ianbek

Today, ianbek hits a milestone … and joins the shop in the West End of Bishkek with the enticing name, 1000 Melochei - 1000 little things.

Actually, like most of the “trade centers” here, 1000 Melochei it is not a single shop; it was originally an open plan space on the ground floor of an apartment building which rented space out to individual entrepreneurs who ran little shops or stalls, as in a typical market.  When I first came here it was a sort of hardware shop with “1000 little things”, (and more), for the home and was one of the places to check out when searching for this or that.  It was like wandering through a veritable Aladdin’s Cave – you were never sure what “little gems” you might come across.

Well, today, this is my 1000th postcard.

To be honest, there are a couple of topics that have been posted twice, (the Swiss journalist and traveler Ella Maillart, for example, the Soviet revolutionary general Mikhail Frunze and the archetypical Kyrgyz dish, Beshbarmak), but on the whole I have tried to cover a wide range of new and interesting topics.  (Well, they were at least interesting to me.)

I accept that they represent a somewhat eclectic mix …

• postcards about Kyrgyzstan in general:
• the geography,
• places to see,
• the history,
• characters from history
• aspects of traditional nomadic culture;
• postcards with a glimpse at everyday life tinged with reminiscences of, both life back home in the UK and in my early days here; including the culture shock that I experienced and the differences I have noticed - especially when it comes to education;
• postcards containing stories about my experiences doing business here in Kyrgyzstan, especially about tourism and relationships with the various authorities;
• postcards reflecting my interest in history, mathematics, (especially statistics), and trivia of all sorts.
• and, of course, for the last couple of years there has been the weekly postcard where I try to look at the events of the past weeks news;

The KyrgyzDiary website

We’ve spent some time over the holiday period reworking the KyrgyzDiary website.

we’ve learnt from our experience last year and we hope that the site will be more user friendly and help people to find events that are going on in Kyrgyzstan, and particularly Bishkek, far more easily.

Our biggest problem, however, remains the same … getting information about what is going on.

I have said before that there is a tendency here for news about events to be held back … people tend to be far more spontaneous here but, perhaps, it is also because people are afraid to commit themselves too far ahead of time, in case plans have to be changed.  For example, I note that the big trade fair Bishkek Build that was due to be held in April has just been cancelled

Whatever, as a result most of the days in the months ahead are still empty.  Even for January there are not many events listed as many theatres etc. are taking a break over the New Year holidays.  We do expect that to change, however,  over the course of time.

There are plenty of background pages about the year in Kyrgyzstan: When to travel to Kyrgyzstan; the public holidays; “special” days like Chinese New Year,  Dehn Goroday, Stariy Noviy God, (Old New Year), “Professional Holidays”, Religious holidays and so on;  as well as information about festivals that are planned, the venues and the organizers of events.

The events themselves are split into categories like Activities, (such as treks and skiing); Charity events, the Circus, Concerts, Conferences, Exhibitions, Sporting events, Theatre and so on.

We hope that it will be useful to tourists and ex-pats alike; although it might be of interest to locals as well but for the moment it is only in English.

There is going to be a fair amount of work in maintaining the site but I think, (hope), that it will be worth it in the long run.

We’ll need lots of help.  If anyone knows of any planned events we would be grateful to hear about them and feature them.

.

You can also follow KyrgyzDiary on facebook.

The Kyrgyz Diary test site

We have a new web based project: Kyrgyz Diary.

At the moment it is only in a test format … because we are trying to work out the logistics of how it will work … and we have a question for you: What would you like to see on the site?

Although there was a travel website which claimed that “Kyrgyzstan isn’t exactly full of festivals” … this is not exactly fair and, in fact, the people of Kyrgyzstan enjoy a celebration or festival as much as anyone … however … it can, sometimes, be difficult to find information about events in Kyrgyzstan.

We’ve discovered several problems with the idea as we have worked on this test site … but the most important question still remains … what do people want to see there?

For example … one of the crucial questions to bear in mind when designing a site is “who is it for?”.   This would have an effect on what we aim to include …

Well, we run a tour company, so one obvious answer to that question is “potential tourists“.  It could be useful for to them when it comes to planning their trip.  We already have had, for example, several clients who have rearranged the dates of their visit to Kyrgyzstan so that they can attend a particular festival.   So, if the site is aimed primarily at tourists, then emphasis would probably be on festivals and tourist events.

