Stick fighting, power shower waterfalls, Sasak village

We did not have much planned for this day, but it was way better than we expected. 

We lost an hour traveling from Central Java so  the day started off bright and early with banana pancakes and a plan to hike to some waterfalls. Now we are 12 hours different from home, so we are exactly on the other side of the world from home. Someone told us about a traditional Sasak village that was close, so we decided to check that out too.

Banana pancakes for breakfast

Walking through the village of Senaru

Packing up our stuff

Kids playing soccer - barefoot

In the Sasak village, we learned that there are about 20 families that live there and in each house there are at least 6 people. They grow most of their own food including coffee and cocoa. We later learned from our Mt Rinjani guide that inside of the homes, there are no rooms. Everyone eats, sleeps, and hangs out in the same room. This village did not have electricity until 1997.

Drying cocoa beans

Home of a traditional Sasak family 

A street in the Sasak village 

Cocoa seed pod growing 

Dried coffee beans

A coffee bean processer

The laundry is so colorful here

After checking out the Sasak village, we headed for the waterfalls. We were shocked that we were the only ones at the waterfalls (a Dutch couple showed up while we were there). Being under the waterfalls was quite the power shower. Dan said it was a really good massage. On our hike back from the waterfalls, we saw lots of people going to out them which made us very happy about our timing. The waterfalls were a super fun experience!

Part of the trail down to the waterfalls

It's confirmed - Kara really is an angel 😇

Sendang Gile waterfall 

We bought some fried bananas at the waterfall 

Tiu Kelep waterfall 

It was sweet to have the waterfalls all to ourselves while we were there

The water was so strong coming down 

Interesting part of the trail out to the waterfalls...

We saw our first monkeys of the trip

These kids were super friendly

The kids wanted to fist bump with us

The guys play lots of chess here

Motorbikes are used for everything

After the waterfalls and Sasak village, we went to our next accommodation. For $20/night, our place had a pool, incredible mountain view, A/C, hot shower, and included breakfast. 

Our accommodations - sweet!

Mount Rinjani is hiding behind the clouds

Dan was a happy camper with his french fries

Lunch was super yummy. Mine was veggies with peanut sauce and Dan had some sort of coconut thing

To cap off our day, we had the opportunity to see stick fighting. This was possibly the most interesting cultural experience I have ever had. Our guide for Rinjani told us about it and when we asked him about getting there, he said we would never find it because it is not on Google maps. It happens only on Tuesdays (so we were lucky) and it is not something to which tourists go. We got rides from our guide and his buddy on the back of their motorbikes and we were off.

Stick fighters are professionals athletes who train for the sport. Traditionally, each fight goes on until one of the fighters is bleeding from their head. Locals believe that the more blood there is, the better chance of rain there will be. Today, each round goes for a certain amount of time and there are four rounds per fight. During the fights, the fighters hit each other with sticks and use a shield to protect themselves. They also dance (almost like a swagger) a bit if there is a pause in the action. At the end of each fight, the fighters must embrace each other. The fighters are super tough - it is a brutal sport.

The evening began with young boys from the audience being "coerced" into fighting each other. Most of them very clearly refused. It seemed a little Hunger Games-ish. Then, there were two more fights that appeared to be just men volunteering from the audience. After the "warm up" fights came the six professional fights with fighters from 2 different teams. There were a bunch of traditional and ceremonial activities that happened that we did not understand. After each round in a fight, audience members would dance out into the ring and drop money in the middle which would eventually go to the fighters. The better the fights, the more money people put in the middle. There was traditional live music that interacted with the fighters and the audience.

The ticket booth - it seemed a little shady to us

The musicians - the music interacted with the fighters and audience

Asking young boys to "volunteer" to stick fight from the audience

A young "volunteer" stick fighter - seemed kind of like the Hunger Games

Getting the young boy ready for the fight (I'm not sure how much the dodot cloth is going to protect his head)

Volunteer fighters

Some of the wounds during a fight 

Opponents must embrace after a match is over

"Coaches" and referee talking before the main fights. Begin

A coach/trainer with one of his athletes before a fight

Some of the stick fighting includes a sort of dance and intimidation tactics

There were lots of Indonesian fans there - not tourists (people seemed to want to chat with us - everyone was very friendly)

One of the coaches/trainers

This fighter was selected for the next match. He is mentally preparing himself.

Audience members dance out into the ring between rounds and drop money in the middle which goes to the fighters

One of the people in charge collecting the money put in the middle of the ring

A coach with his athlete before a round

This fighter has just been given a stick and shield which means he is the next one to go

A coach with his athlete before a round

Some of the women in the audience are laughing because this fighter just had to take a break after getting hit in between the legs

Some of the wounds this fighter got during his match

Fighters embracing after the match

A fighter mentally preparing for his match

A fighter working the crowd in between rounds

Fighters and coaches embracing after the final match

What an interesting day! Photos do not do it justice. Being here to experience the energy of the crowd, the intensity of the fighters, the power of the waterfalls - all of it - is so awesome.

Note: I have videos to to put in the blog, but I will do it when I get home and have a computer to use. It is tough to do from my phone. Here are some videos from the day in the meantime: