Hashing in a sand storm – Friday 23 March 2007

So the weather has been a bit hit and miss lately. We had some really hot days then last weekend was a bit cold. This week we had a couple of 30 degree days and today the khamsin came in. The khamsin is a dry hot wind that blows across the western desert at up to 150km/hr. The air becomes filled with sand and you can’t see more than 3m in front of you.

Fortunately we didn’t have 150km winds but it was near on gale force at some points.

It was into this joyful weather that Chris and I set out to hare. We’d foolishly signed up a few weeks ago to hare the Hash trail this week. I was haring with Dan (American embassy guy) and Chris was haring the run trail with Damien (Aussie oil guy).

We met in Ma’adi at 11am. It took us 30 minutes to drive out to the RV site at Wadi Hof. Damien was following in his 4wd and Chris and I went with Dan. Damien couldn’t stay for the hash because he had to play rugby in the afternoon but said he’d help set the trail.

We decided on a RV site and set off to lay the trail. It was windy and there was sand all through the air. We couldn’t see more than 5-10m in front of us at times. Even with this crappy weather setting the trail was loads better than last time – I had someone with me who’d laid heaps of trails and when we were deciding where to lay the trail it was joint decisions. Well kinda joint, I didn’t actually know where any good spots might be so Dan would say how about over here? Or over there? And I’d choose between them :) but it was a combined effort.

The trail was pretty basic to start with, then we started climbing this massive ridge. It would have been a sensational view, expect that we couldn’t see anything for the sand! Also it was even more windy on the top of the ridge than anywhere else (obviously). Windy enough to blow me around as I was walking. At one point I had squatted down to re-tie my shoelace and Dan’s got hold of me by my backpack to stop me blowing off the hill. We were even joking that we’d have to warn Mary and Peit that if they had the girls with them they’d want to keep a firm hold of their hands or they’d blow off the ridge!

You are suppose to ‘scout’ the trail one or two times before going to lay it so you know where you’re going to go when you set the trail, but living in Mohandiseen (and with all the work we’ve had on) Chris and I couldn’t get there during daylight hours to scope it out. I now know why scouting is so important. I think Dan and I walked an extra 3kms while we were setting the trail so we could make sure we could get up or down certain bits before we put down the lentils.

I put most of the lentils into large water bottles coz I’d seen another hare do it before, it made it easier to pour them out and the bottles were easy to fill so I’d do that again. I was fairly generous with the lentils coz we were worried that they would blow away.

Dan and I got down downs because you could see the cars from the second check point. Dan thought the rule was just not from the first, but some of the ‘old school’ folk were adamant that it was from all check points.

I was surprised by how many people schlepped all the way out to Wadi Hof in the sand storm. It was impressive to see the number of dedicated hashers. We did set fairly short trails though (walk was about 4km) because we thought people would moan about the weather.

To start with on the actual hash, Dan was going at the front and I was doing the herding but then at our false trail I ended up at the front and he ended up herding. We got stuck in this position for the rest of the way because people didn’t wait at the third check. We got to the third and final check and after about 3 minutes the front people just started walking off… I said to a few people ‘aren’t we suppose to wait for everyone… at least until we can see the other hare?’ It really pissed me off because if we’d done that to them they’d have been hollering and carrying on. They seem to think its one rule for them and one rule for the rest of us. Admittedly after nearly 10 minutes had passed and we still couldn’t’ even see Dan I said to Cathy that I’d just run back and see if anything had happened. There were about 12 people and they were SOOOOOOOO slow. Dan was getting frustrated because they were really plodding along – at one point there were two of them trying to get reception on their mobile in the bottom of a valley – morons!! I told Dan half the people had just gone on and he said he expected that, so I ran back to the nice ones who had waited and said nothing was wrong so just go on. I was worried that someone had hurt themselves and there was only Dan there to try and get them back – that’s the whole point of the figgin checks to make sure everyone is ok and accounted for.

