Thursday 29th October

A very early morning flight from Bangkok to Yongon and the PJH3 away team visit to the 11 th Indo Mekong was underway.

Our hotel had agreed to collect us from the airport on arrival and (joy) we mounted our ancient Chinese build mini bus circa 1950 and lurched towards Yangon city with the non existent air con pushing engine fumes and even hotter air into the van. Rambo WW2 not happy as he scans the horizon for a non existent McDonalds .

We arrive and find our hotel over booked – they seem to operate along the Thai system! After declining the hotels generous offer of hot bedding a number of the Team find another near by hotel and the problem is solved.

Lunch – Indian Vege curry with chapattis. Mad Cow and Kuta Rooter is not impressed with the cuisine and later claim food poisoning when in fact it was imbibing too much beer which gave them the symptoms. And then on to the Traders Hotel for registration and collection of goodie bag.

Strange but for some reason all the shirts seem to have been washed in diesel oil prior to bagging and as we all sit in the hotel lobby consuming a nice cold beer the staff become concerned we could be a terrorist threat with hidden incendiary devices on our persons.

The first impressions of Yangon have to be the stunning Pagoda's, the old colonial buildings and the friendly natives.

Friday 30 th October.

Late breakfast and the team split up to do some more sight seeing around the city. Some opt for a train ride; some go to the zoo but the majority repair to a bar for a few cold ones.

Friday evening and the opening dinner held around the pool at the Traders. Very good food, beer and wine on free flow and all the assembled hashers are like pigs in shit. In fact the evening could not be faulted.

Saturday 31 st October.

Let the serious hashing begin. And the shuttle busses depart central Yangon to the Inya Lake Hotel where we are marshaled onto buses for one the three trails offered today.

G.I. Joe and Lord Lucan (both suffering from Peter Pan syndrome) opt for the long trail and depart into the Myanmar Jungles for a run of about 24 km on a day without a cloud in the sky and temperatures in the mid 40 deg range. A combination of heat and lack of daylight resulted in the run being shortened by a few km's.

The remainder sensible members of the Team opt for the more conservative trails and we all then reconvened on a village football pitch where a circle is held. The directional microphone seemed to have a mind of its own and so following the proceeding was difficult. However, Mad Cow and B.B. are called upon to strut the boards and entertain the masses.

We are then transported back to The Inya Lake Hotel and more food wines and beers await us.

Entertainment is provided by some of the Myanmar ethnic tribes where the female dancers try to hide there faces behind a pair of Y fronts.

Best of all was a live big screen international rugby match between Australia and New Zealand .

Shame Australia came second.

Sunday 1 st November

Two trails today, medium and short.

Extra Testicular (ET) is one of the hares on the medium trail and so in a moment of madness I make my tried legs climb the steps onto this bus.

Auspiciously we have some cloud cover today, inauspiciously the run start adjacent to a large war grave cemetery. Fresh openings are available here!

An extremely enjoyable run of about 90 minutes complete with a reviving shower of rain midway took the pain out of my aching muscles.

Good circle held in a barn where some of the Away Team again entertained the masses – perhaps the Jungle is becoming a singing hash?

Monday 2 nd Nov

A free day for sightseeing and then the Full Moon Hash tonight.

Some of us apply for a government permit to use the ferry and cross the Yangon River and spend several hours racing rickshaws along some very potholed roads.

Apparently pneumatic tires have not been discovered in Myanmar yet and so all the hashers on this adventure had sore behinds! – Particularly Satan's Willy and Bam Bam with their rotund forms.

The Lunar Hash (or how Queen Stella and Yao Yao were stoned by a monk) began in the grounds of another awe-inspiring pagoda and ran us around the back streets of Yangon for over an hour before finishing in the grounds of a Chinese restaurant where a circle was formed prior to repairing into the restaurant for another sumptuous meal.

A great weekend of hashing was had by all and a big vote of thanks must be extended to the Yangon Hash for all their hard work. The 12 th Indo Mekong is due to be held in Phnon Phen in 2010 – hope to see you all there.

ONON