I keep getting questions about the Celestial Mountains Logo. Some people like it – “it’s simple and easily recognizable” … others don’t – “it’s too complicated” they say.

It is has been suggested to me that a plain white stripe would be better than the more complicated design that we have at the moment.

Well, everyone is entitled to their own opinion …

As it happens, this logo wasn’t exactly our first choice … we obviously thought about a logo and corporate style.

One early suggestion, from the person who designed our original (very small) website, involved a photograph of mountain peaks. Although we liked it very much, it looked “cold” and appeared cluttered with too much detail which meant that it wasn’t very clear, unless seen on a large scale. We also wondered if it would “date” – especially as we had chosen to use an Old English Copperplate font for the title.

We looked though various catalogues, clipart collections and other sources for inspiration and eventually came up with a number of designs that we quite liked and we handed them to a marketing consultant and his designer. One of the designs was very similar in shape to the existing logo and we quite liked that because it looked like a mountain peak. A second option involved a road heading towards some mountains in the distance. We also thought of trying to combine them in some way into a sort of collage.

Well, the designer set to work and came up of different alternatives – the present logo being one of them.

The shape of the logo in the form of a triangle clearly suggests a mountain peak – especially with the small white copy inserted at the peak – and he suggested that we keep that. The mass of vibrant red however, appeals to and implies both youth and activity and that wasn’t exactly who we had in mind as our potential clients.

He explained that he had chosen the colours, red white and blue, for a number of reasons.

• they are youthful colours, appealing to and implying activity; however,
• they are also fairly neutral colours – and are used on a variety of flags, Britain, the United States, Russia, France, Holland … and so would not be “off putting”
• the blue represents the sky, the red the earth and the white stripe represents both snow capped peaks and a road.

The designer went to outline his thinking behind the “bent white stripe” in the middle of the design. He wanted to symbolize a road, with serpentine bends, snaking through the mountains. The fact that it suggested mountain peaks, and also looked like a letter M. made it a powerful motif. The triangle forming an arrowhead was to symbolize direction and movement and, so he said, was inspired from one of our original mottos or slogans: “We’ll take you there!”.

In fact, quite a few people seem to assume that it is meant to be a letter M, for Mountains, and some even ask “What happened to the C for Celestial?”

As an aside:

During the recent election campaign, Artur, (one of our staff), came into the office and took out his mobile phone. He showed me a photograph he had taken with if of a lamppost not far from the office. “So what?” I asked. He said, “Look closely.” On the lamppost was a number of flyers posted by different parties contesting the election. One of them looked a little familiar.

There were the mountain peaks … there were the colours: red, white and blue … yes, there were differences … but, all the same, it looked familiar.

Yes, well, it was nothing to do with us … and nobody seems to have made the connection.

At that time I had already set up a couple of sites about Kyrgyzstan and our hotel, (The Silk Road Lodge), for our tour company.   The idea behind this site was going to be different … it wasn’t going to be commercial, trying to attract customers and sell tours but would be a place for me to present personal reminiscences, observations and comments.

Why did I think that anyone would be interested in what I have to say? … A good question.  All I can say in reply is that people had told me that they were.  I had been writing messages to family and friends, former colleagues and clients for many years, keeping them up-to-date with what I was doing.  Sometimes they were personal message – but as I was writing the same thing to a lot of people I would simply write one general “newsletter” which I called “A Postcard from Bishkek” and then I would “top and tail” it with personal greetings and specific personal questions and points.  Apparently these messages were sometimes passed around between friends, people I didn’t know … and I even received occasional messages from someone asking to be “put on the mailing list”.  Honest.

The “postcards”, themselves cover a range of topics
… about my life and experiences as an ex-pat
… reflections about education and training
… tourism in Kyrgyzstan, and
… my experiences trying to run a business here in Kyrgyzstan
… some thoughts about some of the troubled times (or “interesting times”) in the history of Kyrgyzstan.

