When you have been with a Hash Kennel for a while you are probably going to hear some talk about outstations and when I first started I had no idea what this was. I have now been on a few of them since last year and even though our numbers are dramatically lower and we have had to make a few adjustments to accommodate the lower attendance they are still great fun.
Basically an "outstation" is where all the Hashers are invited to go on a mini vacation in an area that isn't in our own city
And it is a ton of fun and a great way to experience places that you otherwise might not be able to see on your own.
I say that you might not be able to see these places but the real reason is that you probably wouldn't want to if just you and one other person was going because while the areas are lovely, the locations that we choose tend to be in the middle of nowhere and this is intentional. We do this so that someone can go there ahead of time and prepare new trails that none of us would be familiar with and this makes it even more fun because it is brand new territory for everyone involved.
This time we decided to go to a small hotel operation that is just outside of Pai in the north of Thailand. While this place is quite popular with backpackers it is actually quite difficult to access since the only road is a long winding moutain pass that takes you over to a valley on the other side where you are surrounded by mountains.
Other than a few rivers here and there most of Pai is farms or untouched jungle and this is just perfect for Hash runs.
We had about 20 people come along with us this time and we just drove our own vehicles. Not every member of our Hash Kennel has a car so those of us that don't have a car (like me, for example) just pitch in on gas. We do have to prepare extensively ahead since these locations that we go to, like I said before, tend to be quite far from civilization and this is done totally on purpose.
We stock up on snacks and of course beer before we ever leave Chiang Mai. The places we stay are generally VERY happy to have us there and this is even moreso right now since tourism is waaaaay down due to Covid. Recently, there was a scare of a new outbreak up here in the north and that basically killed what little domestic tourism that barely existed. We tend to choose family-run small places and they are normally just ecstatic that they have a chance to make a little bit of money from our presence.
I personally love these events because we go there with a rather large group of people and we are all great friends and have a fantastic time together while we are there. This time we brought around 20 people with us and it strengthens the already tight bonds that we have with one another. Outstations tend to not be open to the general public and are reserved for only existing members of the Chiang Mai Hash. Not that any of that would matter anyway because there are not travelers at the moment.
If you are in a Hash or considering joining one, this is just one more reason to get involved because honestly, there is nothing really quite like it.
