Postcard from Bishkek

Earlier this week I came across an interesting post on the kloop internet portal …  although the site has a blog in English, this particular post was in Russian – which makes sense because it was really aimed at a local audience.  Even so, I thought it was particularly interesting and well worth sharing with a wider […]

In 13th January, 1951, Bishkek opened a brand new era in public transport in the city … the first Trolleybus service was introduced. It is run by the Bishkek Trolleybus Company, an independent legal entity which is owned by the municipality.  The company has two depots: the original one which can house up to 60 […]

Tucked away behind the National Library, in a small square on the corner of Tynystanovna and Funze streets, there is an interesting, albeit anonymous monument. Anonymous, in that it bears no inscription to tell the passers by who the notable worthy is that is depicted rising out of the pink granite plinth. The lack of […]

On 28th November, 1820, a young boy was born in the town of Barmen in the Kingdom of Prussia, (today it is known as Wuppertal in Germany), Frederick Engels. Although he was the son of an influential and relatively affluent businessman, (a cotton manufacturer), he developed an interest in revolutionary politics and dropped out of […]

I am sometimes asked about where I get the inspiration for different postcards … and there are different, many different, answers.  Sometimes postcards are prompted by an anniversary or event, others are because I have seen an interesting news article, on occasion people write and make suggestions and, in fact, I have quite a long list […]

They say that moving house is one of the three most stressful experiences that a person can go through.  On 1st November, 1800 John Adams moved into a new home but he probably had plenty of other stressful things to worry about apart from that … he was, after all, President of the United States […]

At the intersection of Prospects Chui and Molodaya Gvardia, (The Avenue of the Young Guards), in downtown Bishkek, there is a striking memorial depicting two soldiers on a granite pedestal – a young Russian in a Red Army helmet, dressed in an Army coat and boots, holding a rifle in his hands. Next to him […]

Baitik Baatyr was a manap (tribal leader) of the Solto tribe in the latter half of the nineteenth century, and played a decisive role in the liberation of his people from the Kokand Khanate in 1862 – and in doing so helped to shape the future of his people. Baitik was born in 1820 to the […]

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 […]

Sometimes you see references to Kyrgyzstan as a Muslim country but, technically, according to the constitution, it is a secular state and it is probably better to describe the country as “predominantly Muslim”. The majority of the population – possibly as much as 80% – probably consider themselves as Muslim but for many people it […]