Here is an itinerary for a walking tour, which starts and finishes at our hotel, “The Silk Road Lodge”, in central Bishkek.

When leaving the hotel – turn left at the gates and then left again along Abdumomunova Street.  The big building with the triangular “flying buttresses” is the head office of Kyrgystan Bank.

Turn right up Togolok Moldo Street, past the art college.  The large white building is the “Sports Palace” used for large indoor sports events and concerts.

Cross over Togolok Moldo Street.  On your right is the Spartak Stadium and on the left is the “small arena – now a car park – but occasionally cleared and used to house concerts, sporting contests of a circus.

Continue through to Panfilov Park.  Originally a municipal garden planted in 1879 – it became the home of a horticultural school before reverting to a park (Red Star Park).  On the left is an area with rides and amusements for children including a large Ferris wheel.  On the right is the “White House” – the Government administration building.  Continue onto the end of the fence where there is a Statue of Panfilov – the commander of the “defenders of Moscow”.

Turn left up the side of the White house and continue to Prospect Chui.  On your left you pass the Friendship Monument in a square inaugurated by Kosygin to mark the 50th anniversary of the USSR in 1974.  All the trees in the square were planted by visiting dignitaries, including Brezhnev – but the plaques naming the persons involved have long since disappeared.

On Prospect Chui turn left and walk into Ala Too Square.  Until August 2003, this had the only remaining statue of Lenin in a Central Asian capital, (pointing with admiration at the beautiful “Celestial Mountains”?) and the National Flagstaff.  The building behind Lenin is the National Historical Museum.  Parades and open air concerts take place in the square on National Holidays.   From the corner opposite the flagpole it is possible to see the four “Government Houses” of Kyrgyzstan.  The small, brown, two-storey building on the far side of the square is “Friendship House” – and was the first.  There is a story of a nomad visiting the city from his high mountain pastures (Jailoo) who went back and told all his family and acquaintances what a wonderful city it was – with such tall building that if you bent over backwards looking upwards – with the top of your head on the ground behind you – then you still could not see the top of the building – it was this building he was describing.  When the second Government house was built – this became the Historical Museum.

Underneath the square is apparently a “secret” complex comprising an assembly room (50m square with a long table covered in a green cloth and about 30 chairs) and a smaller one, sparsely furnished, that served as the personal room of the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Central Committee of Kirghizia in Soviet times.  The complex is connected to the White House by a long underground corridor.  Apparently it hasn’t been used since before independence – there are still portraits of members of the politburo of the Soviet Union including Andropov and Brezhnev and apparently a lot of dust everywhere – and according to a newspaper report in August 2003, of the two crystal wine glasses remaining in the smaller room, one was broken.

The square behind the Historical Museum has Kyrgyz National Theatre, the building which housed Council of Ministries (with the columns) which now the home of the parliament (Jogorku Knesh), the Japanese Centre and the American University.  Here also is the former Supreme Soviet building – home of the Communist Party until independence – refurbished after a visit by Khrushchev who declared that the ageing pile did not befit the exalted Communist Party.

The building with the white marble façade on the right of the square is actually a clothes factory – the marble was added when the square was reconstructed to make sure the factory fit in with its new majestic surroundings.   At the far end of the square the domed-topped arch is the Ministry of Agriculture.

Continue along Prospect Chui to Prospect Erkindik.  Turn up towards the mountains and enjoy the cool promenade under the silver poplars planted in 1883 over a filled-in streambed.  This is a favourite spot for local to simply stroll in the evenings, weekends and on holidays.  The street is flanked by many old, expensive, buildings, The Institute of Geology where the Academy of Sciences held it’s inaugural lecture, as well as a number of modern “award winning” apartment blocks.    You pass statues dedicated to a national Kyrgyz poet and war hero and at the top of the avenue is a statue of Mikhail Frunze on horseback – the Bolshevik General who commanded the Red Army forces in Central Asia during the civil war and died under mysterious circumstances on a hospital operating table undergoing an operation that Stalin’s politburo insisted he have and after whom the city was named in 1926.  He is facing the Railway station – built in 1938.

At the top of the street turn round and walk back down, past the ruins of the Ala Too Hotel and the Hotel Bishkek – closed for reconstruction and the constitutional court – back and over Prospect Chui.

This street has had several names – now called Prospect Erkindik – (Freedom Avenue) it was originally named “the Boulevard” in 1902.  In 1924 it was renamed as “Komsolmolskaya”, and later as “Prospect Dzerzhinsky” after the founder of the Cheka – the secret police and forerunner of the NKVD – itself the forerunner of the KGB.  His statue at the foot of this section of Prospect Erkindik, in the middle of the park, has now been removed and replaced by a Kyrgyz “Statue of Liberty”.

