Friday Markets, Forts and Da Bulls!

This is my 100th post on the United Arab Emirates!  Wow!  This is my 5th year here!

This weekend, I was looking forward to see what this "bull pushing" was all about.  Would it be like the cow-tipping I had always heard about growing up?  For those of you not in the know, cow-tipping is a favorite pastime of redneck teenagers that sneak up on sleeping cows and tip them over.

I really hoped this would not be like that.

But first, we would stop at the Friday Market on the way to Fujairah.

Fresh fruits for sale.  I hate fruit.

Coconuts, boiled corn, and cotton candy!  I hate coconuts (it's a fruit) but love me some cotton candy!

This is an ancient petroglyph of a man holding his game that he caught.

We drove up to the Al Hayl House.  It is one of the most famous palaces in Fujairah.  It used to be headquarters/home for the ruling Al Sharqi family.  It has been renovated and is an example of a large fortified courtyard house.   Mangrove wood was used in the building materials of this house unlike palm dates that are normally used on this side of the mountains.  The house is surrounded by a village made up of a different tribe.  The last original member left around 1979.

Inside the Al Hayl house with its mangrove wood accents.

Finally it was time for "Da Bulls," or the bloodless bull pushing which is a type of bovine sumo wrestling.  This is a fairly new tradition that started with 25 or 30 owners in the 80s, to about 60 today.

Two contenders, but who will emerge victorious?

Humpbacked Brahman bulls cost over $3,000 each, and an additional $1,000/month to care for them.  The more a bull wins, the more valuable it becomes.

The contests begin each Friday at sunset. The Brahmans, which have characteristically floppy ears, snort, lock horns and kick dirt inside the arena. If one bull is too strong and risks hurting his rival, men rush into the arena to pull the beasts apart. The bull that pushes his opponent the furthest is the winner. While a fence and metal barrier surround the arena to stop rogue bulls from running down the street, most spectators still prefer to watch the excitement inside the ring.

I managed to catch the best fight of the day here!  Check out the 1:00 mark!

Another good match!

Pulling the bulls apart

Catching crabs, but it looks like they caught more moon jellies!

Just use a truck to straighten out your nets!

Selfie at the beach!