Batak wedding

I borrowed one of the guesthouse's scooters and went to the next town, Tomok, for lunch. It's a town full of souvenirs for weekend visitors from Medan. On the way back I stopped briefly at a Batak wedding (to take the extra photo) and a local lady asked me to give her a lift back to her home in Tuk Tuk. She was dressed up for the wedding and I think she said she'd delivered a blanket for the ceremony.

In the evening I met up with the same group from last night. A local guy said he was going to the wedding party and asked if we wanted to join him. In the end only Chhavi (the Indian guy from the group) and I went to the wedding but we're glad we did. By the time we got there, it was in the latter stages but we still got involved.

Of the many strange and wonderful things we saw, the highlight was being invited by a group of women to join in one of the wedding rituals. We got in a line and the lady at the front held a bowl filled with rice and money. The bride, groom and their family were on the dance floor and we had to slowly chase them around the dance floor, trying to give them the bowl. We had to dance while holding our hands together to pray but moving our hands up and down, while the family had to walk backwards, backing away from us. This went on for a good five minutes! I assume the idea is that we are trying to give them the offering but they're trying to be polite and refuse it. That is until they finally accept it and the ritual is over.