Solstice Hash On Tour

26/11/2025

Breaking News! SHOT VERSION 2.0 BECKONS!

After much speculation as to whither the fate and future of SHOT - having logged 20 years of hashing mostly in foreign soils (out of Malaysia) and generally sticking to the solstices dates - the mismanagement has decided to let the SHOT morph into a slightly different persona, rather than to see it lie dormant and/or slide away. There will be a SHOT 2.0, but it will henceforth no longer follow a somewhat fixed calendar; rather, future runs/excursions will likely take place whenever the mismanagement deems suitable, which would allow ventures to further afield to destinations that tickle our fancy. Every now and again, if the situation warrants it and when there’s no clashes with other major hash events, we may revert back to the solstices so as to live up to our eponymous character. Understandably, farther and costlier destinations will affect numbers, but the time has come to consolidate rather than to grow and expand into a larger entity than we were before.

The much required breather since the 20th Anniversary in Bali has reinvigorated our spirits and hash vigour, and we are pleased to announce that the next SHOT will be held from April 24-26, 2026, in a locale that spans 2 continents, on the very ancient and historic city of Istanbul, Turkiye, where 4 great empires emanated from, and whose current society and cultural mix are an amalgam of all these halcyon civilizations.

Rego fees levied will also likely take a different format, where the expected cost will be charged and budget shortfalls (in hash jargon, when the beers runs out!) would be topped up by participating and/or consuming members.

Details will be made available soon, and registrations will open on the very auspicious date of January 1, 2026.

On On to Istanbul!

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15/02/2025

Time literally flew, and just like that, SHOT will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary! To add a dash of nostalgia to the momentous milestone, we are returning to where we first ventured out for our inaugural run - the idyllic tropical paradise of Bali! Ubud in Bali, to be precise.

To cater for the ever-persistent clamour for inclusion in our event - especially this significant celebration - we are again opening our doors for up to 200 registrations. For those diehards who simply couldn’t get enough of hashing, there’ll be the post- SHOT run with the Bali Hash on the monday following.

The adventurous and wanderlust among us could join in the post-SHOT bucket-list cruise to the Komodo Island, which will entail cruising, hiking, snorkelling and, of course, the chance of a lifetime to go face-to-face with the dragons.

On On to Bali, and beyond!!!

For details:

Solstice Hash on Tour

24/09/2024

09/09/2024

SHOT #37
Gimhae, Korea, November 22-24, 2024

In a drastic expedient departure from the norm, the eagerly anticipated Korean SHOT will be brought forward by a month so as to avoid the impending cold front that heralds the onset of winter. It will be held in the southern city of Gimhae from November 22-24, 2024, with Busan city as the staging point. The weather is expected to range from the chilly to mildly cold, but the many spas and often spicy local cuisine should soothe our bodies and tummies nicely…

This will also be the first time that SHOT has tied up with the hosting country’s and city’s tourism organizations, where our numbers will be rewarded with a fair amount of sponsorship in kind, alleviating the financial cost to our participants. The aggressiveness and enthusiasm shown by the Korea Tourism Organization and Gyeongnam Province Tourism Organization is truly remarkable and commendable in their endeavour to showcase their country’s tourism potential after the immense success of the K-pop and K-food phenomena which has taken the pop culture and culinary world by storm.

There are many options for flight arrangements, as many airlines flies either directly to Seoul, or indirectly by transiting in a secondary airport. From Seoul, there are various ways to make your way to Busan, either by a connecting flight, or by express rail. An intrepid group is, in fact, planning a pre-lube cross-country week-long ride from Incheon all the way to Busan, covering 600km on designated bicycle tracks that takes them through the heartland of Korea, a veritable off-the-beaten-track adventure.

There will be a short ‘official’ Side Trip that starts from the afternoon of November 24 upon the completion of the last day’s On On and circle. This trip will traverse the mountainous region of Jiri, the ancient and very traditional city of Jeonju, the historic fortress city of Suwon, and finishing in Seoul.

Registration for this SHOT will open on September 15. Rego fee, suggested hotel/s and details of Side Trip will be posted simultaneously then.

01/03/2024

SHOT # 36 - Kunming, June 28-30, 2024

Kunming it is, finally! This destination for SHOT has been bandied about for some years, and was supposed to finally host us in June 2020 until scuppered by the pandemic and got overridden by other more accessible and equally alluring places.

Kunming sits on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and was historically important for being the site of an American-led air base featuring the iconic Flying Tigers fighter pilots pitted against the marauding Japanese occupiers during WW2, and was also the transport terminus of the hugely significant Burma Road that supplies much-needed war armaments from India.

