Tirana Hash

Hashy terrain

The Hash House Harriers is a worldwide organization with historical roots deep in the British colonial era. Today, HHH describes itself  as "a drinking club with a running problem." With a motto like that how could it not be popular?

One can find a hash in just about every good-sized city in the world. So of course one of the first things I did upon arriving here was to find the Tirana Hash. It took me two tries to locate the unmarked cafe that serves as the meeting place on Saturday mornings, but when I finally did I was warmly welcomed. That's the beauty of Hash - you go to a foreign city, walk up to a group of complete strangers and are immediately treated as a member of their club.

All hashes share a few characteristics: socializing, some amount of walking or running through the countryside, singing of irreverent (and often risque) songs, and drinking beer in a circle to conclude the outing.

Drinking beer in the circle

Also, silliness usually is encouraged and competition is discouraged at most hashes.

What else? Well, the idea is the group goes together to a (hopefully) previously planned starting place. Then, everyone walks or runs a route that is marked by the leader (the "hare") in some way for all to follow (we mark ours with white flour).

The group spreads out on a recent hash

The rest of the pack (the hounds) then tries  to catch the hare. To make it more fun, the hare is allowed (even encouraged) to leave false trails and other tricks that cause the hounds to follow dead ends and waste time so everyone ends up at the finish roughly at the same time. After everyone is in, the group gathers in a circle and the "officials" lead the group in the singing of songs, the punishing of "sinners" (each of whom must drink down a cup of beer or else pour it on his head), and whatever other sophomoric notions come to mind.

But all hashes are slightly different. Both hashes with which I'm familiar (here and in Ulanbaatar) are more on the "relaxed" side of things. We sing the songs, drink the beer, encourage the silliness, and do the socializing; however the planning of the weekly outings is kept to a bare minimum. So we don't really pursue the hare; actually no one really even runs at all. And there are no false trails or tricks (although on a recent outing three of us did have to go back and fetch an ambassador who was having trouble negotiating a slippery downhill).

Encouraging of silliness

Also, we don't really have enough people to scout out good routes or mark trails in advance. We've been relying lately on the Vicar and Tokyo Joe (assigning of nicknames is another hashy tradition), and they've been turning in strong performances. On the days when no one's had time to plan, we just make up a destination right on the spot.

Even without a lot of organization, it's a great way to meet interesting people and see the countryside.

Kruje hash

The songs I could do without, as only a 12-year-old boy could find them amusing. But on the other hand, listening to those songs is what makes chugging beer at noon seem like a good idea (the more buzzed I am, the less offensive they seem). So it all comes together in a kind of hashy gestalt, and a good time is had by all.