Kite Fighting

On most afternoons the sky is full of fighting kites. It’s a national past time to watch them dart and chase each other across the sky. These pictures are from the front porch of our apartment. Kids fly their kites from roof tops (sometimes two or three stories high) because they are the most wide open places in the kampung. They cut each other’s lines using special string made from glass ground up from old light bulbs and mixed with paint. They hand make each one using thin paper and bamboo, so they only cost pennies each. Even if you can’t afford to buy or make one, usually one person’s loss is another’s gain unless a tree or power line snags it on the way down.