Postcard from Bishkek

Someone one commented about the postcards on ianbek.kg, that they represented a real eclectic collection of topics … and I have to admit that he was right! Unlike some of the other sites I am involved with, ianbek has no overall, overarching, theme … it’s a ‘personal website’ and I post about things that catch my […]

On March 24, Kyrgyzstan along with the rest of the World will be marking World TB Day with the aim of building public awareness about the global epidemic of tuberculosis (TB) and a renewed call to reach, treat and cure everyone with the disease to accelerate progress towards eradicating it. World TB Day is one of […]

Criticism is one of those ‘double edged’ words that can be both positive and negative. When someone says, “You’re doing it all wrong!”, it’s often taken badly, as a criticism … and I suppose it is.   Perhaps the reason that we balk whenever we hear the phrase may be because of the way it is […]

I sometimes receive emails from people who offer to write postcards for ianbek – guest blogs.  I normally turn them down, (after all, ianbek is my blog … I used to refer to it a ‘personal’ website), but sometimes they give me idea for posts. Last month I received an email which didn’t offer to author […]

There are many commemorative days held throughout the year that are worthy of attention, but today’s still caught me by surprise when I first heard about it … World Sleep Day. Fancy having a day dedicated to sleep! However, it’s not quite that simple … and, in fact, there’s quite a serious point behind it.

Last week, I received an email, with a link and the message, “… they rate Kyrgyzstan as an Extreme Risk“.  My heart sank. Now, I am normally very careful about clicking on links … especially those I get in the email … but, in this case, as I knew the person who had sent it to me […]

Over the years I have been a number of interesting questions … and last week another one arrived in the email: On the steppes, the nomads presumably have a healer of some sort in each tribe. Does that person have an honorific title or descriptor of some sort? There was some additional information … about […]

  One of the things about Kyrgyzstan that tourists sometimes comment on is the prevalence of Saunas – or Banya as they are known in Russian and Moncho in Kyrgyz. A Sauna is room or building designed to be used as a “bath house” using hot air or steam so that people can experience the […]

It’s been four weeks since I last wrote a postcard … the result of a period of  “forced rest and recuperation”. On the evening of August 22nd, I settled down to write my regular review of the week in Kyrgyzstan to posted on Saturday morning and I was in the middle of writing it when […]

The sun is out and the temperatures are rising … some people like it hot … but, the heatwave brings with it risks and potential problems: Having suffered a mild case of sunburned arms myself, and Maxim having suffered a bad case of a sunburned back … at least he learned from the experience and […]