Bishkek to Tashkent - Monday, Sept 13

 American University of Central Asia (AUCA) students

 ACUA student and one of our guides

 ACUA main auditorium

 AUCA student commons area

 AUCA computer lab

 Scott and his new best friend, Beka

 Blue-steepled Russian Orthodox Church

 Babushka's inside church

Kyrgyzstan flag


Woke to beautiful sunny but cool weather in Bishkek. Regretted not bringing a sweater with me as we walked. Were extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to tour the American University of Central Asia (AUCA) which is a Liberal Arts University that is accredited in the US. Financial backing for the AUCA is via George Soros. As such, AUCA has a relationship with Bard College in NY. The new President of AUCA (in place only three weeks) was the former Dean of the Graduate School at Northwestern Univ. 1,200 day students matriculate at the college and we had the chance to speak to a few. They were quite a sophisticated and intelligent bunch. All classes are taught in English. Scott stopped in at a math/economics class, which was great! The instructor was doing a linear algebra problem at first, then segued into a supply and demand curve, plotting data points and then cycled back to the math with a least squares regression on the data, all at rapid pace, with nobody seeming to be lost! We both made a new friend in the computer lab (where by the way they have WiFi) named Beka whose Kyrgyz parents lived outside Washington, DC where he was born. Beka holds a US green card and hopes to return to the US after he gets his degree in business. One major problem facing Kyrgyzstan is the drain of young talent from K. to other countries (primarily Russia) due to lack of employment opportunities. The system seems to favor friends and family in the old-fashioned Soviet way. This needs to change before K. can make significant strides forward.

Afterward we stopped in a local department store for a taste of local color. It was interesting to see the ground floor full of electronics (including ipods), the second with makeup and clothes... I always enjoy seeing what goods are available for purchase.  I bought two felt hats with flaps that hang over the ears (a la Cocoon) that I look forward to wearing in winter when the wind whips through Central Park.

Our last stop before heading to the airport was a Russia Orthodox church. It was full of very Russian-looking babushkas singing and praying. We learned that services are conducted in a language called Old Church Slavonic which few people are able to understand; they merely recite and read. This explains why a woman near me had so much trouble following the text and needed to repeatedly ask a neighbor where to pick up the text.

Took an evening flight to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Were told to expect long customs and immigration delays but once again got pretty lucky and arrived at our Intercontinental Hotel (where there is beautiful WiFi in the lobby) around 10pm.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - Sunday, Sept 12

 The movie theater in Bishkek

 Main square

 Scott and Larry in front of the White House (where 80 people were killed in 2005), the seat of Kyrgyzstan government

(left to right) Peace Corp representative, our guide Gary Wintz and Mercy Corp volunteer

Woke to rainy, chilly weather. Last night as we were eating dinner we'd noticed a sudden temperature drop but inside the restaurant we'd thought it was air conditioning. But when we stepped outside we realized that a sudden cool front had moved in.

Larry, Scott and I decided to skip the mountain hike and stay in Bishkek for exploration. Our primary destination is a museum just across the street that our guidebook describes as having "eye-popping felt rugs". When we reached the main entry door at around 10:30am the museum did not appear to be open and we were heartbroken. We decided to return at various points in the day to see if we could get in. As we walked we got progressively colder. I was wearing only a t-shirt and rain jacket which was not enough. I longed for the fleece sweater I'd packed for hiking that was back in my room. But at least it wasn't raining.

Sunday morning in Bishkek is a quiet time. We walked around numerous government buildings (Bishkek is the capitol of Kyrgyzstan) all built in the Soviet grand architecture style around the 1980s. In fact all the major buildings in Bishkek, including museums, seem to have been built around this time and we suspect that after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 90's, no more maintenance has been done on them. At Ala-Too Square (formerly Lenin Sq in 1991) there are grand buildings next to ones that are in a complete state of ruin, or seemingly unoccupied and the grounds overgrown and unmaintained.

Walked past the "White House", the seat of the Kyrgyzstan government, including the president's office and the parliament. In Panfilov Park we saw men setting up rides in a children's park, probably set to open on Sunday afternoon. Stopped in at the Frunze House-Museum. Frunze was born in Bishkek in 1885 and eventually commanded the Red Guards who occupied the Moscow Kremlin in October 1917. He was a major player in the Russian Civil War and later led the Bolshevik forces that seized Khiva and Bukhara in 1920. He replaced Trotsky as War Commissar and according to the book "moulded the Red Army into a potent tool of the Revolution". He died in 1925 "during an officially ordered stomach operation" (ordered by Stalin...!!)

