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Traveller Blog: Our Himalayan Wedding

By Robin Bullock, with Susie Selfridge

In this special blog post, Robin Bullock and Susie Selfridge share the remarkable story of their wedding, which took place during our Everest Base Camp trek in October. What began as a hopeful idea turned into a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

We’re proud to have played a part in their special moment!

The Dream Begins

Susie and I had discussed how nice it would be to get married whilst on the Everest Base Camp trek for a few months leading up to our 11th October departure with Action Challenge, but really felt it was probably just a pipe dream. In the last couple of weeks before departure, the WhatsApp group chat was set up and we were introduced to our trek leader, Elaine. We thought we had nothing to lose, so sent Elaine a message explaining our wishes, fully expecting a reply of “no chance”! Imagine our surprise when the message came back, “Oh that sounds exciting, leave it with me”! Little did we know at this stage what a remarkable individual our trek leader was going to be.

So we met up with the group at Gatwick Airport on 11th October and headed off to Nepal with nervous anticipation and excitement. Just a week or so before, news reports were of trekkers being rescued from the Everest Region in heavy snow, so all thoughts and prayers were for a good weather window for our trek – how blessed we were going to be.

Elaine explained to us that she would not know if a wedding would be possible until we reached Namche Bazaar a couple of days into the trek, where we would stay for two nights to acclimatise. Following the exhilarating flight to Lukla, the trek was underway. The clear blue skies and warm sunshine, along with scenery that simply took the breath away, were just incredible. We had to keep pinching ourselves that this was really happening – we were walking in the Himalayas.

A Wedding in Namche

Day 2 of the trek was a tough day with a long ascent after lunch, taking in the spectacular Hilary Suspension Bridge (don’t look down!), and late afternoon we reached Namche Bazaar. Namche is an amazing place, a bustling “town” that is the Sherpa Capital. Around 6pm that evening, Elaine summoned us over and declared, “It’s on, 8am tomorrow morning at the monastery”! So this was it – we were getting married in the morning.

Elaine explained we would need to provide offerings to the monastery (fruit, biscuits, etc.) as well as white scarves for us and anyone in the group we would like to come along to the ceremony. As it was very early in the trek, we were only just getting to know the other group members, so just said that anyone who would like to come along is more than welcome. Imagine our surprise when all 34 members of the group, along with the Sherpas, all wanted to attend. Elaine leapt into action, Challenge Anika style, hurtling around the shops of Namche sorting out everything we needed for the ceremony.

The wedding day started early; the group wanted to watch a sunrise over the mountains surrounding Namche, so at half past five we set off up the hill to the helipads sitting above the monastery, arriving in plenty of time to see the first glimpses of sunlight touching the high peaks surrounding us – it really was a moving sight. We then trekked back down to the teahouse for breakfast before heading back up the hill again to the monastery for 8am.

We were greeted by the Lama and everyone took their places. Susie and I sat in the centre, cross-legged in front of a low bench. Our offerings were given and we were ready to begin. However, it was pointed out that two bottles of beer were required for the service – something we had missed. A Sherpa was quickly dispatched and reappeared minutes later with two beers – so now we could begin. The ceremony was captivating, the chanting by the Lama quite mesmerising as he burned his incense and rang his bell. Our Sherpa explained to us what was happening as the ceremony progressed and kept us in line with what we needed to be doing. Red threads were tied around our necks and the white scarves draped over us. The beer was poured, which we had to sip at the same time before we then had to offer a sip to all our guests – every guest was to take a drink or it would bring bad luck on us; we didn’t hear any complaints from the guests! We were then declared husband and wife – for seven lives due to the Buddhist belief in reincarnation. We exchanged rings and everyone burst into applause. It really was the most surreal but amazing experience.

All our guests were then presented with the same red threads and white scarves that we had received (I think the whole group kept those red threads on for the remainder of the trek), and we filed back out of the monastery for photos, including a great group shot.

Everest Views and Brownies

It’s 9am, and already we have watched a sunrise and got married – but there was still work to be done. It was our acclimatisation day, so it was crucial that we gained some height before returning down to Namche. We headed up the hill to the Tenzing Norgay Sherpa Heritage Centre, a fantastic facility celebrating the Sherpa culture and achievements of Sherpa climbers. It was here that we were given the ultimate wedding gift – our first sighting of Everest, another pinch-me moment.

The uphill trekking then continued to Sagarmatha Next, a sustainability project highlighting the issue of waste in the mountain regions and promoting recycling and waste removal. There was also a great coffee shop with amazing brownies! Finally, we returned down the hill to Namche and a well-earned dinner.

Our wedding really will be a day we will never forget, and we hope it also added to our group’s experience and memories of the trek. This was only day three – and we still had five more days until we reached Base Camp. What an adventure!!!!