As you approach the statue you pass on the left an open air art gallery.  Past the statue you enter Oak Park.  To the left is the old Church of St Nicholas – also now an art gallery run by the Artists Union.  The park is also the home of the Museum of Sculpture.  It was founded in 1984 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Kyrgyz Republic with over 80 pieces of sculpture by some of the Soviet Union’s most famous artists.  Some of the bronze pieces have been lost as they were apparently stolen by scrap metal dealers – including a huge bronze bust of Yuri Gagarin.

The large building on the right is the Russian Drama Theatre built in 1972 on the spot of Bishkek’s first cinema – built in 1914.  At the corner, is the Red Guards Memorial – a red granite obelisk erected in 1960 over the graves of the Bolshevik casualties of the 1918 Belovodsk counter revolution.  Their commander, Logvinenko, survived the uprising and when he died in 1933 he was also buried here.  There used to be an eternal flame – but it was extinguished due to economies in the winter of 1994 although it is still on appropriate occasions.  You will often see weeding parties of newly married couples and their entourages placing flowers at the memorial.

To the north of the Park (on the other side of Abdumomunova Street) is the Semetei Youth Center, which stands on the site of the original Circus – a wooden building which burnt down and was replaced with this complex which includes a theater auditorium and various other facilities.

Turn left past the front of the theatre and onto Sovietskaya.  On the right is the Bibliotheca – which houses a small theatre, and on the left is the Museum of Fine Arts built in 1974.  The permanent exhibition consists of traditional Kyrgyz decorative and applied art – there is a yurt and an abundant array of shyrdaks and other objects.  There are also examples of Russian and Soviet art – concentrating on the works of local artists and there are examples of Theodore Herzen’s engravings depicting the Manas epic poem.

On the opposite side of Sovietskaya is the Theatre of Opera and Ballet, which you see on the five som note.  It is named after the Kyrgyz composer Abdilas Maldibaev who is featured on the 1 som.  To the right of the theatre is a bronze statue of Toktogul – a poet, singer and instrumentalist.

Walk back up to Prospect Chui – set back from the corner is the Martyrs of the Revolution monument completed in 1978 – with a statue of Urkuya Salieva – an early socialist organizer amongst agricultural workers in Southern Kyrgyzstan who as elected leader of the local soviet but was later murdered by rich peasants.

On the opposite corner is the Central Post Office – with a clock tower sometimes locally called “Big Ben”.

Turn left and walk along Chui to TsUM – the Central department store, then turn right and you come to Victory Park.  This used to be the site of the central bazaar – but removed in 1985.  The three curved arches represent a yurt and beneath is a statue of a Kyrgyz woman waiting for her husband or son who will never return from the front.

Opposite the memorial is a building, which housed the Naryn Restaurant – now the home of night clubs – this fostered the comment when the memorial was first built that the statue was of a mother waiting for her drunken son to emerge.

Turn left along Frunze – past the Circus.  In the distance you can see the Palace of Weddings.  As you cross Sovietskaya you pass the National Library.  When you get to Prospect Erkindik turn right and walk down towards Jibek Jolu.  On the left, you pass the Bank built by the Interhelpa project in 1926.  At the bottom cross over and walk back up to Frunze.  The large building on the corner of Jibek Jolu and Erkindik is the home of the Security Service – the KGB.  The next, small, building used to house the American Embassy before it moved to the specially constructed complex on the edge of town.  Apparently, when the new tenants moved in, the KGB moved the main entrance of their building round the corner.

Turn right back along Frunze.  On the left is the Frunze Museum, built around the house is supposed to be the boyhood home of Mikhail Frunze.  Exhibits inside trace the life of the general.

As you continue along Frunze, under the trees, with apartment blocks on your left and government buildings (including the parliament) on the right.  When you get to Logvinenko (opposite the Stadium) turn right and walk down to Jibek Jolu.  Cross the street and turn left.  On your left is the Russian Orthodox Cathedral – which has recently undergone renovations.  Turn back up Togolok Moldo to Frunze and turn left.  Walk past Prospect Manas.  You pass one of the buildings of the Academy of Sciences with reliefs of Marx, Engles and Lenin and come to the National University.  Turn left walking back up to Chui.  In front of you is the Bishkek City Hall.  The large white marble building is the Philharmonia concert hall.  Just before the Philharmonia, look to your right and you will see the monument to the Fathers of the Nation.

