Postcard from Bishkek

The Manas Epic is in many ways central to Kyrgyz traditional culture, character, psychology and spirit – and the Manaschi holds a special place of respect in Kyrgyz Culture. Manaschi are the akyns, (traveling bards or wandering minstrels), who specialize in reciting episodes from the epic.  It’s quite an undertaking as Manas is one of the world’s […]

On the day that the Daily Mail ran a story about a possible new photo of the Loch Ness Monster … this one from space … I came across another interesting story about another “fabled” creature, Chon Maimyl – the big monkey. Although stories of the Loch Ness Monster date back to the sixth century, […]

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. […]

Some years ago I went on a trip and one of the places where stayed was in a homestay.  On the television that particular evening there happened be a performance by one of the leading manaschi … and our hostess, shamefacedly lowered her voice and almost whispering told me a secret … “I don’t really […]

Back in 2007, the Kyrgyz Post Office issued a stamp showing a man looking awfully looking like Santa Claus: a jolly looking, “portly”, round faced old man with red cheeks, sporting a long white beard, and a flowing red coat … apart, perhaps, from the fact that he was wearing a white Kalpak – the […]

As I listened to the Global News podcast from the BBC, I wasn’t sure if I could believe what I was hearing … in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, a Gay Canadian comedian was leading a Ginger Pride Parade as part of the Fringe … it has to be a joke, I thought … but no, even […]

Place names can be very picturesque and convey an image, rightly of wrongly, of the place in question. In Britain, for example, we have Oxford and the city;s coat of arms depict a Ox walking over water – fording a river.  (It’s true that the full crest also has a Black Elephant, a green beaver […]

Like most nationalities and languages, the Kyrgyz also have a wide range of proverbs and sayings, and a collection of 1000 such phrases was published in 1999 by the Slavonic University in Bishkek, based on the collection made by the academician K. K. Yudakhin, (1890-1975), in over 40 years of research. Konstantin Kuzmich was born […]

As well as the epic saga Manas, the Kyrgyz have about 40 other “minor epics” such as Kojojash, Kurmanbek Baatyr, Tolubai and Er Toshtuk.   The name Kurmanbek is a fairly common name among the Kyrgyz and although it will probably be associated for many years to come with the second President of Kyrgyzstan, it has a long and […]

One of the best known legends of the Kyrgyz is about the hunter Kambar, the Komuz and the first Kyrgyz tune. Kambar was a hunter who lived in the mountains. He was, true to his calling, a brave and strong man – on one occasion encountering a snow leopard whilst on a hunting expedition and overcoming […]