Through the rice field on the bull’s tail: At the “Pacu-Jawi” bull race in Sumatra, the wooden plow goes right into the middle of the mud.
Medan – Muddy spectacle in Sumatra: After a two-year Corona break, the traditional “Pacu Jawi” bull race is being held for the first time in the Tanah Datar district in the west of the Indonesian island.
The people of the region celebrate the end of the rice harvest with this wild competition. Every Saturday in February daring jockeys stand on a wooden plow that is attached to two bulls – and only hold on to the tails.
The hoofed animals run through the swampy water of the rice field, the mud splashes left and right. It’s also about speed, but above all about plowing through the field as powerfully and in a straight line as possible. “The public, lovers of Pacu Jawi, tourists and photographers have been eagerly awaiting this event for a long time,” the district’s website quoted Abdul Hakim, head of the local youth and sports authority.
British TV chef Gordon Ramsay took part in the running of the bulls while filming in Sumatra in 2020. Covered in mud from top to bottom, he failed to cross the finish line despite several attempts. dpa