The average altitude in the city is 1900m, giving it a mild summer perfectly suited for hashing with daytime temperatures in June hovering around 25C and nighttime in the late teens.

Beyond hashing from
June 28-30, we will be spoilt for choice in terms of prospect for Side Trip forays: you could head up north to Dali/Lijiang/Tiger Leaping Gorge/Shangri-la; eastwards by hi-speed rails to neighbouring Guizhou province to attractions such as Huangguoshu Waterfalls (China’s largest)/Xijiang Miao Minority Village/Qingyan Ancient Town/ Fanjing Shan Mountain; or down south to Shilin Stone Forest/Pu’er Tea Area/Xishuangbanna. If you choose not to venture too far, there are a wide range of attractions within the confines of the city. And, for the intrepid ones, to wrap up your trip to Kunming, how about taking the new train route down all the way to Vientianne, Laos?

Registration for this SHOT will open on March 3, and as per usual, numbers will be limited to 180, and once paid up, there will be no refunds; those unable to make it will have to find their own replacements. Hotel/s and Side Tour details will be available only from mid-April upon the hares’ return from the recce, but if you intend to join the Side Trip, it is safe to book till the weekend after the SHOT.

03/10/2023

SHOT # 35

MANILA/BATANGAS, PHILIPPINES

DECEMBER 1-3, 2023

As has been intimated earlier, the winter SOLSTICE HASH ON TOUR will be held in Manila/Batangas, the Philippines, from December 1-3, 2023. Apart from the usual boisterous hash with all its accompanying shenanigans, this SHOT will afford some enthusiasts the opportunity to indulge in water sports, particularly snorkeling and scuba diving, as the main event venue will be at a dive resort situated right by the beach of the world-famous diving locale of the Anilao area of Batangas.

The party, however, really begins with a Red Dress Run which, unsurprisingly, will be held at and around the eponymously named district within Makati, one of 16 highly urbanized cities that makes up Metro Manila. As per hashing tradition, the Red Dress Run will be a charity event, so it constitutes a separate entity within the SHOT programs, and participants pays a separate fee to join, with intended surplus going to a local charity which the local hashers will identify and forward the proceeds to.



Important Pointers to note:

1. Since the Red Dress Run starts in the late afternoon of December 1, and by necessity the SHOT registration will precede it, you need to get to Manila by the early afternoon of December 1. The main Registration Party will be at the HANDLEBAR PUB, so you should really book your accommodation at or around the MAKATI PALACE HOTEL, which is just 200m from Handlebar. Hotels are aplenty in the vicinity, so there are plenty of choices to suit different budgets.

2. On Saturday, December 2, ALL SHOT participants will be bussed to the main event venue i.e. the Sea Spring Resort in Mabini, Batangas, which usually takes between 2.5 – 3 hours, but could be a lot longer if traffic is heavy.

3. Main event venue is WHOLLY BOOKED by us, so once you register, you will automatically be assigned a room of your choice. You will pay the Registration Fee together with the hotel room for 2 nights (Saturday, December 2 – December 4, monday).

4. The Hangover Run on Sunday, December 3, planned to be on a nearby offshore island, is expected to finish sometime in the mid-afternoon, so you’ll likely get back to the resort in late afternoon or early evening. You will need to stay another night at the resort; it is a great place anyway, what with a few hot spring pools with varying degree of hotness to choose from within the resort grounds for a soothing dip.

5. Buses will ferry those wishing to return to Manila in the late morning of Monday, December 4, so if you plan to leave on that day, be sure your flight is in the evening or night or, better still, the following day. If this return arrangement does not fit your schedule, you will have to make your own return trip at your cost.

6. For those interested in snokeling/diving, both the resorts which we have made room reservations with are dive resorts, so you could extend your stay without moving base.

7. Due to the provision of return transport to/fro Manila/Batangas and additional transport to run sites, total cost for all transport works out to be around RM200/pax, which we will have to lump into the regular SHOT fee of RM300.00, making Registration fee RM500/pax, a never-before levy except when we went to Fukuoka in Japan. This is a reality check; all sorts of things – food, beers & other beverages, as well as transportation costs have gone up significantly over the years, and it has become untenable for us to continue maintaining the status quo.



So, despite the additional challenges and burden, if you are still keen to hop onto the upcoming SHOT bangwagon, get ready to sign up when Registration opens from midnight of October 10, 2023! Numbers will be strictly limited to 180pax due to the constraint of accommodation limits.

28/03/2023

We have finalised accommodations for Jogja SHOT! Details have been posted on our website, and if you have not made booking, please go to our website www.solsticehash.com for details on how to make reservation. Please be mindful that the travel agent will need you to fill in details (form is on our website too) regarding your arrival/departure, length of stay, flight details, etc, in order to accommodate your pick up, tour, or period of stay.
On On to Jogjakarta!