In front of the Philharmonia is the statue of Manas riding his steed Ak-kula.  At the base of the statue is Kanykei, (his wife), and Bakai, (his friend and counsellor).  Around the square are busts of several famous manaschi.

At the crossroads of Prospekt Chui and Turesbekova, to the right, stands the Metro Pub.  Built as the original Philharmonia building, it later served as a puppet theater, before being turned into the “American Pub” and now the Metro Bar.

Turn left back along Chui to Isanovna.  You pass the building of Demir Bank – formerly a factory and on the opposite side of the street are department stores and the newly renovated UN building.  On the corner is the Central Call Office operated by Kyrgyz Telecom.  At Isanovna turn left and walk down to Gorky Park, which houses a statue of the writer.  Cross the park and walk down the alley back to the hotel.

The Celestial Mountains Tour Company and our sister company, the Celestial Mountains Guesthouse in Naryn were established in 1997 by three British investors to offer tours and other services to travelers.  The tours would cover the regions of Kyrgyzstan and, in co-operation with our partners in other countries, throughout Central Asia and along the Great Silk Road.

Originally attracted to Kyrgyzstan by the outstanding landscapes and pristine environment; a sense of history invoked by names such Genghiz Khan, Tamerlane and Babur; the cultural mix of the population and the traditional nomadic hospitality and lifestyle of the Kyrgyz shepherds and herders, we wanted to share with others the discovery of this relatively unknown corner of the former Soviet Union.

We saw as our potential clients people who, like the investors, were experienced travelers.  Perhaps they had spent their long vacations when they were students visiting interesting parts of the world and were willing to accept the rigours and hardships of travel. They had time available to simply wander and explore but had little money to spare. Now, however, they have jobs and responsibilities that meant that, although they have money, they have limited time available and “had to be back behind the desk on Monday week.”  They still wanted to visit remote and interesting places but needed to make the most of their “two weeks” annual leave and didn’t want either the hassle or discomforts that they were prepared to accept as students.

Although many of our clients do fit this description, it is by no means typical of the people who undertake tours with us.  Our clients represent many different nationalities, ages and backgrounds.  Some, like our investors, have become entranced with the charms of Central Asia, returning several times to explore different parts of the country.

At first we specialized in “motor tours”, but over the years we have extended the itineraries to include activities which take advantage of all that Kyrgyzstan has to offer, such as: trekking and waking tours; cycling and horse riding; a variety of cultural activities; city tours and simply relaxing and sunbathing on lakeside beaches.

Although we offer a number of set itineraries, much of our work involves customizing tours to meet the individual requirements of clients.  This individual and responsive approach is reflected throughout our work from the initial communications before the tour to feedback following it.

As a tour company, we are mindful of our responsibilities towards the natural environment, wildlife and the culture and traditions of the local communities – all of which we rely upon for our “tour product”.

I have now made my home in Bishkek and as well as running the company and two hotels, the guesthouse in Naryn and the Silk Road Lodge in Bishkek, have become an established member of the local community serving on the Management Board of the International Business Council and as President of the Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators.

I am the only foreigner working in the company and heads an enthusiastic and energetic team in the Tour Department, who are responsible for communications and logistics.  During the season we draw upon a wide pool of experienced local drivers, guides and others to accompany tours.

Our services include:

• Formalities:
  • Visa Support
  • OVIR registration
  • Permits
  • …
• Accommodation:
  • Hotels
  • Sanatoria
  • Guesthouses
  • Homestays
  • Camping
  • Yurts
  • …
• Transport
  • Saloon cars
  • 4WD
  • Minibus
  • Bus
  • …
• Guides / Interpreters
• Meals en route
• Excursions – City tours, day trips,
• Special activities:
  • museum visits
  • horse riding
  • boat trips on Lake Issyk Kul
  • demonstrations and master classes of various national crafts, (such as how to make Shyrdaks and Ala kiyiz,)
  • concerts of traditional Kyrgyz music,
  • traditional Kyrgyz Horse Games
  • demonstrations of hunting with eagles
  • rafting
  • …
• Logistics
  • Making Bookings – purchasing tickets
  • Arranging meetings – conferences etc.
  • …
• Liaison in Central Asia, (Kyrgyzstan – China – Pakistan – Uzbekistan – Turkmenistan – Kazakhstan …)
• Planning – Advice and Information

You can find more information on our websites: www.celestial.com.kg and www.tours.kg.