Some of the postcards were written specifically for the site but others contain articles that I have been asked to write for newspapers or magazines.  Some of them are quite short, (like on a postcard), but in some of them I do tend to go on a bit … I can be pretty verbose.

Because each of the resources are different, and have their own individual features and aspects, we thought about providing separate terms and conditions for each of them, but in the end we decided on a standard set to cover all of them, as outlined below.  Where individual websites, etc., have specific features which require additional or different terms, then these will be provided locally.  For example, on the site gk.kg we simply provide a platform for information provided by different organizations who are responsible for the content and any communication with users and this is dealt with in the agreement between us and outlined separately on the site.

Although this is a “personal website” … in that it reflects my personal experiences, opinions and views – and I am personably responsible for its contents,  because I am the General Director of the companies, it is difficult to separate it from the others in the suite of resources that we provide, and so we decided to include it in the “package”.

Terms and Conditions

Access and Use of Informational Resources provided by the Celestial Mountains Tour Company, (including, but not exclusively):

Websites: www.celestialweb.info, www.celestial.kg, www.celestial.com.kg, www.tours.kg,www.silroadlodge.kg, www.silkroad.com.kg, www.cmgh.kg, www.horses.kg, www.tastes.kg, www.sound.kg,www.crafts.kg, www.yurts.kg, www.gk.kg, www.links.kg, www.kyrgyzdiary.kg, ianbek.kg

CD: Kyrgyzstan – an Information Pack; Partner Pack; Panorama discs;

Pdf files: Kyrgyzstan Briefing, Brochures and Leaflets

Powerpoint slideshows:

Printed Materials: Kyrgyzstan an Information Pack, Kyrgyzstan Travel Guide, Brochures and Leaflets

Access to and use of websites and CD materials and other resources provided by The Celestial Mountains Tour Company, (hereafter CMTC), and their partners are provided on the following terms:

About the terms

1.     By using these resources you agree to be bound by these terms, which shall take effect immediately on your first use. If you do not agree to be bound by all of the following terms please do not access, use and/or contribute to them.

2.     CMTC reserves the right to change these terms and conditions from time to time and although we will publish details of any amendments on the resources, we recommend that you check regularly for subsequent changes. Your continued use of our resources will be considered as acceptance of the updated or amended terms. If, for some reason, you do not agree to the changes, then you should cease using the resources. If there is any conflict between these terms and specific “local” terms appearing elsewhere on of the resources, then the latter shall prevail.

Use of Celestial Mountains Resources

3.     You agree to use resources provided by CMTC:

a.     only for lawful purposes, and

b.    in a way that does not infringe the rights of, restrict or inhibit anyone else’s use and enjoyment of them.  Where, for example, provision is made for interactive “user generated content”, prohibited behaviour includes harassing or causing distress or inconvenience to any person, transmitting obscene or offensive content or disrupting the normal flow of dialogue.

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4.     All copyright, trade marks, design rights, patents and other intellectual property rights (registered and unregistered) in and on the CMTC resources, and all content (including all applications) located on them, are retained by CMTC, individual authors of works, or its licensors (which may include other users).

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(i)             make copies for you own individual, non commercial, use

(ii)            quote from the material as part of a larger work but in this case we ask that you give a citation to the source

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(ii)            adapt, alter or create a derivative work from any of our content except for your own personal, non-commercial use.

c.     Any other use of our material requires the prior written permission.

5.     The names, images and logos identifying CMTC or third parties and their products and services are subject to copyright, design rights and trade marks. Nothing contained in these terms shall be construed as conferring any licence or right to use any such trade mark, design right or copyright.

User Generated Content (UGC)

6.     If you do not want to grant CMTC permission set out in these terms, then please do not submit your UGC to us.

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a.     any personal information supplied to us as part of this registration process and/or any other interaction with us will be collected, stored and used only in accordance with the purpose for which it was provided.

b.    inappropriate user names, (for example containing vulgar or offensive terms) will be rejected;

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12.   Contributions containing languages other than English may be translated or removed.

