Away Hash – Baharayia Oasis – Friday 6 April to Sunday 8 April 2007

Day 1
Wesley has been working flat out to organise this away hash for the last few wees. Actually he and Martina have done lots of work. Martina couldn’t come to Baharayia (coz she’s going to Vietnam).

First things first Wesley had to go make sure the bus people got on the road. One person didn’t show – so the bus left without them. We did try to ring about 6 times… I realised later (reading the very fine print on Martina’s spreadsheet) that the person who missed the bus was never going up in the bus so they waited for nothing.

Next we tried to pack the car – we rented a 4x4 (the old land rover was deemed not up to the challenge). We had 6 eskys full of ice – coz you can’t get ice in Baharayia, 3 full of beer, 2 full of soft drink and one for Bogey’s dinner and some of our snacks. We also had a bunch of chairs and other random items required for the events – all we had for ourselves was a backpack each.

We crammed everything in and went and got Mary Fran – so of course then we had to try and fit more stuff in. We were very lucky that Toby (English engineer) and Roberta (Italian embassy worker) had asked if they could convoy with us so we met them at Mina House. On the way to Mina House we had Bogey resting two paws on the console between the chairs, me nursing a bunch of bags and Mary Fran up to her knees in more crap.

We got to Mina House and redistributed the stuff. We were also fortunate that neither Toby nor Roberta had anyone else in their cars so Mary Fran rode with Toby.

It’s about 380km to the oasis from Maadi. We stopped briefly twice on the way – the first time we had a picnic lunch and the second time so we could pee behind some rocks.

About 5 minutes after we’d stopped for lunch Bogey started making a funny noise then she spewed all over the back seat. It was SOOO gross. We think it was either the bit of tuna sandwich she ate or some random bit of filth she chewed on in the desert. We stopped on the side of the road – a bit worried that we’d get stuck – and of course Toby and Roberta stopped behind us. I said to Wesley we’re going to have to clean it up so I’ve given him a plastic bag and we used nearly a whole box of tissues. He was bitching and moaning about how much it stunk… I was just laughing and handing him more tissues. Then he said to me ‘You’re the one who wants babies – you should be cleaning this up’. I just kept laughing at him and handing him tissues.

We’d been at the second stop for just a few minutes when 4 other car loads pulled into the rest area. It was most of the good crew actually – all the people we were looking forward to hanging out with.

We got to the Hotel about 4pm. Just time to get the cars unloaded and have a quick beer. At 8pm we headed around to the other hotel for dinner and a ‘show’. By show I mean some crazy Arab dancing where some guy tied a scarf around his hips and wiggled his bum. It was kinda like belly dancing, but it was a bloke in a galabayia (the dress things they all wear) instead of a girl in sequins.

The food was nice and then we went out to a bonfire. It didn’t take long and most people were drifting off. There were about 11 people staying at this hotel and 30 of us at the other hotel. So once the 8 of the 11 had drifted off we made the executive decision that we should go back to our hotel. We sat around near the pool for a bit drinking a few more beers then packed it in. It was a nice night.

Day 2
Today we had our desert excursion. This was getting a bit challenging because we needed 4x4 for the desert trip and it took some friggin around to make sure everyone was in a car. We could have done it without having to hire any 4x4s but it meant one group would have to split up so we gave them the choice – you 4 can ride in separate cars, or pay to hire a 4x4. These guys were seriously not short on cash so they opted to hire a 4x4.

We set out in our convoy – fourteen 4x4 plus the guide car and the garbage car – the role of the garbage car is to come along at the end and sweep up any stragglers. It was a long day, but really good. The weather was a bit intermittent - clear and then sand stormy – but pretty good on the most part. There was really only one point when we were outside the car and it was sand stormy and that was the first stop – at The First Lady in the black desert.

On the way to the first stop we had to drive over a sand dune – all the cars in the convoy had numbers so we were driving in order. Roberta was first after the guide car and she had never four-wheel driven before so was a little nervous.

The guide got to the top of the dune and stopped so he could check on everyone else. Unfortunately Roberta did exactly what I’d have done and stopped behind the guide. She sank almost up to her axels! By the time everyone else got up we’d seen the mistakes of those around us and most people got over the dune in one piece. We stopped on the top of the dune until we saw Estelle’s car sink so we quickly drove off the dune. Thomas and Jim both got a bit stuck too but most people made it ok. You have to drive fast up the hill so you don’t sink – I’d have been a bit nervous I think.

We drove to another area of the black desert then to a place called Crystal Mountain. It had quartz – both white and rose and some the colour of champagne. – plus loads of other fancy stones that I’m sure the 5 million geophysicists that go to the hash could have identified for me had I bothered to ask them.

We climbed all over the rocks checking out all the fancy colours etc. As we were leaving Wesley commented that if every tourist took as much as half of the hashers took with them there would be no crystal mountain left soon… I then admitted to nicking 3 little bits of white quartz that I found near the car – I’m going to make necklace and earring from them. But my excuse is that they were just being driven over anyway so it wasn’t too damaging to the environment… unlike Mick who apparently took a hunk of quartz half the size of a footy!

