Our honeymoon
Iqra and Bilal
Swat & Kalam
June 20267 nights
Seven nights in the mountains, and a sky so full of stars we stopped counting.
At the top, us
Lost in Ushu
The two of us
Three days after the rukhsati we drove north with the windows down and nothing planned but each other. Every night in Swat we went outside to look up. Every night there were more stars than the night before. This is our little constellation, one star for every place that held us.
Our constellation
Six stars, one sky
From Mingora up the Swat river to Kalam, into the forest and up to the lake at the top. Tap a star to go to it.
Our places
Star I
Mingora
Day 1Fizagat, on the river
Chai with our feet in the river
Six hours from Islamabad and the first thing we did was find the water. At Fizagat they put the charpais right in the river, so our first evening as a married couple began with cold feet and warm chai.
He ordered pakoras before the car had stopped.
Star II
Malam Jabba
Day 2Above the pines
The road that kept climbing
Up and up, past terraced fields and villages hanging off the hillside, with the whole valley opening underneath. At the top it was cold enough for one shawl to become a shawl for two.
Star III
Bahrain
Day 3Where two rivers meet
Trout by the water
A small town where a mountain stream rushes into the Swat. We walked the bazaar slowly, hand in hand, and ate trout on a balcony that hung right over the river.
The loudest, sweetest lunch of our lives.
Star IV
Kalam
Days 4–5Upper Swat
Falling asleep to the river
The road ends, the river turns white and the mountains wear snow. We stayed by the water and fell asleep both nights to the sound of it, and woke up both mornings already smiling.
Star V
Ushu forest
Day 5Kalam
A walk under the tall trees
Pines so tall the light came down in ribbons. We walked until the path ran out, then sat on a fallen tree with a thermos between us and did not need to say anything at all.
She wants to live here. He is still deciding.
Star VI
Mahodand
Days 6–7The lake of fish
The brightest star
A long bumpy road up the valley, and at the end of it a lake so clear you could see the fish. We hired a painted boat at sunset, and that night the sky over the lake was the fullest it had ever been.
The best night. We both say so.
In numbers
Seven nights of stars
- 7nights under one sky
- 6places that held us
- 312photos we took
- 1shawl, always shared
Memories
The moments in between
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Our song
A tune for the night
A short melody for the two of us, played softly in your browser. Tap to listen.
Plays only when you tap