghai bested us in a boat race. At least we beat Suzhou this time!
After the Circle, the shenanigans and drinkening continued well into the night around a little camp fire. Reports of wood borrowing and chair burnings were given the next day… Obama generously shared around a bottle of “Fireball Whisky”, which isn’t actually a whisky, by the way… but, very tasty nonetheless. 🙂
The next day, for the Hangover Hash, the Hares hadn’t really planned a trail and the group (minus a few Hashers who decided to sleep in…) got on the Shanghai Hashers’ bus and headed to a new spot up the road. From the some of the Shanghai Hashers (you can guess who…) grabbed the flour and chalk and proceeded to make a quick Hash trail.
Following the Hash, the bus returned and a great Circle was held outdoors. There were 2 Hash namings held in the quite chilly weather.
Following the Circle, everyone packed up and headed home… The 10 Hangzhou Hashers + Gasbag decided we would walk the 5kms back to the ZhangCun Village bus station. Along the way we discovered how cheap takeaway food shop bamboo chopsticks are made.
Shanghai has volunteered to organise the next Hashing weekend trip at an unspecified future date.
Eventually, Hangzhou might have to take a turn. Ideas? Lin’An is close but has some great location…?
Anyway, it was a really picturesque area around AnJi… I’ll let the photos do the talking.
See some of the action in the photos below.
To see MANY more (92 photos!!!) of the photos from The Suzhou & Shanghai & Hangzhou Hash weekend in AnJi, go to: https://plus.google.com/
Thanks to all those Hashers from whom I “borrowed” photos… 🙂
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