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a.     must be civil (constructive and polite) and tasteful;

b.    must not be disruptive, offensive, abusive, mean-spirited or contributed with the intention of causing trouble;

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1.     We advise that you never reveal any personal information about yourself or anyone else (for example: telephone number, postal address, home address or email address or any other details that would allow you to be personally identified).

2.     If you’re under 16:

a.     You should obtain permission from your parent or guardian before submitting any UGC to CMTC.

b.    Never reveal any personal information about yourself or anyone else (for example, school, telephone number, your full name, home address or email address).

Breaches these terms and conditions:

14.  If you fail to abide by these Terms and Conditions (and/or any “local” variations in respect of a specific resource),  we will send you an email which informs you why your contribution has been refused or edited. This email will also include a warning that continuing to break the rules may result in action being taken against your registered account or accounts.

15.  This action may include any UGC posted by you being checked before being allowed to go on to a site, or a temporary or permanent suspension of your ability to participate in any or all of our sites.

16.  We reserve the right to delete any UGC, or take action against any registration, at any time, for any reason.

Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

17.  CMTC is not responsible for

a.     any content posted by members of the public on any of our websites or

b.    for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible links from them.

18.  Any link to third party websites from any of our resources does not amount to an endorsement of that site and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.

19.  All content, including the information, names, images, pictures, logos and icons, is provided on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis.

a.     To the extent permitted by law, CMTC excludes all representations and warranties (whether express or implied by law), including the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

b.    CMTC does not guarantee the timeliness, completeness or performance of the websites or any of the content.

c.     While we try to ensure that all content provided by us is correct at the time of publication no responsibility is accepted by or on behalf of CMTC for any errors, omissions or inaccurate content on the websites and in other resources.

20.   Nothing in these terms limits or excludes CMTC’s liability for death or personal injury caused by its proven negligence. Subject to the previous sentence, CMTC shall not be liable for any of the following losses or damage (whether such damage or losses were foreseen, foreseeable, known or otherwise):

a.     loss of data;

b.    loss of revenue or anticipated profits;

c.     loss of business;

d.    loss of opportunity;

e.     loss of goodwill or injury to reputation;

f.     losses suffered by third parties; or

g.    any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising from the use of the resources regardless of the form of action.

21.  CMTC does not warrant that functions available on its websites and other resources will be uninterrupted or error free, that defects will be corrected, or that websites and other resources, including the server that hosts the websites are free of viruses or bugs. You acknowledge that it is your responsibility to implement sufficient procedures and virus checks (including anti-virus and other security checks) to satisfy your particular requirements for the accuracy of data input and output.

General

22.   If any of these terms are determined to be illegal, invalid or otherwise unenforceable by reason of the laws of any state or country in which these terms are intended to be effective, then to the extent and within the jurisdiction in which that term is illegal, invalid or unenforceable, it shall be severed and deleted from these terms and the remaining terms shall survive and continue to be binding and enforceable.

23.   The failure of, or delay by, CMTC to exercise or enforce any right in these terms does not waive the right CMTC to enforce that right.

24.  These terms shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic which shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes.

Contact Details:

The Celestial Mountains Tour Company
Kievskaya 131-2,
Bishkek
720001
Kyrgyz Republic

celest@infotel.kg

Running a business is not a simple matter, as anyone who has run a business will tell you.  It is a question of fulfilling responsibilities and those responsibilities are manifold …

Responsibility to the client:

Now, the Celestial Mountains companies are commercial enterprises – and that means we obviously aim to make a profit.  Apart from trying to recoup their investment, the investors hope to earn some income from the enterprises and benefit from dividends.  That does not mean, however, that “the bottom line” is “all important”.

