Miri Hash House Harriers

Miri... Miri... Where the F*** is Miri ?!?!

Miri is a medium sized town in the State of Sarawak which is part of Malaysian Borneo. The town is on the coast and surrounded by primary jungle that provides some world class hashing opportunities. Close to the equator it has a tropical climate with year round temperatures from 28°C to 32°C and humidity from 70%-90%. The main monsoon period is from mid December to February.

Miri is historically an oil town with a large expatriate community which has given it a cosmopolitan atmosphere and a reputation as a fairly wild place. There are more bars per capita than most places in Malaysia and beer is cheap thanks to the proximity to a small duty free island with good "trading" connections. In addition to the regular hashes, Miri can offer numerous other runs and activities that will ensure an interesting visit for any sporting outdoor type person or anyone interested in eco-tourism.

A few of the exciting activities on offer are:

Running

• Borneo Ballbreaker run in October: typically 25km and taking the front runners 3 to 4 hours.
• Bakam Challenge in May: a mixed mountain bike and running event taking 5 to 8 hours if you do both legs.
• Lambir Challenge in September: organised by the tourism board, a 14km run over the five summits in the Lambir National Park. Professional front runners take about 2 hours and if that sounds slow, you have not seen the terrain although the running is mostly done on good but steep paths.
• Piasau Fun Run every Friday: Road/beach run against the clock, pick your own distance from 1 to 10km and finish with Happy Hour at the Piasau Boat Club.

Mountain Biking
Members of the MMBC (Miri Mountain Bike Club) ride on most Sundays.

Jungle Trekking and Parks
There are several National Parks in the immediate vicinity that offer some very good trekking through primary jungle. Most parks offer good chalet type accommodation at reasonable cost. The main parks are:

• Lambir The closest park, about 30km from Miri town with well preserved primary jungle and plentiful waterfalls.
• Logan Bunut About 4 hours drive and home to the largest lake in Sarawak.
• Niah Home of the caves where birds nests are collected for making soup. The caves are also of considerable archaeological interest. About 4 hours drive from Miri.
• Mulu Home of the largest cave complex in the world plus some spectacular mountain scenery. Also a good place for visiting traditional local Long Houses but beware of the Tuak (home brewed rice wine) and the beautiful tribe women, unless you're looking for a wife!? Mulu is usually reached by air but is also accessible by 4WD or express boat up the Baram river.

More info can be obtained from the Sarawak Tourism Board and its listing of National Parks.

Longer jungle trips to unexplored parts of the interior can be arranged for small groups but this requires considerable pre-planning.

Other things of interest in and around Miri are reef diving, the annual " Borneo International Yachting Challenge" for racing and cruising yachts, a crocodile farm and a visit to Petroleum Museum with exhibits, located on the original site on a hill about Miri town.

There are good and cheap connecting flights from Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Brunei. Both Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia offer flights to Miri.

Hotels and food are cheap and plentiful with homestay ranging from RM30 per night (not recommended) up to RM250 per night for 5 star accommodation.

Useful contacts in Miri: