BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN: A MEAL AND A WALKING TOUR OF THE CITY

After our drive into the mountains, we came back to Bishkek, the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan and once a rest stop on the Silk Road. 

Like travellers of old, our caravan also visited a caravansary in Bishkek for refueling. 

They made us very comfortable . . . 

. . . and then started bringing out dish after dish of delicious-looking food. By the way, see the tissue box at the bottom of the picture below? Those are napkins. They are just about the same weight and strength as what we think of as cheap tissues. They weren't super effective.

We had eaten a meal similar to this in Almaty, where we had filled up on the many dishes initially placed on the table, not realizing that they were but appetizers.

Yeah, we made that same mistake again. The food kept coming and coming until I was too comatose to take any pictures other than one of this rice and lamb dish: 

As had happened at our meal in Almaty, some local culture was shared with us as we ate. I LOVE the clothes:

 This group sang and played for us for a while:

I was expecting something like the group we had heard in Almaty--lovely vocals, soaring harmonies, tender tones. Nope. Welcome to Kyrgyzstan Blue Grass:

The quartet was eventually joined by a lithe, limber young lady who danced in front of the stage:

It was all good, but not nearly as good as the final course of the meal, a thick, rich, chocolate drink that reminded me of the hot chocolate made in Spain and used as a churro dip. Oh my, was it ever tasty!

Later that day many in our group suffered from, how shall I say it...intestinal distress, and for some reason there were some who believed this heavenly concoction was the source. No way, Jose. I refuse to believe it.

And by the way, I did note in my journal that this restaurant actually had toilets with seats and seat covers, a first on the trip.

After our meal we went out for a quick walking tour of the city. Our sightseeing opportunities had been shortened by the kerfuffle at the Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan borders, as well as by what most of us thought was a lunch that, although delicious and entertaining, went on much too long.

Bishkek and the surrounding area was part of the Russian and then Soviet empire from 1860 to 1991, and those 130 years are evident in the structure and architecture of the city. However, there are some decidedly unRussian places in town. This area, for example, looks like a Mexican border town:

 , , , especially when I zoom in:

Speaking of zooming in, it's always amazing what you see when you look closely at something:

Whenever I zoomed in . . . 

. . . it got more interesting. This is Ala-Too Square, the central square of Bishkek. I wonder why the net is strung over the courtyard? Maybe there is an extra explosive seagull population?

This very square building is the National Museum of Kyrgyzstan. :

Zoom in on the statue and you'll see that it is the national hero Manas, who is the subject of a massive epic poem (we're talking 500,000 lines) that has been passed down among the Kyrgyz people for centuries. He was placed in this spot in 2011 to commemorate Kyrgyzstan's 20th anniversary of independence from the Soviet Union:

In the past, a statue of Lenin occupied the spot where Manas now rides his horse. However, Lenin was taken down in 1984, but then re-installed in the backyard of the museum in 2003:

When I zoom in on Lenin, I see a weird resemblance to a similarly posed statue of Brigham Young that stands in downtown Salt Lake City:

Speaking of statues, zoom in on this one . . . 

It's those famous German collaborators Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. What are they doing here? Perhaps having another chat about class struggle?

No more Russians or Germans. This famous poet and novelist, Aaly Tokombaev (1904-1988), was a native of Kyrgyzstan:

Another zoom shot:

Is this a mausoleum? A picnic area? A skate park? According to my journal, this was the first graffiti I noticed on the trip:

What is it with Ferris wheels in Central Asia? Every park seems to have one.

The Parliament Building, built in 1936, is classic plodding Soviet architecture:

In contrast, the Opera and Ballet Theater, completed in 1955, has a Neoclassical design, more appropriate for its use:

And then there is this structure that looks somewhat like a yurt. Very Kyrgyz-y:

That wrapped up our quick trip to Kyrgyzstan. It was one of the two countries our Silk Road Express Train had not included on their tour before (the other being Tajikistan), and I wonder if they will make it a permanent addition. I feel like we got a pretty superficial view of the country, but we were there long enough to get at least a little feel for a few of its unique qualities. I wrote in my journal that overall, "Kyrgyzstan feels more Russian ( a lot more) than Kazakhstan, and more embracing of its Soviet past."

Back on the train:

Views from the window in our cabin:

Zooming in:


Our train route took us back into Kazakhstan, and this time it took 1 hour and 10 minutes to cross back into Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan.  This time the border guards directed us to pull out a suitcase, open it, and rummage through it. They also came through with a narcotics-sniffing dog that walked into our room and briefly nosed around. We spent the rest of the night clickety-clacking through Kazakhstan on our way to a morning border crossing into Uzbekistan.