Most business, including ours, is based on the principle of striking a bargain, or agreement.  It is possible to look on an agreement as simply a commercial transaction.  Any transaction involves a number of participants but it can be thought of as a contract between just two parties:

• The client, (consumer, tourist), and
• The supplier (tour company)

A definition of a “contract” might be: “an agreement enforceable in law”.  In Kyrgyzstan there are certain problems here – a contract has to be signed and stamped by a person duly authorized to do so … but in the case of arranging a tour, it is not always possible to obtain a signed and stamped contract – especially where discussions and negotiations have taken place by email correspondence.

Details may very from country to country, from legal system to legal system, but in general the following features are present:

• Identification of the parties: e.g. names, contact details (address, telephone numbers) and license and registration numbers, (if any) – it is important to be sure that the two parties are competent to make the agreement;
• The subject of the contract: e.g. the provision of tour services;
• Details of the agreement: e.g. dates, specific details about goods and/or services, price, special conditions …;
• The rights and obligations of the parties: e.g. timescales, payment details, penalties …;
• Provisions for the resolution of disputes: e.g. a system of arbitration;
• Administrative issues: what happens in the case of force majeur circumstances, the language of the agreement, the choice of legal system or jurisdiction for enforcing the agreement, the number of copies, and any other conditions …;
• Signatures signifying the agreement of the parties (stamped where appropriate), together with the date and place where the agreement was concluded.

In our discussions with clients – often conducted by email – the correspondence forms part of the agreement, the contract.   We identify ourselves – that is a matter of public record – and the client identifies themselves.  We ask for passport details – but that is not usually for the contract, it is so that we can fulfill the other requirements concerning visas, registration and so forth, and thereby meet our legal obligations under Kyrgyz law.  The subject of the agreement (provision of tour services), the details of the services requested and to be delivered, the price, method of payment and special considerations are contained in the body of the communications.

It should be noted that a contract is a double edged sword.  As well as our agreeing to certain certain obligations and responsibilities – the client also undertakes some.  The main obligation may be a question of payment – especially in commercial terms.  (Under Kyrgyz law they also have an obligation to carry insurance cover to meet the cost of medical expenses.)  In addition, we also ask the client to be a responsible tourist.  In our information Pack CD there are a number of Travellers’ Codes.  Each tour is different and not all aspects of the travellers’ codes are relevant to every tour … but we also ask the client to respect the environment and culture that they have to see.

It is often said that: “The client is always right”.  We don’t believe this.  We DO believe, however, that: “The client has rights”.  The first of these is to receive the goods and services as agreed and for which they have paid.  Those goods and services should be commensurate with the price.  The client has a number of legal rights as a consumer.  In addition, they have the right to a quality of service; to be understood (for example if they are tired or worried); to be safe; to respect; to receive information and have questions answered; to have their comments and complaints considered; …

Likewise, when entering into an agreement, we not only accept responsibilities and obligations – we also have rights.  The obvious one is for to be paid, in full and on time.  We also have the right for our other obligations before the Kyrgyz government (e.g. concerning the registration of tourists) and to our partners and service providers to be respected.

Of course, there is always the possibility that something will occur which makes it impossible for us to deliver the agreed service.  In this case we reserve the right to make alternative arrangements – wherever possible we will do this in consultation with the client.

This two-sided “contractual” view, although important, is perhaps too simple … Tourism is a particular business with specific aspects which mark it out as different from other types of commercial activity.  For example:

• The tourist buys a product “unseen” – they pay before they receive the goods and services and cannot try it out beforehand;
• The tour company often sells goods and services of others, (“service providers”, “facilitators”), and has to enter into contracts or arrangements with them – over whom they have no control;

We take our responsibilities to the client very seriously.  Apart from remembering the “Golden Rule” … “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” … we think it is important that we have the client’s trust.  So, we won’t lie to a client, and we won’t make promises that we are not certain that we can fulfill.  We will point out potential problems – the important word is “potential”, they may arise, but they may not … In some cases this can all work to our disadvantage.  Still, we think it is right to do so.

