Bali Hai

It was an early morning for us, as we scrambled to catch our 3:45 am taxi to the airport. It was time to start the regular movement part of this adventure, after being generally based out of Bangkok. So off to Bali we go. The flight was good, and we landed and got through customs pretty quickly. The taxi ride was short, but took almost half an hour to snake through the narrow streets of Kuta. We were able to check in to the hotel early, and get organized for what turned out to be quite an adventure.

BH3 - Google maps said it would be about a 75-90 minute ride to the hash, so we organized a taxi and took off. It was only 30 Kms, but the traffic is killer here. We managed to arrive 10 minutes before the start, in the rain. We quickly dropped our bags in the beer truck and off we went. I have hashed here before, so I knew it was going to be an awesome trail. This is Jo's first time in Bali, so was sceptical. It did not take long for her to realize this was the real deal. The rain tapered off after about 15 minutes, but the trail was soaked good by that time and we had lots of mud. We snaked along many rice paddies, irrigation walls, and muddy single file tracks in the jungle. Jo enjoyed it so much she took home some souvenir mud on her bum. O
It was only 7 Kms long, but it took every bit of 2 hours to complete the trail as we worked our way through all the natural obstacles. Circle commenced shortly after we got back, and it was short. We met a few friendly hashers, and were invited to a couple events during this Christmas week. Time to head home . . . we were pretty far out of town, where taxis don't run, so the GM organized us an Uber. Poor girl did not know what she got herself into. Traffic was much worse in the evening than in the afternoon, and the 30 Km ride took us nearly 2 1/2 hours of stop and go traffic. The Uber charge was ~$10 . . . So we gave her a $6 tip, which she was shocked to receive, but she deserved it. We had planned to come back, shower up, and go out to dinner, but by this time all we could muster was a hot shower and room service. Pizza seemed easy, but was ~$6, so figured they were small, so ordered two. Two full sized pizzas arrived, and now we have about a whole pie in the fridge. I didn't even mention that when we arrived, the street was normal, but after dark, we are in party central. Live bands, and lots rock music bouncing off every side of the street. We eventually managed to fall asleep, but the music must have gone on well past midnight. https://www.relive.cc/view/vJOKX4n3gw6

Christmas Eve was very relaxing, as we wandered down to the beach, and found a couple nice restaurants to taste the local delicacies.

Christmas Day was also a nice slow day, we watched a couple movies and relaxed. Then in the evening we wandered down to the beach for sunset. There were a lot of people on the beach at that time, and the novice surfers were still honing their skills on the low waves. We were getting pestered by a couple old women trying to sell their wares, so we had to get up and move to cut off the chatter. In the end, it was a nice evening, and another good nights sleep.

On the day after Christmas, we enjoyed our second Bali Hash, this one being the annual Christmas Run. Once again up in the Ubud area, near the Bali Bird Park. The start area looked a bit familiar, so I looked back at my track from when I hashed here in 2013, and yes, nearly the same spot . . . but a completely different trail. Trails in Ubud are some of the most scenic and enjoyable you can find anywhere for hashing. Hashing in KL, Germany, Tokyo, Korea, and several others have many awesome features, but for all around hashing quality, I recommend you check out Bali. https://www.relive.cc/view/vwq17g7pALORead more