Hares

And still only 50 . . .

All gone away

Virgins Dawes's and Tim

Branney, somebody and somebody who prefers anonymity

It was a choice between the shot of the boils and this rather more disgusting one.

Hash 1269 started from the same primary school as 1190. This one was a little less eventful than that notoriously mismanaged event (dare I say it probably due to the absence of the GM who was laid up with a virus). But all the same it provided 62 proud hashemites with the chance to hone their uphill running skills.

It started off with a steepish climb, i.e. nearly vertical, up through a pine forest heading towards the hilltop gomba. This proved quite hazardous with the carpet of dry pine needles meaning that we had to take two steps up to make one step's progress. The first holding check at the top saw most participants scurrying off to the left; except for Tadpole and company who headed right and weren't seen again for a while.

The run now largely followed the route of Hash 1256 (January 2003), but the other way round, as it skirted the foot of the gomba and then dove down towards the Juge khola. Slow Drip was heard mumbling and grumbling about steep trails. The paper now meandered around the khet for a while before it led into holding check 4 inside Ichangu Narayan temple.

The arrival of 30 or so sweating hashers coincided with the climax of a quiz competition. The assembled throng hardly paid any attention to the hashers as they were absorbed in finding the answers to questions such as: 'Where is the joining point of the Bishnumati and Bagmati?' and 'Name the four main Narayan temples in the Kathmandu Valley'. Answers are at the bottom printed upside down (Rotter: does Bill Gates allow us to do this!?). (No - GM)

The hash then further explored a number of steep hillsides with at least two long and exceedingly steep false trails. The pack was in a generally good humour and so did not exact any physical retribution on the sadistic hares.

The final holding check was in the Shiva temple prior to a short run-in back to the chariots and the beer. Frontrunners Grumble and Really Useful came in 10 minutes after the main pack after taking a few scenic detours around the vicinity.

Keeled Over volunteered Towed to stand in for the sick GM. He promptly awarded a 9.9 to the hares for setting a generally well-received hash. Run Crafty had been posted as a hare and mysteriously, even at the start, was not sure whether or not he was a hare! Anyway he craftily got out of haring and then sneaked off in his squeaky clean banker's white saloon before the circle got going.

Down-downs were then awarded to Doma for her fiftieth run, to Lill for her seventieth birthday, and to Screwed and Towed Under for falling over. This was followed by down-downs for Hayden and Jedi for being 'not leaving leavers' as they had had a leaving do the previous Saturday but had not left. Meanwhile Jedi christened Hayden with the hash name Spot because she had recently been moxibustioned. We were all especially sad to see No Balls leaving who is accompanying his master to the USA where I assume they don't have as strict quarantine laws as the UK.

Anyway, Haydn got quite a few down-downs for various things. She got a further down-down for again leaving. Also leaving were Hill and Billary, who will be sadly missed.

The exodus of American females from the hash is giving cause for concern. Recent months have seen Zeppelin, Courtenay, Emily, and now the other Courtenay, Hayden, Hillary and Bill (who is not a women) leaving. And the most authentic American women of all -- Jedi -- is threatening to leave us soon. Why are they all abandoning the Hash? Have they been called up as George W Bush's new secret weapon against the Axis of Evil? We will sadly miss the frantic private partying and the obscure American jargon that talks about "being a home boy", "handing out pink slips" and "kicking arse". Please could the American gal leavers find some equally charming replacements.

After a great deal of cogitation the Hashit went to Keeled Over for having pustulent boils on his legs.

That's it!

Quiz answers:
1. Kalimati
2. Ichangu Narayan, Changu Narayan, Narayathan, and near Pharping