Postcard from Bishkek

The Russian word Gerb is often translated as ‘a Coat of Arms’ … but in heraldry, a coat of arms has a special meaning – relating to the escutcheon (or shield) and tabard (or surcoat) worn by medieval knights going into battle. Another interpretation that is sometimes offered is ‘a seal’ – as in the Great […]

It used to be said that Bishkek was the “Greenest city on Earth” with its parks, tree lined boulevards, open spaces between the apartment blocks … and even in the garden at our hotel in Bishkek, the Silk Road Lodge, we have over 50 trees of different types, sizes and age. This was largely due to […]

There are some scenes that are instantly recognizable … the Eiffel Tower, the Collesium in Rome, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, The houses of Parliament, the Lincoln Memorial … to name just a few.  Bishkek also has it’s distinctive features that are instantly recognizable … one of which is the Ala Too Cinema at the […]

Everyday I walk from my apartment and the Hotel … and back – some days, several times. It’s not far – and takes about 10 minutes.  The most direct route takes me  through Gorky Park – which is really little more than a square that is criss-crossed by footpaths, separating grassed areas with trees and bushes […]

OK … although I do have a mobile phone, it is one of the older models which is basically a communications device – which can be used for telephone conversations and sending short text messages.  (It does have a built in camera – but it is not particularly good.) I don’t have a smart phone […]

Andy is a great user of Social Media … When he first got a Facebook page, he went looking for ‘friends’ to follow … but, unfortunately most of his ‘local’ friends aren’t on Facebook – they tend to be on Odnoklasniki (Classmates) or Vkontakti – (In touch) – the Russian language clones.  So, he registered […]

When I first came here back in the mid 1990’s there were a number of sights that were considered a ‘must’ for any visitor to the country.  One of those was the Frunze Museum … on Frunze Street, … in the city that had, (from 1926 until 1991), been called Frunze. In fact, some people […]

One of the difficult aspects of English is the way one word can have a number of different meanings and we can only really tell which if the meanings is intended by looking at the context in which it is used. To be fair, this is true in a number of languages, not just English […]

As the capital city, Bishkek is home to a variety of important buildings and monuments. There are, of course, dovernment buildings such as: Ministries, Offices of Government Agencies such as the Tax Inspection and the Customs Service and the Parliament … Courts, Police Stations and the Headquarters of the Border and Security Services … Ambulance […]

When people buy their air tickets, they check the details: Name, Route, (Departure point and Destination), Date, Time … probably the flight number … but possibly not much else.  The ticket actually contains a lot more information as this graphic from UtAir, (a Russian airline) shows: The Departure and Destination Points, (and also any intermediary […]