My website

01/03/2023

SHOT # 34, JUNE 23-25, 2023

JOGJAKARTA, INDONESIA

Hare: Don Reeve



After much deliberations, we have finally settled on having SHOT # 34 in Jogjakarta, Indonesia, on the central-western part of Java island. A major consideration in choosing the destination is the option to fly in directly from Kuala Lumpur via at least 2 airlines.

This ancient city is already well known among hashers, as it was the site of Interhash 2012, reputedly the best organized of the Interhashes. Tourist attractions are aplenty in the vicinity, foremost among them are the 12-13 centuries old Borobudor Temple Complex, the largest Buddhist temple in the world, and Prambanan Hindu Temple. There are many volcanoes scattered around the region, and many of these are popular hiking destinations with magnificent views from the top. As with most cities in Indonesia, Jogja has its distinct culinary traditions.

There will not be any official Side Trip on this SHOT, so participants are advised to form their own group to embark on their touristic forays. It is easy to hire the ubiquitous Toyota Kijang Innova and do self-drive exploration.

Registration (www.solsticehash.com) will open on March 3, 2023, and will be limited to only 180 pax. As per our tradition, fee remains at RM300 per person, and please follow the payment details as per website. Full itinerary and suggested accommodation details will be posted at a later date.

My website

22/02/2023

We are pleased to announce that the dates for the upcoming SHOT will be June 23-25, 2023. Details for Side Trip are still being worked out and, when finalised, the venue will be made known, hopefully by end February. As we have previously expressed, the destination will have at least 2 airlines serving the sector from Kuala Lumpur, and will also be reachable via nearby cities. Multiple choices in flight arrangements will definitely ensure less chances of being caught by the whims and dictates of a single airline!
Online registration will open simultaneous with the destination announcement. So, block these dates in your calendar, and do add in some extra days for the Side Trip!
On On!

13/12/2022

SHOT #33 in Phu Quoc was another successful milestone, with 170 participants and again in a hitherto new destination. The hares - helmed again by the ever-reliable and diligent Chris Tan and new side-kick Kangaroo Samy - ensured things ran smoothly and logistical arrangements were well attended to. Despite predictions by the weather bureau, the sky treated us kindly with at times overcast but mostly sunny disposition. The Suntory and 333 beers were very well received and, because of a generous budget, were provided almost round the clock. Much to the delightful surprise of many, wines were also served at both the main On Ons. The only discernible drawback was that some recipients got non-fitting shirts; the clever and resourceful individuals, in fact, made the best of the situation by altering and cutting theirs so that they somehow fits in varying degree of comfort and/or absurdity! Overall, great attempt, although some described their handiworks as desecration of event freebies.

Whither, the next SHOT destination? Many are eager to find out, but firm plans cannot be made at this point in time. A major factor is that most airlines are just beginning to ramp up flights in tandem with the certification of planes, and previous and/new destinations are reinstated or introduced. Over time, choices becomes aplenty and we can have wider options.

Places that have been bandied about as possibles include the previously announced (pre-covid) Kunming, Jogjakarta & Lake Toba in Indonesia, as well as South Korea. Both the Indonesian destinations may be problematic if the newly introduced syariah law pertaining to prosecution of unmarried couples for co-habitation gets carried out.

Come what may, be assured that there will be an upcoming SHOT #34 in the 3rd week of June 2023!!!

21/10/2022

UPDATE ON FLIGHT TO PHU QUOC FOR SHOT # 33
The rescheduling of Airasia's flights to Phu Quoc island in Vietnam have been confirmed, much to the relief of some, and the consternation of others. Relief in that our overall SHOT # 33 events can all go ahead without interruptions, and our general holiday plans are not so severely impacted, but consternation because some travel plans have to be rescheduled and additional leave - and expenses - have to be incurred.

So, yes, those of us flying out of Kuala Lumpur have to fly in a day earlier (December 6th), and the return flight has been brought forward to an unfriendly hour instead of a leisurely afternoon stroll to the airport. And, it must go into our record to have our events and/or our travel plans somewhat upended - on consecutively occasions, it must be noted - due to Airasia's 'operational' issues, an insensitive profit-driven euphemism that is not lost on many of our exasperated members. We shudder to think of the inconvenience other members have to endure in having to re-arrange their multiple-flights to the event.

It behooves us to plan, in future, for destinations that are served by multiple airlines, rather than to depend on the sole budget carrier that has served us fairly well in times past, but has in recent experiences crashed to an undependable and unacceptable level.

On On to Phu Quoc!