Weddings

During our time in Nepal we’ve been to many weddings, both Hindu and Christian weddings, both of which look quite different to a western wedding, full of their own traditions. We did blog about one back in 2009, but we've been to plenty since then.

The bride, a colleague from KISC

We’ve never actually been to the wedding ceremony for a Hindu wedding, as these are usually just for closest friends and family, just the reception which usually happens on a different day. You arrive at the reception, go and meet the party, who are usually sat on thrones and give them a gift and your blessings. Then you socialise, while drinks and snacks are passed around. Often there is a room with loud music for those who enjoy a dance. Once you are done, you go and get your Dhal Bhat (rice and curry), and then leave.

You might be there for a few hours, but for that whole time the wedding party are sat receiving guests and gifts, looking unhappy (it’s a traditional requirement for the bride as you are required to be sad to be leaving your family), as literally hundreds of guests arrive. The largest wedding I went to had over 900 guests.

Another factor, strange to our western experience, is that most of the weddings I’ve been to I don’t know the bride or groom. We have usually been invited as we know the parents of one or the other. The first ever wedding we went to was our landlords niece's, and we'd only been in our flat a week at the time! It is very much tradition that you invite everyone you know to your child’s wedding. These can be very expensive events to cater a Dhal Bhat for several hundred people.

With the Bride and Groom at a recent wedding. The father
of the Bride is a colleague

The people group who traditionally hail from the Kathmandu valley are called Newari – and at these wedding receptions you don’t even get the groom! If you know the bride, then you are invited to the bride’s reception, which takes place a few days before the actual marriage ceremony. Only the bride’s friends and family are invited to the bride’s reception. Then a few day’s later, after the marriage ceremony is the grooms reception, which both bride and groom attend.

Christian weddings tend to be a mix of the traditional Nepali wedding and western weddings. On arrival there is usually the snacks, but then there is a wedding service, quite similar to a western service with vows and songs. The bride wears white as opposed to the traditional red sari and parades in at the start of the service, although they still sit on thrones at the front of the church. And of course afterwards there is the Dhal Bhat. You can’t have an event in Nepal without the Dhal Bhat.

Trekking

Friends on a trek

Early on in our time in Nepal we managed to do a few treks. We went to Annapurna Base Camp and trekked on the north side of the Himalayas. We even did a trek with Sam when he was about 18 months old, but apart from Dan joining the year 7 trek for activity week in 2015, we haven’t trekked for some years.

Several of our friends with similar aged or slightly older kids had done it though, and shared with us about how good it is and how well their kids tended to do. The secret – go with friends. Then it’s just friends running along a path together rather than an arduous walk.

Morning Views

So this Easter break we decided to venture out. We went with another family with similar aged children, 2 boys a year either side of Sam and a girl a year younger than Mim. We did a 3 day trek, walking for 4-5 hours each day, for 10 or so miles, through the hills just south of the Annapurna Mountains.

We reached a peak altitude of just over 2000m, had two days where we climbed about 500m during the day, and navigated probably a thousand steps. We had fantastic views of Annapurna South, touring above us at nearly 8,000 metres but only a few miles away. And we had a lot of fun. The kids, especially the boys, were hard to keep up with and the girls did great, Mim managed to walk every step.

Two highlights of the trek involved water. The first, at the peak of our trek was hot springs, which was a great way to relax after 2 days of walking enjoying fabulously warm water. The second was an impromptu dip in the freezing cold mountain stream on the last day, including finding a natural slide in the stream. Nepal really is an amazing place to grow up!