Received From Towed 18/2/07!

Part 1 - The Introduction

Run 1413 was an extremely memorable run, possibly the last run to be Hared on HHHH by Towed and Towed Under. So memorable, indeed, that some 14 months to the day after the event, it is still crystal clear in my memory. Continuing his obsession with abandoned brick kilns as On-In sites Towed had found a suitable one slightly short of Bagmati beach. The pack should have appreciated the relatively odour-free location.

I seem to recall the GM calling things to order some 10 minutes or so after the appointed hour, and the Hares into the middle to explain the run. As usual there was a run and a walk - Towed Under would conduct the walkers and the runners would be at the tender mercies of Towed. Fourteen checks were announced (don't you just long for those days) and there would be false trails, holding checks and river crossings, the walkers may meet up with the runners or not, as the case may be. First paper for the runners was off towards the beautiful Bagmati!

Part 2 - The Run

A brief meander down a narrow trail led to a back check that caused suitable confusion amongst the assembled pack. Kruel (always assuming that he had joined the hash by then) ran here, there and everywhere; Keeled moaned on that he couldn't find paper, and eventually the correct trail heading towards the suspension bridge was discovered by The Mad Mullah. Holding Check two was at the back of the school overlooking the bridge, where runners and walkers met up with perfect timing. A false trail across the bridge fooled many, and it was some considerable time before all realised that the sneaky GM had found paper heading off towards the first of the infamous three gorges (see Run 1317), and scuttled off without calling. Check Three came and went, with the gorge beckoning!
For those who knew Towed, it was guaranteed that the trail would head mercilessly up the gorge, the only question being how far up? Well actually, not as far as Check Four, in fact, which was another back check with the trail sneaking out of the gorge through a narrow crevice and heading up towards Champi. Once again The Mad Mullah's trick of walking along with the Hare paid dividends and he found himself leading the pack once more. A long and arduous climb followed, with a couple of back checks along the way to haul back the fit FRBs like BigJim (as Over-Exposure was known in these times) and The Mad Mullah. On-On up it went until at last the zenith of the Champi road was gained, and welcome relief at Holding Check 6 (main photo). Shrivelled had, by this time, recovered ground lost whilst he had "gone for the gorge", as it is known in elite HHHH circles, and almost ended up at Champi, but was now back with the pack.

The pack was invited by the Hare to "check it out" and lo, bugger me, if the trail didn't head even further east and down towards the Nakhu Khola. Another check on the way down before a real tempter at Check Eight, with paper visible on the far side of the river. Had Grumblewald been there he would have undoubtedly headed for Chapagaon and then home. However, he wasn't, and only a couple of the more gullible members of the pack (Lost Soles and someone else) deigned to get their feet wet. So, the only alternative was back up towards the Champi road, on the assumption that it wasn't an A to B, and a long run along the khulo and through the villages, emerging at the second Bungamati Tree.

From here it was a relatively straightforward return to the On-In, heading down familiar trails onto the road to the beach, and then off down a side valley towards the river, looping around eventually to the On-In. A pleasant little sojourn taking not much more than a couple of hours.

In the meantime the walkers, admirably shepherded by Towed Under, had wandered gently up the hill, around below the second Bungamati Tree and back down to the On-In.

Part 3 - The Circle

The circle was memorable, or as memorable as circles can be when a few down downs have been partaken of (not to mention a 14 month gap between the doing and the writing!).

The Hares were duly called into the circle amidst loud accolades of thanks and congratulations for yet another phenomenal Towed and Towed Under Run (now I am absolutley sure; he IS making it all up - GM). This euphoria, not to mention wishful thinking, was soon disrupted by the Master asking for comments on the run. However, comments ranged from Fenomenal to Phantastic, and other words beginning in "f", with an Unbelievable from The Uncouple (and associated with a couple of expletives). 9.9 must have been awarded from a pack who were just grateful that this was possibly the last time they would need to suffer a Towed Trail.

Virgins Prathan, Ayish, Subhrant and Shoba were called in to explain themselves. None of them had any good reason for being there, and after being made to realise this by the GM, they returned to their places in the circle and disappeared never to be seen again. None of us have any good reason to be on the hash, like climbing Everest, we just do it because it is there (true only in Shrivelled's case). This lack of justification is why I haven't been to HHHH for almost a year now.

Returnees YaegerMeister, Yoshi and Taka were welcomed back. Given the GM's xenophobic mentality it is almost certain that, with two Japanese in the circle, he did not miss the opportunity to make them do two down downs to demonstrate the much admired Japanese beer drinking talents epitomised by Moosette.

There must have been a call for crashers, since the GM would never have nominated himself for such an honour, so he was joined in the middle by Peter and the Mad Mullah to celebrate their combined ability to fall over. Lost Soles was hauled in again as a leaver - just how many times has this guy left the hash? More significantly, why the hell does he keep coming back?

A few other less significant down downs were then awarded by the GM to:

There then followed long and detailed discussion on the award of the Hashit which I will not relate in full. Suffice to say the suggestions of Towed, the Mad Mullah fell on stony ground. Keeled Over rarely gets this award, largely, I believe, because the circle knows that he only ever pays for softees and is reluctant to sponsor his drinking. So it was that with great reluctance that the GM accepted this prestigious accolade. Why, I hear you ask? Well, firstly because he's the GM and accepts corporate social responsibility for the hash; second because he allows Towed to hare runs and third, because there were no other suitable nominations!

Just before he called for social drinking, the GM considerately took the burden of scribing his last Hare Run from Towed and appointed that literary giant, Keeled Over as scribe. However, since that day, Keeled has been trying to weasel his way out of that task and, in the end, mounted a whispering campaign against Towed claiming, in his absence, that it was Towed who was appointed as Scribe. The GM, nice fellow that he is (I told you he's making it all up - GM) , has been swayed by this evil campaign and, finally convinced by krafty Keeled, has even been publicly berating harmless innocents in his misguided zeal to see his beloved webshite complete.

The lasting memory of this hash, however, has to be as we were leaving the On-In and encountered the local drunk (no, not the GM for once) who decided to drape himself across the bonnet of my car, demanding drink. He managed to persuade a local sprog to pass him a brick with which to threaten untold damage to my beautiful Prado. Sadly, however, the brick was required for balance and, had he tried to let go, he would have indubitably fallen flat on his arse. The ensuing stagger took him safely out of the way and we revved on up the road to Bungamati in the dusty wake of the Master's chariot.

Thanks to Mrs Rotter and Towed Under for the snacks.

On On, Towed (and I didn't make it all up - the run account and references to your spiffing character and personality are all true)

Jakarta, 17 February, 2007