نيپال: ٽيگ 2

Second day - two weddings

So the said excursion was the visit of two weddings, which I didn't find bad either.

At the first wedding, a real marriage took place, at the second one the couple was already married (living in the USA and got married there) and celebrated with all relatives.

By the way USA: I learned from a local that it is the dream of many young Nepalese to emigrate to the USA. Since I'm tired of the Trump topic, I didn't ask if that still applies currently.

Overall, the weddings consisted of countless rituals and a lot of food. Sometimes when watching documentaries/photos, I wondered why bridal couples in India always look so unhappy at their wedding. Now I know (I equate weddings in India and Nepal): when we arrived at the wedding at nine in the morning, the bride was already there and was guided through numerous rituals by a priest (I don't know if you call him that). The groom arrived about two hours later, after which both had to sit on a kind of throne and were photographed by all guests - really by ALL and there are many. Then there were things like foot washing - again by almost all guests, changing clothes of the bride - she then puts on the dress that the groom bought for her - and other things that I didn't quite understand. In the end, the whole thing lasted until about five in the evening, and the bridal couple didn't even get anything to eat until then, while we kept eating! I mean, who wouldn't be in a bad mood then...

After the bridal couple was then carried out on the back and left together, we drove to the next celebration.

There, the whole thing went a bit more relaxed: snacks, buffet, and the bridal couple stood on a stage for photos all evening. At least they got something to eat at eight o'clock.

Since Santosh and I were the first ones home, he invited me for a beer in a tiny little "local" where a few other locals were. There we already made plans about how I could best get to Pokhara. Luckily, Santosh runs a trekking company and knows all about traveling in Nepal.

It was really an exciting but long day for me. The many new things make me tired pretty quickly, and I still have to get used to the time difference. I can't quite say that I feel comfortable yet, because it's just a completely different world and I always have in the back of my mind that I might do something wrong, since the greetings, gestures, and traditions are completely different as well. But I feel well taken care of and not left alone with Santosh and his family - after all, they already call me 'sister' :)

The rest will hopefully come with time.

By the way, there are more photos of the wedding on my homepage ;)