Makepung

When: the race season runs from about July to November, with heats on Sunday mornings and finals for the Jembrana Regent’s Cup and the Governor’s Cup; dates change every year.

Where: circuits around the Jembrana regency of West Bali, near the town of Negara, including Sanghyang Cerik at Tuwed, Delod Berawah, Mertasari and Samblong.

Don’t miss: the start of a heat, when two pairs of buffalo, bells clanging and crowns nodding, thunder off the line with their jockeys balanced upright behind them.

The name comes from kepung, to chase. The races grew out of farm work in the 1930s, when Jembrana farmers ploughing their wet rice fields began to race their buffalo teams against each other, the driver riding on the wooden lampit plough. In 1960 the farmers formed a racing organisation with two rival teams that still compete today: Ijo Gading Timur, racing under a red flag, and Ijo Gading Barat, under a green one. The ploughs gave way to small two-wheeled carts carved and painted in Balinese style, and the races moved from muddy paddies to dirt tracks laid out among the fields. A version run in wet rice fields, makepung lampit, keeps the older form alive.

Each team is a pair of water buffalo, the kerbau pepadu, yoked to a cart, with the jockey, or sais, standing or half-crouching on it and urging the animals on with a stick. The buffalo are dressed for the occasion with coloured cloth, ornate headpieces and a large bell, the gerondongan, round their necks, and some race days include a best-dressed competition for the animals. Pairs race against each other on a U-shaped circuit that starts and finishes at the same line. Crossing the line first is not enough: the leaders must also stay at least 10 metres ahead of the chasers, and if the pair behind closes the gap to less than 10 metres, they win.

Hundreds of buffalo pairs take part across a season, divided into classes, and the overall result is tallied between the two teams. Owners raise and train their buffalo for the races, which have helped keep farming and buffalo herding alive in the regency.

Makepung runs as a season rather than a single festival. Heats are held roughly every two weeks from about July to November, usually on Sunday mornings, rotating between circuits around Jembrana, and the season builds to the finals for the Jembrana Regent’s Cup (also called the Bupati Cup or Jembrana Cup) and the Governor’s Cup. The schedule and venues are set each year, so ask your hotel or a local guide in West Bali for the coming Sunday’s location. Racing starts early in the morning, and the action is best in the first few hours.

The circuits are scattered among the rice fields around Negara, the main town of Jembrana, on the road between Denpasar and the Java ferry port at Gilimanuk. From Denpasar I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport the drive west along the main coast road takes several hours, so it is far easier to stay nearby the night before. The surf beach at Medewi is the most popular base on this coast, and the circuits can be hard to find on your own, so arrange a driver or ask your hotel to set up a visit.

• Get there early: the first heats start soon after breakfast and the heat builds quickly on the open tracks.
• Watch from behind the barriers or the raised edges of the fields. The buffalo come past at speed and can swerve.
• Bring a hat, sunscreen and water; shade around the circuits is limited.
• Pair the races with Pura Rambut Siwi, the cliff-top temple near Negara, or continue west to West Bali National Park and Menjangan Island.
• Check the race calendar shortly before you go, as venues and dates change from year to year.