Responsibilities to others:

When entering into an agreement with a client we recognize that we enter into certain responsibilities towards the client.  The companies also have responsibilities to others.  A more complete list might be:

• The clients: with whom we have a “contractual” agreement;
• Our suppliers: the people from whom we purchase goods and services and rely upon us, and our clients, (at least in part) for their livelihood;
• Our employees: who rely on the company for their livelihood;
• The government: for example to pay our taxes and comply with legal requirements;
• The wider community:  we are part of a wider community – and we try to play our part in that wider community in the form of supporting local businesses and good causes;
• The Tourism Industry: preserving the good name and reputation of the country and the industry;
• Our investors: who have placed their trust in us;

Of course making a profit is important – without it the companies would not exist, with all that this would entail for our employees, local businesses, state and local budgets, etc.  However, this is not the end of the story.

In our activities we try to remember that, in addition to our responsibilities to the client, we also recognize that there is a need to be responsible in a wider sense – for example, there is a need to respect the environment, the local culture.  These responsibilities may not have a contractual nature, but they are still important.

For example, it is possible that, if we act irresponsibly, then we would be damaging the very thing that we are trying to “sell”: the landscape and natural environment; the traditions and cultures of the local people and so forth – and in doing so we would be damaging the future development and prosperity of both ourselves and the community.  This is one of the reasons we do not undertake Hunting expeditions.

We want to see the country and the industry develop.  We try hard to support various initiatives, both within the country and within the industry.  Where possible we prefer to purchase goods produced locally, we take an active part in supporting good causes, we participate in discussions involving the development of civil society and we are active in a number of local associations.

In answer to the client who said – “the trouble with choosing Celestial Mountains is that the money leaves the country”, we reply that the vast majority of the money actually remains in the country … either in payment for goods and services, taxes, or further re-investment.

In answer to the person who expressed the view that our attitude towards “Corporate Social Responsibility” (CSR) was “a strange way to business” … we reply that it is a good thing to do, in itself – and that there is also good economic sense to this, as well.

Are there two companies: The Celestial Mountains Tour Company and the Celestial Mountains Guest House (Naryn). Both Were ESTABLISHED in 1997 and Registered under Kyrgyz Law AS Kyrgyz companies. Although They Are, Actually, two separate companies – They HAD the Same three investors . One Came to Kyrgyzstan at about the time of Independence and Immediately fell in Love with the Country, ITS people and culture. He Has Married Since a Kyrgyz woman, Started a family and is now living in Australia. The Second is based in the UK . I originally Came to Bishkek to help to Open an Office – and just Stayed. I am now based in Bishkek and run the two companies.
The Tour Company is based in the Capital, Bishkek, and WAS ESTABLISHED to offer tours and Other Services to Travellers. The tours Would Cover the Regions of Kyrgyzstan and Throughout the Region of Central Asia. At First, the Company Chose to specialize in Motor tours .

AS Part of Our Strategy, a number of Hotels and guesthouses Were Planned Throughout the Kyrgyz Republic, Offering comfortable accommodation equipped to Western style and Standards. The original WAS Plan to establish Tour itineraries Travelling Between Them, and EXPLORING the Areas around Them. However, events Somewhat Differently Developed and hence These Plans Have Yet to be Fully Implemented.

The guesthouse in Naryn WAS the First of These. Naryn Chosen WAS AS the site for the First Investment Because IT Has an Important place on the Road to the Torugart Pass – Only the border crossing to China then AVAILABLE for Passenger traffic. A block of Four apartments was purchased and converted into a small guesthouse with 12 Guest Rooms, clean and modern western style toilets and showers. In Summer a number of yurts Are Also Provided. Although IT WAS originally Intended to offer accommodation for tourists Travelling to, or from, Torugart – a growing number of travellers are spending more time in the Naryn region visiting places like Ece Naryn, Salkyntor, Tash Rabat, At Bashi, Son Kul, and Kochkor, and guests have also included a large number of businessmen and visiting dignitaries.

