Archive sections: ‘Life In Kyrgyzstan’
Askar was a really lovely man. He was a fairly short, stocky man with a quiet temperament and a friendly character. A family man, he raised five children – one of them was Tony’s Kyrgyz wife, Damira. That’s how I came to meet him. He loved his children and they loved in return. He also [...]
At first I wasn’t sure whether to include this entry on the website. It makes Bishkek seem like a dangerous place … but, basically, it isn’t. It’s probably no more dangerous here than in other big city in the world. I know there are statistics about crime and you sometimes read about one city or [...]
In some Western countries there is a day in Spring which is designated as “Mother’s Day” … in the US it is celebrated on the second Sunday in May, as suggested by Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia in 1908 … and this is, perhaps, one reason why International Women’s Day is not marked in the same [...]
Manti are a typical local dish. (There is, apparently, some dispute as to the origin of Manti – Turkish, Tartar, or … somewhere else in Central Asia.) They are small, steamed, dumplings with a filling of diced meat, onion and perhaps potato and/or pumpkin. Although manti are traditionally steamed - some recipes suggest boiling them, as with ravioli, but [...]
A friend of mine, a lawyer with whom I used to work, left Kyrgyzstan and took his family to live in Moscow. Thanks to email we have an easy way to keep in touch. He has a great sense of humour and often sends me amusing photos and links to amusing stories on the internet. [...]
As an ex-pat living in Bishkek during the “Tulip Revolution” and witnessing the events of 24th March, 2005, Iwrote a series of messages to friends and relatives to reassure them that he was safe … and describe some of his experiences and reactions. These messages are reproduced here.
This page was written in 2005, and arose out of a disputed tax inspection … we appealed to the courts against the inspector’s judgment and at that time the court case described here was still proceeding.
This was written in 2006 because there were many people who worked in Tourism in Kyrgyzstan who felt that we didn’t need a Tourism Promotion Board … they argued that the same task had been fulfilled for many years by another of the Associations – The Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators (KATO). I was asked, [...]
Mobile phones are very popular in Kyrgyzstan and the area covered by the main service providers is constantly being expanded. Mobile phone services account for almost half of the market and is the most rapidly growing sector in the industry, the number of subscribers almost doubling every year since 2002 and reaching 1.8 million subscribers [...]
Sometime ago a newspaper article in one of the main government run newspapers carried the headline: “When was the last time you paid a bribe? … or took one?”