Another answer might be “ex-pats” or other people living in Kyrgyzstan for a period of time.  I am often being asked, especially by people new to Bishkek, about venues – where’s a good place to go and eat?, what concerts are on?, what nightclubs are there? … and so on.  If we orientated our site towards this particular segment, then we would presumably want to include some other events which might not be of obvious interest to tourists such as concerts, plays, film festivals, sports events, cultural events like art exhibitions and even services in the local churches, (synagogue, or mosque …).

Then there are what could be termed, “locals“, whether Kyrgyz, Russian or some other nationality.  This would mean providing information about a much wider set of events – such as cinema programmes, trade fairs, events staged in nightclubs, sporting events and training courses, just to mention a few.

Personally, I think there are already several different ways for them to get this sort of information, websites, newspapers, TV and Radio, not mention posters and word of mouth.  If we are going to provide information for this segment, then there ought to be versions in Kyrgyz and Russian as well as English … but then, what I think is not the point – what would people who visit the site want to see there?  Hence the question …

What about other languages?  We have some of our websites in French as well … so, should we produce a French version of this site as well? … what about German? … or Japanese? … or … ???

.

So, the question is … can you help us?  Can you tell us what you would like to see on the site?

I am not saying that we will be able to fullfil everyone’s wishes and desires … but it will help us to develop a site that we hope will be of use to as many people as possible.

You can post comments here on this page, or write to me at ian@ianbek.kg.  I’ll be glad to hear from you.

We’ve launched another of our websites in our series of Cultural aspects of life in Kyrgyzstan: the people and their traditional lifestyle and culture; the places and the history of the country; and (especially as we are a tour company) about the tourism potential of the country and the region.  This one is called Crafts.kg

The reason we are creating these sites is that we find many people know little about this small country in the heart of the Asian continent, and which straddles the ancient Silk Road. As a result they have many questions. We hope that the websites will answer some of these questions and also introduce the country to a wider audience. We hope that you find the site interesting and helpful. We welcome your comments and suggestions as to how we can make it more so.

This particular site concentrates on the traditional handicrafts that are found in Kyrgyzstan, working with: felt and fabrics; leather; wood; metal and other materials.

I was particularly interested in getting this site underway.  Not because I have any particularly strong interest or skill in any particular craft.  I can turn my hand to most things, but I have never been particularly good with my hands.

Back at school, about half the kids in any particular year group opted to follow the Technical options – working in Woodwork or Metalwork classes if they boys and Domestic Science and Needlework if they were girls.  Of course, that’s not politically correct these days and, anyway, it says a lot more about the school, (a Secondary Modern for those who remember them), and the employment opportunities in the local neighbourhood where light engineering was a major industry.  Although I was able to produce a credible attempt at a teapot stand, a stool or letter rack, I was more than happy to drop the “Craft” options and go for what we called the Scholarship class, which followed a more academic timetable concentrating on the humanities, (History, Geography, Music, Religious Education), along with French – a foreign language was optional in those days.

There is a “professional” interest behind my enthusiasm for this particular site.  Local crafts are one of the topics that interest tourists and we hope that the site will prove to be interesting, useful and, (of course) generate interest in the country as a whole.

There is another more personal aspect to my keenness to develop the site.  Handicrafts was one of my mother’s favourite pastimes.  She was always on the lookout to try out something new … to master the skills and produce something.  Then, when she felt confident that she hang of it, she would move on to something new.

Our home would festooned with examples of patchwork for a period, before she moved on to Macramé, or lace making, embroidery or knitting complex patterns, engraving glasses or making jewelry.  She even tried her hand at drawing and painting, but found that quite frustrating.

When I came here and attended a “master class” on making felt, and the typical Kyrgyz felt carpets, (shyrdaks and ala kyiyz), I was astounded and thought to myself how much she would have loved to have been there.  I also thought what a wonderful topic it would be for a school project combining Maths, Geography, History, Art and Design as well as traditional craft knowledge, techniques and skills.

