Nevkat, for example, is a bit of a problem … it’s not just that there is an absence in the tourist literature – there is very little information about it generally. Part of the problem for many tourists is that it is seems to be just a mound … no buildings (complete or ruins) like you find in the ancient cities of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan – just an excavation site. However, as Daniel Prior says in the Bishkek Handbook:

“For those who are able to sightsee without seeing standing buildings, Krasnaya Rechka – prettier in setting and more conducive to contemplation than the history-factory at Burana – offers a subtle vista on the past. From the summit of the citadel, where the ground underfoot is thickly strewn with pieces of thousand-year-old pottery, on a clear day, you can see almost to Ch’ang An and Byzantium.”

It’s also difficult to find – no signposts. Even most of the locals don’t seem to know that it’s there. However, there are plans afoot to build a visitors’ center … so maybe something will come of it.

Most of the references I have seen in the literature is pretty superficial, although I suppose there must be some learned, scholarly papers on the achaeologicla research that has been done. Anyway, I’ll see what I can dig up and post an article.

I have a big problem with statistics – I used to teach the subject – and I am always saying that they “raise more questions than they answer” – and this one certainly does. There is no doubt that there are a lot of mobile phones in use in the country. Over 4.9 million phones would suggest that even toddlers and pensioners have one – and although some do, there’s no way, (as far as I am concerned), that that figure can be taken at face value.

It is true that landlines are often difficult to get installed and many homes don’t have them. Mobiles are much more convenient and there is research that a mobile is one of the first things that people purchase when they have some disposable income.

I like your suggested explanations and here’s another one similar to your final one: the figure could refer to the number of sim cards sold … as many people use one of the many pay as you go schemes here. The sim cards have a number allocated to them but are not registered to a user, (the security services want to change this). You buy a sim card, with some credits and when they are used up, you top up the account at a local point – shop or kiosk. If the card isn’t used for for some time then the number is reallocated to another sim card which is then sold. So, Foreign consultants buy a sim card … go home … come back again some months later and have to buy another sim card. Also, whenever a mobile pohone is stolen, the sim card is removed by the theif and a new inserted. It all helps to inflate the figures.

I came across another interesting statistic … of the apparently 1.6 million internet users in the country, there are 49,040 facebook users. That seems to me a reasonable figure in which we can have some confidence … for example, one person I know has 2600 “friends” and Roza Otunbaeva has almost 3000.

Anyway, thanks once again for the feedback … it’s always welcome!

I especially enjoyed the story on the Burana Tower and Balasagun. I would be interested if you one day did a story on Navekat, near Krasnya Rechka.

I visited the site when the Buddhist temple was being restored, and the shakhristan (I believe an administrative / royal area in one corner of the area inside the walls) had been excavated somewhat. I was surprised the site was so little mentioned in tourist lit. (It must be noted, though, that I am more interested in ancient history than the average tourist.)

4.9 million subscribers out of less than 6 million inhabitants! An incredible but not surprising number. “Not surprising” referring not to the number of subscribers, which is clearly in error, but “not surprising” referring to the proclamation of such a number. I used to be involved in industry analyses, so I know of many ways such numbers can be derived. Might they refer to the total number of subscribers each company has ever had? Might there be double counting in some numbers they are adding? Might some values refer to the number of handset sold, though folks often throw them out for various reasons?

Thanks again for fascinating insights.