After Crystal Mountain we were still a bit too early for lunch so we went to a cold spring. It was basically a concrete box that they diverted the natural spring water into. Lots of people took their shoes off and hung their legs into the water – it was bliss in the heat. A few people even went swimming. One of the Kuwait guys started messing around with the spring making it fountain out everywhere and then Simon did it too, only Simon made it go for miles... well at least 2 meters. It looked awesome. Small downside was the guy who’d started doing it had left his wallet, mobile, passport, shoes – everything right on the edge of the pool and their fooling around had soaked all his stuff.

After this we went to a café type thing to eat our boxed lunches. I’m not sure what the café got out of us, as we all had pre-prepared lunches to eat… but then I guess a few of us gave our fruit etc to the local kids milling around – probably the most fruit some of them have had in months.

By lunch time we were all a little over it – it felt like we’d been in the car for hours (I guess we had by then) but we still hadn’t gotton to the white desert yet. So the convoy sets out for the white desert. We were driving along asphalt – proper sealed highway – but you have to be careful because the winds blow sand over the road making it a bit treacherous. So we’re the 5th car of 14 and we’re driving along the highway and there is a big patch of sand. Estelle was in front of us and she went through the middle and was ok, but we went through a bit further to the right got stuck – ON THE HIGHWAY – because we were only 5th we then had to sit there while 9 carloads sailed by us waving :)

The Garbage car came up last and tried to rock the car out of the sand. That’s a neat trick by the way if you are ever bogged in sand (not sure what else it would work in). They rocked the car from side to side and it causes the sand to fall under the wheels a bit slowly lifting the car out of the sand.

The first time they rocked it we were all still in it and then Wesley tried to drive out and we didn’t move – so the next time we got out, they rocked it again and this time when he tried to drive it out we all pushed as well. Thank god for the garbage truck :)

After this little adventure we got to the white desert. We saw the Old White Desert and the New White Desert. It was really pretty – erosion has made the white sand and rock wear away so they look like mushroom – tiny stems with massive piles of rock suspended by a wish and a pray alone in some cases. The stems were of varying widths but some were teeny tiny considering the size of the rock suspended over it.

We were all getting a bit weary by then. We didn’t get back to the Hotel until almost 7pm (after leaving at 9am) so it was along day. We were talking about it later saying if we did it again we wouldn’t go into the black desert. You see it the next day during the guided Hash walk and that way you’d drive out to the white desert, the cold spring and crystal mountain – eat lunch and come back to the hotel for some ‘relax by the pool’ time.

Tonight everyone was coming to our hotel for dinner and a bonfire. Dinner was ok – our hotel didn’t really cope catering for 50+ people :) Next time we’d bring our own food and bbq it – perfect location for a bbq.

It was the best night of the whole weekend. We ate dinner then quickly retired to the bonfire. We all sat around the bonfire in a big circle and Brian and one of Mona’s friends kept taking turns singing songs and playing the guitar. Everyone sang along and curled up around the fire.

Some people got a bit shattered, but for the most part people just had a few beers and relaxed. Mary Fran was completely toasted – she was being escorted back to her room by one of the sleazier hashers and everyone was teasing the shit out of them… mainly coz twice he tried to lead her to her room and both times got lost and had to come back – as a consequence he got bagged twice as much. After the second failed attempt he brought her back to the fire, sat her down and left her there! Wael was a bit cleverer – he did a reccy first – he ask her what her room number was and then went and found it so he could successfully take her to her room and be back in 2 minutes.

We found out the next day from Jan that at 2am (on their way to the hot springs) they noticed that her door was wide open. She was passed out and it took Jan ages to get her sorted and locked back in her room. Firstly she had to make sure she was decently covered, then go get a security guy to come show how to lock the door, then stood there while Mary Fran tried 5 times to get the door to lock – admittedly it was a dodgy lock, but it didn’t help that she was shattered. It’s nice to know that the hasher take care of one and other (but Mary Fran did comment that Jan’s kind deed locked out her last chance of getting laid!).

We stayed around the fire until about midnight and then retied to our room – we got a bit spoiled because Wesley had organised the whole trip. We got a suite in the tallest tower – great views, large room – really lovely.

Day 3
Today was the official Hash – it was a guided walk up to a place called English House which was where the English soldiers used to keep watch of the areas around the oasis during the war.

We were suppose to eat our lunch at English house but the hotel couldn’t find a donkey to bring the cart up so had to go back to a 4x4. The 4x4 couldn’t get all the way to English House so we ate lunch and did the circle part way down the mountain.

The circle was pretty quick, but lovely. Wesley and I got thanked for all our efforts and we got a German guy to come and stand in for Martina.

We got back to the hotel about 1pm went for a quick swim and then headed back to Maadi.

It was a lovely weekend. Relaxing, great people and all round a wonderful time. I’m so glad I’ve seen an oasis :)