Wound back around to the State Museum of Fine Arts and this time got inside. This is not a museum to go to for paintings, which is what is mostly there. But on the second floor is a nice, well lit room containing Kyrgyz embroidered and felted textiles, plus a few pieces of nice nomadic jewelry. No photos were allowed. Of course if the stout female guard had not been so attentive I would have tried for a few surreptitious shots, but that was not to be.

Returned to the hotel for a quick lunch and at 2pm went downstairs to the Hyatt spa for a sport massage. This reminds me to talk about how outstanding this hotel is. I have never experienced the level of service anywhere else that I've experienced here. The front desk helped me several times in my attempts to connect to the internet (never happened) plus several other things. I plan to write a letter to Hyatt and to the management of this hotel to praise the staff in the restaurant, the front desk, the spa...it's amazing. I don't know where they received training but to a person they are excellent. I really hate to leave here.

We had two quest speakers come to talk with us before dinner; one from the Peace Corp and the other from Mercy Corp, both of whom do work here in Kyrgyzstan. Programs include micro-finance given primarily to women for agriculture (really the only major revenue generator here other than gold mining). He told us that in Kyrgyzstan in rural areas the population can be 65% women because the men go to other countries to get jobs. Unemployment is a major issue here.

I'm almost embarrassed to write that after dinner I ran back down to the spa to have an outstanding 90 minute THAI massage (Cliffy, I hear you calling).  The tiniest little woman bent me into a pretzel and stretched me way past my comfort zones.  I've never screamed ouch so many times but it hurt so good, particularly after several glasses of vodka.  I can't describe how truly heavenly it was.  Why don't I do this at home?

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan - Sat Sept 11

 Hyatt Bishkek (I got in trouble for taking this photo...)

 Our room at the excellent Hyatt Bishkek

 Image of the "Golden Man"

 Ala-Too Square

 Larry takes note of yurt decor at the former Lenin Museum

 Yurt interior

 Ronald Regan depicted riding a Pershing missle on the ceiling of the former Lenin Museum

 Students outside the American University

 Bishkek girls

 The cutest little boy in the world.  He was full of joy.

Kyrgic traditional musicians


Today we experienced the first of many boarder crossings to come. Walked from immigrations in Kazakhstan across a raging river to immigrations on the other side to enter Kyrgyzstan. We'd been prepped to expect long delays while our passports were being processed but our actual experience was not bad at all. Apparently Sasha plied the boarder guards with boxes of chocolate (the other currency of bribery in this part of the world) and they were sufficiently placated to let us through quickly. Kyrgyzstan is the country which has recently had much political trouble and disharmony (to put it politely) between the ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in the southern part of the country. Bishkek is located in the extreme north.

Arrived in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan at around 2pm. Checked into a very deluxe Hyatt hotel and ate a completely unnecessary but delicious three course lunch. We're astonished by the level of training of the hotel staff here and their excellent English.

At first blush, Bishkek, while far less affluent than Almaty, appears to be an interesting and appealing town. Our map suggests that it is quite walkable and we're considering spending the day tomorrow exploring in lieu of the day hike (while promises to be much like yesterday's).

Went to see a former Lenin Museum which is now The State Museum. It contains many of the decorations of the old museum including an entire floor of massive bronze relief sculptures depicting the rise of the communist party and huge statues of Lenin in assorted poses. One crazy left-over is a painting of a world leader dressed as a cowboy (read: Reagan) astride a Pershing missile. The upper floor of the museum was much more interesting to me personally because it was ethnographic. We saw lovely Kyrgyz textiles including a charming applique cradle cover, felt work, gorgeous coral and silver jewelry and displays explaining the history of the Kyrgyz peoples.

Dinner at a local restaurant where a small group of musicians performed traditional Kyrgyz instruments. A woman played a three stringed instrument akin to a duma. A man played several different types of wooden flutes. We learned they both are graduates of the conservatory and play many western orchestral instruments, but have interest in reviving Kyrgyz music which was suppressed during Soviet times.

Hyatt Bishkek is wonderful.  Everything is much less expensive here than in Almaty.  Took an innocent photo of the hotel exterior and a (hotel) security guard came running out to tell me that photos are not permitted.  I showed him what I took and he let me keep the picture.  Apparently Hyatt is quite security conscious, particularly given recent uprisings in the south and even problems in Bishkek itself in the spring.

Kyrgyzstan factoids: 94% of the country is mountainous, avg. elevation is 2,750 meters, 40% over 3000 meters, 75% under permanent snow and glaciers. 80 ethnic groups: 66% Kyrgyz, 14% Uzbec, 10% Russian, plus minorities like the Dungan, Ukrainian and Uyghur.