A minibus came to pick me up that afternoon. Already in the minibus were a
French couple and a Dutch family. We made some smalltalk as the driver fought
through the traffic in the usual Indonesian daredevil way. After half an hour
we came to
the small village of Koto Baru, outside Bukittingi. The slope up to the field where the fight
would take place was filled with cars. This was obviously a popular event.
In the middle of the field stood two bulls facing each other, chained to poles.
Local people swarmed around them, discussing their strengths and placing bets
with the bookmakers. I soon realised
that these bulls were meant to fight each other, not people.
I still decided to stand on the side of the fence where the bulls were not,
studying both the bulls and the locals.
At 6 o'clock it was time for the show to begin. The closest spectators moved away from
the bulls (not more than a few metres away though) and 4 people started shouting
and hitting the bulls with sticks. Once they were released they immediately
crashed into each other, with a sickening sound
of clashing horn and skull, locking horns. The 4 inciters continued running
around close to the bulls, shouting, while all of the time expertly avoiding
being crushed.
It soon became very difficult to differentiate between the bulls. My first idea
had been to identify one of them by the patch of mud on his back. This didn't
work however when, after a few minutes of fight, they were both soaked in mud.
I also tried to figure out how they decided when a bull had won. Did they fight
to death? The answer came when one of the bulls
turned on his tail and fled a few minutes later. Down into the village he
fled, the other bull chasing after him. Closely after followed their respective
owners.
The locals didn't seem to have my problem of not being able to see which bull
was which, as a lot of money silently changed hands once the fight was over.
Maybe they were just guessing.
The second fight lasted a lot longer than the first. It took such a long time
that the bulls seemed to want to give up and call it a draw at one point. But
the inciters managed to breathe some life back into the fight by shouting
louder and hitting the bulls with more ferocity. It was easier to see
which bull was which this time, as one of the bulls managed to gore the
other bull's neck with the tip of his horn. This made them Not Bleeding Bull
and Bleeding Bull.
On and on the fight went. First Non Bleeding Bull would seem to have the
advantage, then suddenly Bleeding Bull would make a surprise move and
seem to be winning. But finally, after almost 20 minutes of this, Bleeding
Bull gave up and fled. Unfortunately, he wasn't as considerate as the first
losing bull. He ran around in circles all around the field, trying to avoid
the other bull while the spectators all desperately tried to avoid them both.
I was glad to be on the other side of the fence.
When finally Bleeding Bull ran off the field and into the village,
the locals calmed down and started
counting
money. But it was still not over. A minute after he had disappeared,
Bleeding Bull reappeared.
This time he had just his owners chasing after him, Non Bleeding Bull had been
lost
somewhere along the way.
Chaos ensued when everyone tried to dive for cover again. Luckily, the
owner
soon managed to
convince his bull that the other bull was gone and that he
didn't have any reason to run. While Bleeding Bull let himself be led
away I rejoined my european
comrades. They had been watching the fights
through
binoculars from a
platform on the other side of the field.
We all agreed that, indeed, it had been an interesting
evening.