Running in abandoned countryside is just fine with us!

When we go on our jungle runs we often will encounter areas that appear as though they may have been lived in or around by people some time ago, but for whatever reason they structures were abandoned and left to rot. When these places end up being near a road where we can access them, we will use them as staging points for our runs.

This is one of the more rundown areas that we go to and the owners must not mind that we use it, mostly just to get out of the rain or sun for a bit.

It's difficult to say what happened here. It appears, because of the exposed brickwork that this might have been an idea for a house but the person building it lost interest or money. As far as any of us know, this place has always been abandoned. While we have never spoken to the owner of the land or property, we always clean up after ourselves including sweeping up the interior of mess that we had nothing to do with. If the owner ever notices us there, he probably lets us continue to use it because we are doing the guy a favor by keeping it clean. We only go there once every 6 weeks or so but we always clean up all of our own trash as well as any other trash that might be there.

At another point in this now unused area, there is a gazebo that is still in relatively good shape. It may actually end up being used by the rubber farmers at some point or another because when we use it there are almost always some burned twigs in there that I guess someone was using to cook or stay warm. It is difficult for me to imagine a person ever being cold here but then again, I am not Thai. To me "cold" means when frost starts to form, not when a light breeze comes through.

There are many structures like this all throughout the countryside and jungle of Chiang Mai. The area is relatively massive and that is what makes this area so fantastic for Hashing. If you travel in just about any direction from the city center, you are only 10km or so from being near lots of open space and outside of smoky pollution season, tons of fresh air.

Some of this land is protected rainforest or national parks, some of it is farmland mostly palm, rubber, and rice. Other parts of it, like the pic above, is an area that isn't really used for anything at all and these are the best spaces in my opinion. it is totally quiet and peaceful out in these spots and this is why we try to use them as often as possible. The key is to not piss off the people that own the land because we don't cause any harm while we are out here, but some folks out there are very protective of their property and I suppose that is entirely their right.

We are happy that these left behind structures exist though because an out of nowhere downpour is something that can happen just about anytime and it is nice to have a way to get away from it if need be. Even though it is extremely hot for the most part, it sill isn't nice to stand in the pouring rain so for the most part, we try to find places that have some level of cover for us to hunker down in if need be.

We are still, as always, doing thrice weekly runs every monday, thursday, and saturday. There are also numerous special events that take place on other days. Check the full schedule here if you are interested in joining us

On On!