Drawing upon our experiences in Naryn we then planned and built a new hotel in the centre of Bishkek – The Silk Road Lodge – which opened in August 2000. It Quickly ESTABLISHED AS Itself a Small, Friendly, hotel – popular with tourists, Businessmen, Consultants and visiting dignitaries alike.

Although they are separate companies with different staffs, they cooperate closely with each other and seek to maintain the same commitment to levels of service.

I serve as the General Director of both companies, and although the different companies have different staffs – they cooperate closely with each other and seek to maintain the same commitment to levels of service.

(Actually, the geographical center of the Asian continent lies about 1000 kilometres further north – but the term Central Asia is widely used for this region – and if you look at a map of the two continents together Kyrgyzstan does lie more or less in the center.)

It is a small, landlocked, mountainous country occupying just less than 200,000 square kilometres – about the area of Portugal, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands put together, or a little less than the UK.

The northern most part is at the same latitude as Rome, but because it is landlocked its winters are much colder (and the height above sea level makes many parts even colder – our guest house in Naryn fairly often experiences temperatures of -35 degrees C in winter). Summers are both drier and hotter (45 degrees C is not unusual and 50 degrees C was recorded in 1998 near Bishkek).

Ninety three percent of the surface area is over 1500 meters in height – and therefore counts as mountainous, although not of it would recognizable peaks there being numerous plateaus and wide intermountain valleys – and 41% is over 3000 meters high.

The greatest natural feature is the Tien-Shan mountains (in Kyrgyz “Tenir-Too”) running through the country from the northeast to the southwest.

The second most famous feature is Lake Issyk-Kul (which is Kyrgyz for “warm lake”). It lies 1,600 meters above sea level and is 668 meters deep in places. It never freezes, which is the reason it was given its name, the water isn’t that warm. The lake lies in a basin surrounded by high mountains.

It is not far by road (about 3 hours) from the second largest lake in Kyrgyzstan, which lies at 3000 meters – Lake Son Kul – a remote but beautiful wildlife sanctuary.

The river Naryn runs from north east to south west joining with the Kara-Darya to form a river which even in antiquity was called the Syr-Darya and which runs from Kyrgyzstan out into the Ferghana (Fergana) valley and on into the Aral Sea (though it is mainly diverted or exhausted before then). This is the second largest river in central Asia after the Amu-Darya. It is possible to visit its source, above the city of Naryn.

The Kyrgyz are reckoned to be one of the oldest distinct nationalities and are mentioned in old Chinese chronicles. They were basically a pastoral, nomadic people – traveling from jailoo (a high mountain pasture, the lower pastures are called kyshtoo) to jailoo with their flocks. For a long time they were confused with the Kazakhs – who were called Khirghiz, whilst the Kyrgyz themselves were called Kara Kyrgyz. It is said that the two nations were closely related – but that the Kyrgyz were nomads which traveled from place to place vertically in the mountains, whilst the Kazakhs traveled from place to place horizontally on the steppes. Both nationalities were renowned warriors.

Unlike its neighbours Uzbekistan and China, Kyrgyzstan has little evidence of its noble and ancient history which has survived.

The country has seen many civilizations and empires rise and fall: The Saks, the Monguls … the Russian and the Soviet Union. Names such as Alexander the Great, Marco Polo, Ghengis Khan, Tamerlain, Babur, … are all associated with the region. The connection is stronger in some cases than in others. We are not quite sure exactly how far North Alexander the Great reached, but it is thought by some that conquered the Chui valley and outsed the the existing ruler – Prince Shu – and made it to Issyk Kul where he left hostages, (mainly noble families from Iran) in a settlement on the Southern shore which later became Barskoon. As far as we know Marco Polo never came further north than Kashgar having traveled through modern-day Afghanistan. Ghengis Khan and his horde of Mongol warriors did travel through the region – sacking town and cities which defied him – but sparing others like Balasugan which opened their gates to his army. One of his wives is reputed to be buried on the “Ghengis Khan Highway” – a track high in the mountains in the Talas region. Tamerlain was born and grew up and based his empire on the Uzbek city of Samarkand – but he came through the territory of Kyrgyzstan on his campaigns against the Chinese and there are several stories relating to him including a few archaeological sites. Babur – who founded the Moghul Raj in India was born in Andijan and grew up in nearby Osh.

