Pakistan
Invited to a traditional Pakistani wedding
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Johan Kruseman
Updated on 26 August 2024
Updated on 26 August 2024
I had no clue what to expect but changed my travel plans to be able to accept the invitation and just see what happens. Clearly from the start it was already different as in my country we would never invite a person who just happened to be in town that day. Also it wasn’t just one day but three, but I was up for the final day.
I was told that the king was coming today. Pretty confident my Pakistan knowledge was sufficient to know they don’t have a king, I looked puzzled, so my friend, who had invited me, quickly explained that the ones who get married are called king and queen for the day. So the king was coming only on the last day of his own wedding. Even more striking, it would be the first time ever he would see the queen. The queen was chosen by the family of the king.
At the official ceremony the king had to give the queen 10.000 rupees (€45) to show he can take care of her. He also had to sign an agreement to give her another 10.000 rupees when they would divorce but that seemed too much of a stretch as the king started to negotiate. At the end he settled in and the couple was married. Mixed feelings as the queen was in tears, realizing she had to leave her family and village.
After the whole ceremony, the whole village (everybody was invited) enjoyed a good meal of goat dipped in yakmilk-hummus: the old men in one house, all women in a second house and the rest in a third house. I will take it as a compliment that a man was heavily waving that I had to quickly come to join the old-men house.
The wedding ended with a speaker blasting loud music into the peaceful valley where men were making some dance moves.
What another incredible experience in a land that doesn’t stop giving.
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Traveled route: Islamabad, Gilgit, Hunza Valley, Aliabad, Karimabad, Gulmit, Borith lake, Patundas glacier, Husseini bridge, Passu Cones, Sost, Chapursan Valley, Zuhdkhun, BabaGhundi shrine, Khunjerab Pass, Attabad Lake, Gulkin, Minapin, Rakaposhi Basecamp, Railkor bridge, Fairy Meadows, Nanga Parbat basecamp, Lahore, Walled City, Sunehri mosque, Wazir Khan mosque, Data Darbar, Lahore fort, Haveli restaurant, Badshahi mosque, Shalimar gardens, Wagah border
× Invited to a traditional Pakistani wedding
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