On the Western part of Bali, far from the cities and tourists hubs, there is a region called Jembrana where the large rice paddies spread across the horizon. Whereas the rest of the island (and most of the world) has moved to gasoline powered tillers, here they still use bulls to work the land. And every summer, they hold the Makepong: bull chariot races.
It was very hard to find out when exactly these races occur. The locals in the rest of Bali have heard of it, but none of them have seen it or know when they occur. After some instagram investigation and lots of WhatsApp’ing, we eventually were pretty sure that they occur early in the morning every other Sunday. So we changed around our itinerary (we were going to be in Gili Meno) and found a driver that knew where to go.
We left Pemuteran at 6 in the morning and drove down to Jembrana. The car wasn’t allowed in, so we just parked along the street (as there were no other tourists) and walked the last bit. In the early morning mist, the truly rural landscape was breathtaking, far better than anything we saw in Ubud.
Walking toward the race, we passed by all the bull chariots lining up for their turn. There were hundreds of finely carved and painted wooden chariots, each hooked up to a pair of surprisingly small bulls. The bulls themselves were heavily adorned with colorful covers on their horns and intricate crowns on their heads. Each had a wooden spire on the yoke, carved with dragons, which would hold the flag as they raced.
We got to the finish line and took up a spot to watch the racing with all the other locals. The first thing you hear is the jingling as each bull is covered in little sleigh bells. Then the chariots come thundering down the wooden road at full speed, riders crouching atop their tiny chariots, whipping the bulls.
At the end of the road, some men (mostly barefoot) stand there and essentially catch the bulls, slowing them down before the hit the crowds (and us). See the video here.
We walked through some rice fields to get to the starting line where most of the party was happening. Bulls were everywhere as well as tons of people and street vendors selling food. The announcer was atop a small platform where he could see the U-shaped course through the rice fields including the finish line.
Here we could see them “launch” the bulls. A chariot with a green flag would be walked forward with a man holding the horns of the bulls in front. Then the chariot with the red flag behind the first chariot would start running. As it caught up to the green chariot, the man would release the bulls and run to the side, and the race is on!
It’s a little heartbreaking to see the animals whipped as the whips are basically wooden clubs with little nails sticking out. Little beads of blood decorate the rumps of the bulls. This isn’t more cruel than anything we do with our work animals (branding, every day work), but it puts a little damper on the fun and excitement. And there are a LOT of chariots, at least several hundred.
Every working bull in the area must be here (see the video of us walking through). But still, Makepong is a rare and unique local sport made up of farmers and their working animals. It’s amazing to experience, and a thrilling window into life in the rural fields of Bali.
Also in the area, they have these large traditional wooden fishing boats that go out to sea every morning. They paint them in bright colors and put little intricate shrines on them.
We also dropped by a temple dramatically situated atop the beachside cliffs. After all that adventuring (it gets hot quickly once the sun comes out), we found a nice beachside resort with a lovely restaurant to have a relaxed lunch before completing our long drive down to Canggu.
