Postcard from Bishkek

My father was a trade union official and, even if I say it myself, somewhat of a “barrack room lawyer”.  Years later, when I was to follow in his footsteps and also became a trade union official, one of the lessons he taught me proved to be invaluable: “Get it in writing.” “If all you’ve […]

The other day I came across an interesting map on the internet … While Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, and the Mothman might get most of the attention on land, there are plenty of cryptozoological myths surrounding the US’s lakes, rivers, and swamps as well … Swamp Thing may well be a comic character (sorry, character in […]

Not everyone likes cats – although it is sometimes hard to imagine – given the amount of Cat photos and videos posted on social media outlets like Facebook and Youtube. I obviously like cats – I have a numbers and often refer to them in my postcards. At the moment I have four, (we have […]

In Russia, today, (15th August), is the professional holiday of Archaeologists.   When I saw that I thought I would go looking for the Kyrgyz equivalent … and, to my surprise, I couldn’t find one. That struck me as a little odd because, although archaeological excavations can be of value to any period of history, they […]

There are some visitors from the National Geographic Magazine up at Lake Issyk Kul at the moment, taking part in an Underwater archaeological expedition.  Although they may not have the place entirely to themselves, there wont be that many tourists getting in their way despite the fact that Issyk Kul is a major tourist zone […]

Situated 10 km to the South of Tokmok – stands the Burana tower.  It’s a favourite spot for day trips from Bishkek and we often visit it on tours on the way between Bishkek and Issyk Kul or Naryn.  To be honest, it’s quite a while since I have been there myself, (over a year), […]

Recently, I received an email from a former client, who happens to be a Professor of History.  We have exchanged emails on a number of topics but this time she was particularly interested in the “sunken cities of Lake Issyk Kul”. Lake Issyk Kul, as well as being the center of Kyrgyzstan’s tourism industry and […]

Last week I came across some reports about a new archaeological find in Southern Kyrgyzstan: Dinosaur-Era Shark Nursery Found Oldest Shark Nursery Found—Predators Lived in Lakes? Teeny teeth indicate ancient shark nurseries 230-million-year-old teeth reveal sharks’ adorable origins Sharks were once small, harmless fish – Indian Express and Unearthed shark nursery could be oldest ever. Now, although […]

During the week, I noticed an article on the AkiPress news service announcing that a large statue of the Buddha had been found outside Bishkek during archaeological excavations.  Interestingly, it was quoting a report from a Russian news agency, RIA Novosti. The clay statue was almost twice life size and was found by archaeologists during the excavation of a […]

About eight kilometres East of the city of Kant in Northern Kyrgyzstan lies the modern village of Krasnaya Rechka, (“Red River”).  This is the site of the ancient towns of Suyab and Nevkat (“New City”), a Silk Road city that flourished between the 6th and 12th centuries.  The identification is based on manuscripts found at the […]