However, the poultry prized by the 45-year-old will not be intended for eating – the chickens are utilized in Sabung, a standard cockfighting competition during which villagers bet on the end result.
There have not been many chicken fights because the volcano erupted again last week. But now that his family is protected in an evacuation center, Kompyang now fears losing his only source of income.
I keep going back to the village to examine on my chickens and feed them.
“I need to continue to look after them to make sure they are healthy and ready to fight when the situation calms down,” he added.
The crater is about 75km from the coastal tourist hub of Kuta, so the chance to a lot of the 120,000 tourists stranded by an almost three-day airport closure earlier this week is comparatively small. But the danger is real for tens of hundreds of people that have already fled their homes across the volcano – which last erupted in 1963, killing about 1,600 people.
If one other major eruption occurs, as much as 100,000 individuals are prone to be forced to flee their homes, disaster officials said.
An additional concern for local officials is foreign “eruption hunters” who sneak into the red zone to catch up with to the bubbling mountain.
“We just wanted to see it,” said French tourist Anna Mangler, who was riding a bike together with her German companion when police prevented them from entering the restricted area.
“We’re here on vacation… so why not? Of course it’s scary, but it surely’ll be OK,” she said.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, urged others to reconsider their decision.
“We ask foreign tourists who enter the exclusion zone not to do so,” he said. “Yesterday, rocks fell from 4 km away from the crater, so it is really dangerous … Do not challenge nature.”
Watch: Mount Agung spews ash over Bali
Local authorities have arrange a special rescue team to offer immediate safety to hundreds of endangered animals. So far, some 8,200 pigs, cows and goats have been faraway from the world.
The slopes of Agung are the middle of cattle breeding within the region, providing a vital source of income for local communities. But the mountain can be a vital spiritual center for a lot of Bali’s mainly Hindu population.
Some people imagine that the eruption of the Agung volcano is a spiritual event and wish to entrust their fate and safety to God.
“I admit that we are having difficulty evacuating people,” Nugroho said. “Some people believe that the eruption of Mt Agung is a spiritual event and want to entrust their fate and safety to God. There are also elderly people who have completely surrendered to nature and refused to leave.”
Eight-year-old Hindu priest Jero Mangku Darma, who witnessed the 1963 eruption, said he was the one resister in Sebudi, a small community about 5 km from Agung.
“I don’t want to be evacuated. Why would I?” Darma asked, wearing a standard Balinese sarong, because the overwhelming smell of sulfur from the volcano filled the air. “I’ll stay here. Unless the volcano really erupts, then I’ll run away.”
Hundreds of people that fled back to their villages died within the 2010 eruption of Mt Merapi in Java – considered one of the world’s most energetic and dangerous volcanoes. But out of labor and wanting money, Wayan Sinta Presana said he would take his possibilities by coming back from the evacuation centre.
“There has been no construction for five days,” said the 49-year-old, whose home within the village of Pakraman Presana is near the mountain. “We spent money on food, but I have no new income. It’s very stressful. At home, at least I can ease my anxiety by looking after my birds.”
This article was published within the print edition of the South China Morning Post under the title: Villagers risk their lives within the shadow of a thundering volcano
