I was in Indonesia some time ago and I went to see a buffalo fight. Basically the two buffalo would lock horns and push each other with the weaker one breaking the embrace and running away with the stronger one chasing it. The buffaloes didn't get hurt, it was merely a test of strength, or so it seemed to me. Anyway, we arrived there and perched on a wall to watch the show with our driver warning us not to get off the wall. The buffaloes were led out and immediately about 50 or so people, young men for the most part, surrounded them. Well, that meant we couldn't see anything of the animals at all so, foolishly we hopped off the wall into the ring and pushed through the people to get a better view. The buffaloes were within touching distance now although not much was happening other than the two beasts straining against each other. Standing in the crowd watching the spectacle close up I had a sudden thought regarding what would happen when one admitted defeat? As this thought formed in my mind one stumbled and was immediately forced back by the other. Things started to happen very quickly then as I realized I was 3 feet away from two pissed off 2 ton animals that were about to start charging round the arena. I grabbed my girlfriend and shouted 'RUN' just as they broke apart and started thundering around the field, one in hot pursuit of the other. The crowd in the ring also scattered, heading swiftly for the safety of the fences that surrounded the pitch. Holding my girlfriend's jacket we ran at full tilt for our wall but crashed into a bloke and I lost my grip. I turned to look for her and the first and only thing I saw was this gigantic grey beast coming straight at me, head down and horns pointing my way. I ran as fast as my legs would carry me, but he was faster and somehow as he caught up with me I managed to put a hand behind me and plant it between his horns in an attempt to stop him impaling me. With a flick of his head and his speed he sent me flying through the air and face first into the mud. With no other option, I lay there and thought that I had had a pretty good life, though not as long as I could have hoped. I vividly remember a massive hoof coming down inches from my face and sinking deep into the earth under its weight. Amazingly the buffalo ran straight over the top of me without touching me. Meanwhile the other buffalo had wheeled round and struck my assailant from the side not 4 foot in front of me. The two fought all round me while I lay huddled in the mud for what seemed like ages but eventually I managed to crawl to the safety of the wall and escape the arena, covered in mud, however, miraculously, without a scratch. The animals were eventually closed off from each other, after destroying a food tent that had foolishly been pitched on the wrong side of the wall, and a crowd of several hundred cheering people surged over to us, hoisted me in the air and gave me a lap of honour around the ring on their shoulders. It was only then that I grasped the actual idea behind the entertainment. It was not about the buffaloes test of strength at all but about the 'bravery', 'foolhardiness' of the young men in the ring, each seeing who could get closest to the maddened beasts, a bit like the running of the bulls thing in Spain. I was the hero of the night and I have an amazing memory of the whole scene, however, my advice is, should find yourself at a buffalo fight in Indonesia don't get off the wall.