Although the Kyrgyz, themselves, at one time had a large empire, they fell into a decline and were subject peoples of a range of empires over the centuries.

Some cities, such as Osh, (which claims a 3000 year history of continuous human settlement), may have a long history – but only isolated remains of man’s early settlements in the region can be seen, and most of the great cities of the past are now little more than archaeological sitites. It is possible to get a feel of the past at such places as Burana, near Tokmak, The Manas Gumbez (mausoleum), near Talas, The Uzgen complex, and the Tash Rabat caravanserai, in the Naryn province on the road to Torugart and the Chinese border.

At the end of the 19th century they fell under the influence of the Russian Empire as it moved to colonize the Eastern hinterland of the continent. When the Russian Empire gave way to the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan became part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. It declared Independence from the USSR in 1991.

During the most part of the Soviet period, it was closed to foreign visitors. Special permits were needed to travel here and foreigners were extremely rare.

Since Independence the country has opened up and many new and interesting destinations have become accessible to Westerners.

The country is a Presidential democracy with a single chamber parliament (the Jogorku Kenesh).The economy is relatively weak – mainly because the domestic market is small, the great distances to foreign markets for exports and the influence of the mountains in breaking the country into small, remote, distinct geographic units. Since independence it has followed a path of economic and political reform.

If you want to know more about Kyrgyzstan … trying visiting our website: www.celestial.com.kg

For example, one of the early postcards, (A word of advice …), is about mobile telephones and I thought it might be useful to explain the phenomenal market penetration that mobile phone operators have managed to achieve in what is basically a relatively poor country.

In another, (Sorry, but we don’t want your money), I refer to the problems of trying to buy goods on the internet … and as one of the things I wanted to buy was a Kyrgyz National team Rugby shirt, it might be a surprise to the reader to hear that there is a Kyrgyz national rugby team …so I thought it might be a good idea to explain about Rugby in the republic.

Similarly, when I wrote about visits to the Botanical Gardens, The Gold Fund in the Historical Museum, a trip to the local Golf Club or one of the nearby Ski bases, I thought it might be useful to add some information about these topics.

Including some additional information in the postcard itself, however, not only makes the pages even longer than they already are, it is also difficult to decide where and how to add it without distracting the reader’s attention and breaking up the flow of the main page .

In a way this additional information resemble footnotes in a book … they carry supplementary information, (perhaps a lengthy explanation about a particular point, or a citation referring to the source of the quotation or detailed point …), which is not essential to main text.  Although it would be possible to add the information at the bottom of the page, as in a footnote, but it still makes the page quite long, however, in some of the postcards, (especially in the earlier ones, or where it is just a small aside which I could fit easily into the text), I put it into “boxes”.

One of my routines back in the UK was, every Sunday to take the weekly washing that had been put into the washing machine and do the ironing listening to Radio Four … the Brit’s reading this will understand what that means … it’s a Talk Radio station run by the BBC.  There was a lot of ironing to do, and I hated doing it, (but it was a “necessary chore”), and so it used to take me a long time to get through it all.  I would listen to the news, a discussion programme, the Sunday service, the weekly omnibus of the Archers (the world’s longest continuously running radio soap opera “about country folk” in a mythical English village which was supposed to be modelled on one near where I grew up) and there was Alistair Cooke’s “Letter from America” – another long running programme … .

