This was a very interesting day! We had the opportunity to visit a village where the villagers were very friendly and welcoming and put on a cultural display for us. I enjoyed wandering through the village and seeing how the people there lived. We were shown how they wove the cloth for the clothes they wore, how they pounded the rice with poles to break it down and then sifted it, and how they dried their meat in baskets hanging from their porches. In the photo below, the woman is wearing a facial paste made from rice.
Unlike Bali, which is mostly Hindu, this island is Muslim, so we did not see the intricate temples that we did earlier. But we were treated to the chance to witness a traditional wedding ceremony and then a water buffalo race through a rice paddy, which is basically mud!
The wedding couple were quite beautiful and performed a dance for us. At one point, the groom placed a branch of bougainvillea on the bride’s head which she then removed and threw blindly into the audience, something like our tradition of brides tossing their bouquets. It landed right in Mike’s lap, so I guess that is a good sign of some sort.
After the ceremony came the water buffalo races which were very exciting! The shaman sticks a wooden doll into the mud in the center of the paddy and each driver, who stands on a very thin wood triangle being pulled by a team of buffalo, drives the animals at high speed at the doll and tries to knock it down. You can see the winner below.
There were five teams competing, including one being driven by Adam, a young Australian who is one of the naturalists on board the ship. I was standing at the end of the paddy with a number of other spectators, hoping to get some good pictures as the teams raced towards me. All went well until Adam drove his team for his second run. Unfortunately, he didn’t know that until you drop the reins, the buffalo will keep running, and they tried to climb right up over the wall at the end of the paddy - right where I was standing! As they came up the wall, they brought the mud with them on their hooves, and guess where that ended up? Right! All over my clean beige pants and t-shirt. Mike gets flowers thrown at him and I get mud!!! So its back to the shower and more laundry goes out.
This evening was the Captain’s Welcome dinner and Mike and I were invited to sit with the Expedition Leader and his wife. They were very good company and it was a fun evening but I was in bed by 9:30 pm. These morning starts at 5:30 and 6 am are taking their toll on this night owl.