Bull fightIn between some showers we move on to a large crater lake, Donau Singkarak. We can take a swim here, with thunder in the mountain as a backdrop. The stop at the wood workers is also short, it is time to move on to today’s main attraction: the bull fight.
On Sumatra, people don’t fight the bulls as they do in Spain. Instead, the bulls fight each other. They bash their heads together and try to push each other away. The one that runs looses the game. According to the story, this is how the Minangkabau got their name. When the people from Java came to conquer Sumatra, they convinced them to let the bulls fight for the victory. The people from Java came with a huge bull, but the Sumatrans only had a small, hungry calf, with its horns drenched in poison. The calf thought the bull was its mother, and went searching for her udders, wounding the bull. The bull ran, and the people shouted “Minang kabau, minang kabau”, which means “Victory for our Bull”.
We have a good view over the arena, from a hill around the field. Most of the audience is on the field, as close as possible to the bulls. The first fight takes long, neither one of the bulls wants to give up. The supporters of both bulls are shouting and pushing the bulls to force a decision. Then, after 20 minutes, one of the bulls runs away. The second fight is much shorter, after the first bash, the sensible one of the bulls takes a hike. The third one is also short, but has a spectacular ending. The fleeing bull can not find a clear passage through the crowds, and bashes into the people. Two people are injured, and the rest runs for their lives. Next, the bull runs up the road, followed by the other bull. All ends well, but we are told that sometimes people are killed by fleeing bulls.
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