As I delved further into Kyrgyz traditional patchwork and embroidery I felt that she would have felt just as at home with these, learning about the different design elements; their meanings and interpretation.

I think she would have loved making chiy, mats made from grass reeds decorated by winding coloured threads around them.  I think that it would have taken her quite a while to master this particular skill.

If, in the mind of most visitors, Kyrgyz crafts tends to be associated mainly with feltwork, that would be a mistake.   The Kyrgyz were a nomadic people living in small isolated communities and basically had to rely upon themselves for all their everyday needs: furniture, decoration, tools and equipment.   Their crafts reflect ancient traditions and demonstrate a practicality arising out of necessity. For example, musical instruments and other implements were fashioned out of objects found naturally in the environment – were easily crafted and transported as the family moved from pasture to pasture with their flocks of sheep.  Most evolved into being a “jack of all trades”, although some crafts, (especially woodwork and metalworking), required specific skills and equipment and so were practiced by specialists who would trade their wares in marketplaces.

Being a Brit, you might forgive me for thinking that everyone was celebrating the wedding of the newly created Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in an ancient church some eight thousand miles away, … but no, Friday was also Dehn Goroda, “City Day”.

Dehn Goroda is a traditional “holiday” in Russia and countries of the former Soviet Union, designed to instill interest and pride in the city amongst its inhabitants.  Each city will have its assigned day, which often celebrates the founding of the city, the date being fixed accordingly.  (It is usually held on a Sunday, however, events organized to commemorate the occasion may take place over an extended period and if the allocated day is a Sunday, then they will usually start on the previous day, the Saturday).

There is usually a lot of preparation work in order to clean the city and make it presentable.  Buildings will be decorated, street bunting and posters erected.  Events may include concerts, festivals and parades in which the city, (Mayor, etc.) will play a leading role, but the idea is to involve as many of the local citizens as possible, if not all of them, and will often conclude with a firework display.

It is seen as the City’s birthday and all those Congratulatory tweets were between citizens of Bishkek congratulating each other on the city’s 133rd birthday, along with lots of gushing emotion of the type: “we love Bishkek”.  The city’s fountains were turned on after their winter rest – although they needn’t have bothered because the skies open and there was a downpour during the celebrations which seems to last well into the night, accompanied by loud music and that firework display.

.

One thing about festivals like this is that they help to take people’s minds off their troubles and tribulations, giving them something positive to do, to commemorate and celebrate.

An awful lot of attention this week has been focused on the delayed, but soon to be released, report of the International Commission of enquiry into the events of June last year.  One news website and a Russian newspaper seem to have received a leaked copy and published excerpts and commentary.  It looks like being a fairly controversial document as nobody seems to come out of its observations and conclusions with much credit.  Interestingly, Kimmo Kiljunen, the head of the commission, has declined to speak with the media about the leaked reports, saying that he “did not recognize the extracts put to him”. He also says that the leaked report could not be relied upon, since the document was not yet complete.  Curioser and curioser.

The controversial book about the events that I referred to last week, (“The hour of the Jackal”), is still in the news.  Although no-one, apart from one of the deputies, seems to have seen it, there was a website that carried a photo that purported to show it.   The criticism levied at it is that it incites racial hatred and so it should be banned and prosecuted.

Interestingly, a newspaper report, which is also posted on the internet, quoting an article in the Russian media has also attracted attention and comment as worthy of prosecution as it makes derogatory remarks about the Jews.  It is phrased in slang which passed me by until I read some of the commentary which draws out some of the more inflammatory elements.  It’ll be interesting to see if anything comes of it.

There is more positive news about a new book being published, however.  During the week a new translation of Ella Maillart’s book “Turkestan Solo” into Kyrgyz has just been published; an initiative of the Swiss charity, Pamir Bridges.  The book is the account of her travelling through Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan during the early years of the Soviet Union, and is a good read full of fascinating observations of and insights into the country, the people and the troubled times.   It’s a nice thought that this is now available in a version that means that more of the local population can read it.