I was a great fan of the programme, and when I first came to Kyrgyzstan it was one of the things that I missed … it was difficult to pick up the World Service here at that time … I remember sitting over a shortwave radio shortly after I arrived, trying to listen to a crackling broadcast that faded in and out.  You can imagine how pleased I was when I discovered that the BBC were publishing the text of his weekly talks on their internet site.  So, I began a new routine … every Tuesday morning I would log onto the internet and read his latest missive, before downloading and going through the emails.  I suppose these days it would have been a podcast and I could have downloaded the programme and listened to his dulcet tones on an i-pod.

When I decided to start my own personal website, ianbek.com, I had to decide what to call it.  I considered several contenders … “Mini sagas” was a possibility … although the word is normally associated with the Vikings, (the word has an Icelandic origin), they were tales of heroic deeds done in days long ago and for centuries Kyrgyz culture was based on an oral tradition with several epic poems, (including the world’s longest epic poem, Manas).  However, the requirement for a mini-saga to consist of exactly fifty words was going to be a definite problem.  There was no way I felt I was going to be able to keep to that word limit.

It occurred to me that it might be nice to model it on Alistair Cooke and do a similar «Letter from Bishkek» … I hoped that I could emulate him and pass on some interesting insights into a foreign and interesting society, culture, and community … and I recognized that, just like Alistair Cooke, I also tend to ”know my own mind” and can be somewhat opinionated (… and maybe, someday. this will get me into trouble).  However, I still felt that this was a bit presumptuous of me, because I didn’t think that I had the experience, wisdom or ability of Alistair Cooke - and I wasn’t sure that I had the stamina to turn in a regular weekly column as he did … but, as a former schoolteacher with an inborn tendency to educate, elucidate and explain, I decided to give it a go and, in deference to the great man, I decided to name my efforts as a more modest “postcard”.

Anyway, that’s how the “Postcard from Bishkek” was born.

So, why “bek”?

I suppose I could have chose ianclaytor.com but it seemed a bit longwinded and I wanted a name that would reflect the fact that I was here in Central Asia.

So what were the alternatives?

Some of my (Russian) friends call me Ian Robertovich because my father’s name was Robert.  In Russian everyone has three names:

• a Given name – which, when I grew up, was always referred to as a “Christian” name, (such as Ian)
• a Patronymic – taken from their father’s name … for men it ends in “vich”, (such as Robertovich), and for women in “vna”, (such as Ivanovna)
• a Family name – or “surname”, (such as Claytor)

Sometimes this results in interesting situations like Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin …  It is very rare for someone to be addressed just by their given name, (only close friends and family use just the given name), or by the given name and the family name.  Although many people now call me Ian Claytor, I still meet locals who can’t call me that and insist on using “Mister Ian” or “Mister Ian Claytor”, (or worse still “Sir Ian” – I haven’t yet been knighted, nor am I ever likely to be!).  The polite form of address is to use the given name followed by the patronymic, so Vladimir Putin would be referred to or addressed as Vladimir Vladimirovich, and I would be Ian Robertovich.

However, ianrobertovich.com also didn’t fit the bill and, anyway, we don’t use patronymics in English.

There is also a tradition of giving people nicknames, or diminutives … so, for example, Alexander becomes Sasha; Vladimir becomes Volodia or Vova; Mikhail becomes Misha; Constantine becomes Costya; Nikolai becomes Kolya and Georgiy becomes Gosha.  Of course, as Ian is a foreign name there isn’t an equivalent – although Ivan, (the Russian equivalent of Ian and John), becomes Vanya.   Within the family, or close circle of friends, names are turned into terms of endearment by adding endings like “-ka” (as in Danka or Romka) or “-chik” (Vanchik or Romchik) … but, for some reason I wasn’t too keen on ianchik.com as a name.

Now, “bek” is often added to men’s names here in Central Asia, so you have examples like Askarbek or Kurmanbek … or Ianbek.  It could just as easily have been ianbaike.com because baike is another term added to names here, but baikie is a term of respect reserved for elders and this seemed presumptuous.

So in the end, ianbek.com was the chosen name for the site.

It is short, identifies itself with me as an individual and it also has a taste of ”Central Asia.”