Archive sections: ‘Kyrgyzstan’
Hidden at over 3000 meters in the Ferghana range, about 100 km northwest of Djalal Abad, near the Kurgat Pass is the remote, small plateau of Saimaluu Tash. The name means “Patterned stone” and refers to the fact that here is a gallery of thousands of stone paintings – petroglyphs which are littered around the [...]
Petroglyphs – the word comes from the Greek (petra = “stone” and glyphe = “to draw”) and is used to denote pictures drawn or etched onto stones. These drawings, left for us on high rocks and in deep caves can provide evidence of the way of life and the environment of times gone by when there was [...]
Chingiz Aitmatov is a famous Kyrgyz author, probably the only native Central Asian author to obtain international renown. His works have been translated into English and other European languages. (It is actually claimed that he has been translated into more than one hundred languages, with a total circulation of 90 million copies). He was very [...]
The Batken oblast includes a number of enclaves belonging to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, created when the borders of the republics were settled by a commission of the Soviet Union in the time of Joseph Stalin. Sometimes it is difficult to see why the border lies where it does – dividing the Ferghana valley as it [...]
Following last week’s “massive missive” … which could hardly have fitted onto an ordinary “postcard”, I had hoped that this week’s contribution will be shorter, reflecting a more peaceful, if less “interesting”, period. Perhaps that was wishful thinking. Sorry.
The wolf has a bad reputation throughout the world. In modern times, this is probably due in part to the prevalence of Werewolf stories and films.
There are several different types of birds of prey found in the Kyrgyz Republic: eagles, vultures, hawks, bustards and so forth. The largest is the Golden Eagle – Berkut. The wings of a young Golden Eagle tend to be light coloured with a dark line along the edge – an older eagle will have a white [...]
Son Kul is a mountain lake in the Central Tian Shan range, virtually in the centre of Kyrgyzstan. One translation of the name is “The Last Lake”.
One of my favourite highlights of Summer, is the appearance of Maksym Shoro. During long hot summer days – especially in the capital, Bishkek – the streets seem to be lined with people sitting behind a large barrel … from which they dispense cups of cool refreshing liquids.
My brother, Tony, once took up photography as a hobby and I remember how he equipped the bathroom with plastic trays and bottles of chemicals so that he could develop and print his own films. I was too young at the time to really appreciate all that was going on but I do remember the [...]
