Postcard from Bishkek

Tash Kumyr lies in the Djalal Abad oblast, on the north-eastern edges of the Fergana Valley, at an altitude of 585 meters above sea level.  It doesn’t get much of a mention in the various guide books to Kyrgyzstan … and most people bypass it, travelling along the main Bishkek-Osh highway between the countries two […]

Onm the wall in my office I have a map of Kyrgyzstan with coloured pins atuck in it.  Visitors often ask what it represents … and I have to reply that it shows the places in Kyrgyzstan where I have been in my twenty years here. The different colours don’t have any particular significance, although […]

Djalal Abad lies in the South West of the Kyrgyz Republic, bordering Uzbekistan, and the Kyrgyz oblasts of Talas, Osh, Naryn and Chui.

Located in the Western Tien Shan mountain range, the River Chatkal flows for 189 kilometers in a remote valley in the extreme West of the country, flanked by the 120 km long mountain range of the same name and the Chandalash range lined with walnut groves, Semyenov’s Maple and, albeit less frequently, ash and tree-like […]

Djalal-Abad is the administrative, economic and cultural center of Djalal-Abad oblast (province). It lies in the south of the Kugart valley, in the foothills of the Babash Ata mountains to the North. The climate is noted for dry, hot summers, warm and sunny autumns with rare rain bursts and winters are warm with high humidity. […]

In recent weeks, the region known as the Ferghana Valley has been much in the news. For the record: The fertile Feghana Valley is about 300 kilmeters long and 170 kilometers wide and is divided between three neighbouring Central Asian states, (Uzbekistan, Tadjikistan and Kyrgyzstan), and comprises the flood plain of the Syr Darya River, […]

A few years ago I was asked by a friend where he could take his wife ind in-laws for a weekend away. As it happens, he knows Kyrgyzstan quite well, (his wife is Kyrgyz), and he had already been to many places around Bishkek. He wanted to avoid the obvious places like Ala Archa, which […]

The “Road to … ” films were seven comedies starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour, often simply as  the “Road” pictures.  The seven included:  The Road to Singapore (in 1940);  Zanzibar (1941); Morocco (1942); Utopia (1946); Rio (1947); Bali (1952) and Hong Kong (1962). They were a combination of adventure, comedy, romance, and music where they played the role of […]

On April 17th, 1951, The Peak District in Britain became the country’s first National Park, so I thought I would take the opportunity to look at one of Kyrgyzstan’s National Parks. Tucked far away in the far South Western corner of the Djalal Abad oblast, lies the Besh-Aral Zapovednik (Bio-diversity Reserve).  Situated in the Chatkal […]

Back in 1962, one of the biggest factories in the former Soviet Republic that later became Kyrgyzstan opened its doors on 24th January: The Mailuu Suu Light Bulb Factory. To be honest, although I have been in the region two or three times, I have always driven past and never stopped off. The name Mailuu […]