One of the guys who works at the place we live invited me to a village cockfight and, despite any possible moral obstacles that might be there for most people, I immediately said yes. A Balinese cockfight is definitely interesting to an outsider but I would have really preferred to know more about what was going on. For every 3-5 minute fight there is at least 20 minutes of build up. This part, as far as I could understand, includes sizing the different cocks up to make sure they have a fair fight, tying little knives to the chosen chickens’ right feet, and then a round of gambling that I couldn’t quite figure out the logistics of. My two friends and I were the only white faces in the crowd of 100 or so excited Balinese men and, even though I was taller than almost everyone there, I really didn’t get much of a view of the actual fighting. All in all, though, it was a pretty interesting experience.
© 2010 jimstone
