The Bunny Hash is the all-women chapter of the Hash House Harriers here in Chiang Mai. They operate completely on their own and it is up to them whether or not they want to allow me to attend. I'm not sure how the tradition got started initially but it was probably in response to the fact that HHH was originally a men-only club and we, in Chiang Mai, still have this chapter and it takes place on Mondays where we have a strict no women rule. We have even told our bus driver that his wife cannot come along on the ride either. Nobody is anti-woman, it is just tradition.
The ladies tend to have much better organized events than the men do anyway so it's not like they are missing out on much.
As is often the case on our events, they have to start near some sort of road and if you ever see non paved roads in the start pictures that normally means that the people in the run are in for some wonderful nature since the further you get from civilization and over-population, the less likely the roads are to be paved. That was the case out at this meetup.
Unpaved but leveled roads gradually give way to two-track tire roads that are mostly used by motorbikes and after that the real nature kicks in.
Chiang Mai does a pretty good job of having enough real nature around but the reality of the area is that most of the countryside is dedicated to farming and that was the case here with the various palm, rubber, and fruit trees. This is fine, we all need these products and because of the cultivation the area on the ground is much more easy to traverse. In the REAL jungle areas the ground can be really tricky or even untravelable which as it turns out, is not a word. What I am trying to say is that the real jungle can be really tough to get through, just like you see in the movies when people are hacking at plants with machetes.
I really appreciate the fact that the Bunny Hash pulls off new and unique things because this area that they are in is a place where the men's Hash and the mixed Hash has never been to before and what makes it even more special is that this is an A-B run meaning that it doesn't end at the same place that it started.
This takes additional planning on the part of the Hares because this means they need to have supplies at both ends and they also have to move the transport by some other means while the runners on trail. Other things such as safety are also more complicated so a briefing is given to participants about the importance of always maintaining view of other runners. Since nobody participating in the run actually knows where the end point is, it is easy to understand how this could quickly become dangerous without preparation.
This is far enough away from civilization that if someone really did get lost it wouldn't be the end of the world, but it might just be a while before they ever came across another human that could help them get out.
This is the tradeoff that we make by going out this far. We WANT to be away from other people and this is the only way that it can happen.
Well done ladies on yet another Bunny Hash done perfectly. Now let's look forward to the two mixed Hash events we have on the 10th and 12th of July!
ON ON!
