COCKFIGHT (with Video) - People of East Timor (5)

Hello dear Steemians and welcome to the fith episode of my “People of East Timor” series!

As promised in my last post, today I want to show you the cock fight I witnessed in the small town of Bacau.

In case you missed it, read about my way from Dili to Bacau and the city itself here:
https://steemit.com/travel/@mrwanderlust/baucau-and-how-we-had-to-fight-for-our-backpacks-people-of-east-timor-4

Anyways, Jana, Thomas and I strolled through the streets of Bacau after sunset, sometimes talking to people, sometimes just observing life...

We had dinner in a tiny restaurant, nothing special, a lot of rice ;-)

When we already wanted to go home, we heard yelling and applause from somewhere behind some houses, it seemed. We walked towards the sound and when we finally found the source, we entered a small path.

At the end, there were motor bikes parked along the path and a crowd was standing around some kind of cage that looked like a boxing ring. We didn't know what was going on at that time but we for sure wanted to go and find out.

It turned out to be a cock fighting arena and people around it were cheering for the cocks they bet on.

When the fight started, we saw a white cock and a red/brown one fighting till death. They both had razor blades attached to their ankles. I think you can see it on this picture:

I took a little video of one of the fights, no sound, but it shows you what such a fight looks like better than any picture ever could:

I don't really know what to think about this kind of entertainment. On the one hand, it is animals fighting till death for pure entertainment of humans. Obviously, I do not really agree with that. On the other hand, it is a very old tradition and, the way I see it, one of very few chances to have fun for the youth of East Timor.

Let me know what you think about it in the comments, I am honestly a bit undecided.

Stay tuned and follow me for the next episode with a story about how we didn’t find any transportation and in the end traveled with a pig!

Till then, keep wandering and wondering,

Love,

mr.wonderlust

Interesting article. This isn't a tough one for me - cockfighting is wrong. Having said that, I recognise there are cultural and socioeconomic conditions that encourage and maintain the practice. Imagine the role that a platform like Steemit could play in generating economic alternatives to betting on animal fights! And generating discussion on animal rights where people may not feel comfortable opposing current cultural practice - it creates a new mechanism for airing views. Of course, people can't make others read and write on an internet platform, and there would be some who would want to create a cockfight betting platform on Steemit, so I'm not saying it's a panacea.

Interesting idea @kiligirl. I tend to think it is wrong as well, but if you travel to that country and think about how bored people must be, I can really understand it.
Anyways, for steemit they would need internet first, it is not that common yet...

I think any entertainment that hurts animals is wrong, no matter what. I am sure they could find other entertainment if they tried. I know this is a tradition - but should be stopped like we stopped using animals in circuses, slavery, etc. Think about it.

I agree with @kiligirl, it's wrong but I get where you're coming from...can't just wipe again a generations' old tradition. It's not as simple as substituting something else in there. It has a lot to do with pride too, not just money.

That aside though, you're doing some great work. These are wonderful captures. I'm interested in your ability to just "show up" to one of these seemingly insider events and have no one flinch? They just let you stay there and take pictures? How was the reaction from locals there?

Hey, true, it's an old tradition and also about pride and social status.
When I travel, I always try to get to know locals, I dont really want to spend my time with other tourists (except my friends if I am not alone of course). I dont know why, but the locals usually accept me pretty fast. I try to speak at least some words of their language, smile at them and try to be seen as curious and definitely not one of those arrogant westerners.
At the cock fight, people were busy anyways, some looked at us a bit astonished, but then get back to their "business" pretty fast.

That makes sense. Great series by the way, I'm glad I found your blog (or you found mine rather) I can't wait to see more of your travels!

thanks a lot, more to come!

Ethically, I think it's terrible. Its as bad as bullfighting where they piss off a bull so much by hitting, burning, & then putting him in a ring & taunting him some more until he gores the guy up the ass.

ya, but to me bullfighting is even worse because it is human fighting animal. animals fighting each other is at least a little closer to nature...

Ein toller Post..danke dafür .upvote

i just upvoted and followed you, follow me back and feel free to check out my account!