The sound of an approaching helicopter broke the conversation between Bekh and the guesthouse owner. They were discussing about the death of a Caucasian man just a few hours ago.Usually, helicopters are use for ferrying trekkers. Those who are rich. On occasion casualties and even rarer, a body.
It is interesting how news spread among the villages in the mountain. People stop and chat and exchange news. Apparently, this Caucasian in his 50's had suffered a heart attack. He died instantaneously.
The rain comes on intermittently. We start and stop walking for a couple of times. The change in weather was impressively quick. It could be sunny, cloudy, raining and hailing, all in a short time of 10 mins.
Call it coincident or what, as the chopper approaches the rain eerily turned into hail. Very timely when we're talking about the meaning of rain in the event of a death. It has the same effect of a black out at the suspense of a ghost story telling session.
At a Buddhist/Taoist funeral wake in Singapore, on the day of sending the decease to the crematorium, raining has its meaning. Some interpret it as the deceased is sad, others claims that its a good omen. Perhaps a sign to indicate his willingness to part with the world.
Nepali regards raining in the event of a death as a bad omen. The deceased is unhappy or even angry.
As for me, I don''t believe in any of these. I empathise with the family of the deceased. Must have been a shock and blow to the family. Holidays and travelling are meant to be happy. No one would have expected death.
The chopper landed at Ghorepani to ferry the body back to Pokhara (or Kathmandu). Soon after it flew past us, the clouds cleared and make way for the sun.
We hit the road again.
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