Hashing by the Mekong

My first hash, a week ago, was loads of fun. Partially because it was the first hash I had been on, but the scenery was also quite nice. Well, the run from this past Monday had last week's hash beat hands down in the scenery department. After spending some time running next to one of the busier roads here in town, we cut through some backyards onto a very narrow wooden bridge that crossed a large, dried out pasture. The bridge was about 15 feet above the ground, which looked out onto the Mekong and appeared to flood when the river got high.

After we crossed the bridge we ran through some more backyards towards the banks of the river. We arrived at the banks of the Mekong, running towards the west, just as the sun was setting. Although it is tough to beat a sunset at the beach, the sunsets over the Mekong are quite spectacular. We continued the run along the muddy banks of the river as the sun set in front of us. After picking up some sand in my shoes and mud on my legs, we traversed a few more back roads and a wat before we returned back to the starting point. It was a great run, and the cold BeerLao was a good reward.

If you are in a city with Hashers, I highly recommend joining them for at least one run. You'll meet some very interesting people and see parts of the city, whatever city you might be in, that you would never stumble across on your own. The exercise is not intense, and the reward is well worth any aches and pains you might encounter.