I get so crabby with people bitching about the trail – I didn’t see them out there laying it in the sand storm. Some of them I know definitely do their share of trails, but most of the moaners never lay a trail.

Anyways, we made it back and the wind had dropped a bit so people hung around for the circle. Both Tom (official RA) and John (frequent fill in RA) weren’t there and neither was Wesley so I really wasn’t sure who was going to run the circle… I said to Mary Fran who will run the circle with no Tom, no John and no Wesley? She said her and Cathy would sort something out and then we saw Kim (he used to be RA and GM I think) so Mary Fran asked him to help out. Thankfully he said yes :)

So the circle starts and firstly its hares into the middle. There wasn’t too much whinging about the walk but there was loads about the run. When the boys had laid the trail they’d accidentally come down in the middle right near where they began – so the comment was made that ‘I’m sure it looked great from a plane but a figure 8 trail isn’t recommended!’ Chris laughed it off (Damien had gone already) but then Aler starts singing S-H-I-T-Y-T-R-A-I-L Shitting Trail, Shitting Trail… I can’t remember the rest of the song but it was pretty funny. They were all laughing as they sang it so it wasn’t nasty.

The on-on was at the Rugby Club but only a dozen or so people turned up. We were talking about it saying that when people got home, showered and looked out side to see that not only was it still blowing dust around, now it was raining too they’d have all gone – can’t be bothered!!

My eyes were SOOOOO sore after the Hash, just from being out in the sand for 4 or 5 hours – I was wishing I could take them out and run them under the tap!!

Dan offered to take us back to his place so we could shower but Chris had already arranged with Leeann that her flatmate Heather would leave a key for us so we could go in to shower at her place (Leeann was in Dubai). Dan dropped us off at Leeann’s but when w got to her door there was no key under the mat. I was so pissed, I had a filthy headache and kept saying to Chris – we should have just gone to Dan’s, would have been so much easier. We knocked for a bit and got no answer, so we started going through our phones trying to see who else we knew in Ma’adi who might be able to offer us a shower. I didn’t have my key to Wesley’s with me and everyone’s number that we did have wasn’t in town this weekend. We’d just given up and decided to try and walk to Mary Fran’s in the hope that I could find my way there and that she’d still be home to let us in. I knew she wouldn’t mind us cleaning up there, but it was just a matter of finding the place.

We got about 20m down the road from Leeann’s when Heather rang – she’d been asleep and hadn’t heard us knocking so we went back there and cleaned up. I’m such a moron – I’d packed my bag in a rush this morning making sure I had my hare shirt, the lentil, water, a snack etc and just thrown what I thought was my blue long sleaved top into my bag. Unfortunately it was my blue gym top – completely inappropriate for the Rugby club! So I had to put on the tank top I’d worn setting the trail (after first rinsing the marks out of the bottom of it).

I wouldn’t normally wear a tank top to the Rugby club – in fact I normally only wear them in the desert. I figured I’d probably be ok though coz last time we were at the Rugby club there were some girls in much skankier clothes than my tank top! In fact, last time there were loads of mutton dressed up as lamb :)

Luckily there were only about a dozen hashers (very small on on turn out) and only about 4 other people in the bar so I was ok. We ordered some dinner – thankfully Dan had brought me some tylanol. When he dropped us off I asked if he could bring me some panadol, then I tried paracetamol, then I said ‘headache pill’ and he and Chris were throwing out random drug names that I’d not heard of then he said Tylanol and I’ve gone ok, any headache pill  So when we got to Rugby Club he gave me a little piece of folded paper with two tylanol in it – I downed them both in seconds along with another bottle of water. I was so incredible dehydrated. I knew it would be hot setting and doing the trail but I hadn’t factored in how dehydrating the sandy wind would be.

We ate dinner at the rugby club, it was nice food. I got fish and chips and nearly everyone else got chicken curry. We only stayed till about 9:30pm and by then we were shattered so we packed it in. I’m glad I hared again, means if I do it anywhere else I wont be so useless at it :) but it was a horrible weather to spend the extra 3 hours in the desert!