Despite having discovered and confiscated a host of weapons in the building of the parliament a couple of weeks ago following the altercation between two of the deputies, the speaker has proposed that deputies should be granted permission to be allowed to carry weapons.  There might well be some risk in being a deputy which might make them nervous.  The home of one, for example, was subject to a grenade being thrown at it, although no-one was hurt.

All the politicians and political commentators have their eyes on the Presidential elections which are slated to take place later in the year.  There are seemingly never ending discussions about the procedures and continuous speculation about who will stand as a candidate.  Roza Otunbaeva cannot stand.  One report suggested that there were already some 15 potential contenders including: Atambaev (the Prime Minister), Baibalov (the former Procutrator General), Babanov (the First Vice Prime Minister – although he’s “temporarily resigned” from the post), Kamchibek Tashiev (the leader of the Ata Jurt party),  Keldibekov (the speaker of parliament), Felix Kulov (the leader of Ar Namys – although some people think he’s more likely to try for the post of Prime Minister).  Then there are other prominent local politicians such as Alikbek Jekshenkulov, Tekebayev  , Adahan, Ishak Masaliyev, and Sariev … OK, I know that’s only 1 … but those are the names that I have seen being floated.

There are other players who like Roza Otunbaeva, will not or cannot stand but who are likely to have interesting influence on the course of events – not least of which will be the past presidents, Akaev and Bakiev.  Both are issuing press releases and making statements on the situation here and both seem to have some “supporters” or “sympathizers” still in the country.

One commentator has raised a particular potential problem, but I don’t think he will be thanked for having done so.  Given such a wide field of potential candidates, he thinks it is unlikely that anyone will win outright on the first round, and if the experience of the parliamentary elections is anything to go by, he could well be right.  That opens up the possibility that the second round will be contested by opposing candidates from the North and the South, raising the prospect of opening old wounds once more.  Still, it’s only a counterfactual, a possibility and not a foregone conclusion.  Also, I get the feeling that most people see no benefit in further chaos and disruption and want nothing more than to be able to getb on with their lives in peace and security.

There has also been some speculation about the proposed “anti-terrorist” military bases proposed for the South of the country – one American, in the Batken region, and the other Russian, near Osh.  Apart from being another potential playground in the current version of the ‘Great Game’, questions are being asked about who would gain from them and what risks are involved.

Tuesday saw an interesting meeting at the Hyatt.  It was the regular monthly open meeting of the International Business Council, (IBC), and this month it was dedicated to the question of measures to prevent corruption.  It’s amazing how everyone seems to assume that corruption, (and attention is nearly always concentrated on just the question of bribes rather than the other ways in which corruption – the abuse of power – can manifest itself), is inherent in Kyrgyz society and just another one of those factors that investors have to take into account before deciding to set up business in the country.  I won’t say that I haven’t come across stories of corruption or heard stories and examples of it in my sixteen years here, but our approach is pretty simple and, (so far), has worked.  As the anti-drugs slogan put it: “Just say no!”.  Know the situation, know your rights, try to follow the “rules”, pay the fees, get everything documented (receipted), be prepared for delays and difficulties, but don’t put money into someone’s pocket rather than the budget.  Remember that the person who is your “krisha” today will not always be there, and you may simply be creating more problems for tomorrow.  It was interesting to hear how many speakers echoed the thought that although punishment is an important element in the fight against corruption, prevention was far more important … and more effective.  On the other hand, it’s also a long term “solution” and requires a “sea change” in attitudes and perceptions.

.

There have been other things to take our minds off the trials and tribulations of daily life during the week.  Apart from the prospect of the Ala Too Square being renamed, the commission for adopting new state symbols, (the flag, Gerp – state seal or coat of arms and anthem), has received several proposals of designs for a new flag which have been published.  You can see them on http://farido4ka.kloop.kg/archives/797 or http://kg.akipress.org/news:362771 – sorry, the text is in Russian, but the designs speak for themselves.  Needless to say, there has been a certain amount of discussion, but not much in favour of any of the new designs.

.

That’s not to say that a certain wedding went unnoticed.  Although there hasn’t been much hype for the event here in Kyrgyzstan, it hasn’t gone unnoticed.  One taxi driver congratulated me on the occasion, as if it was my wedding and, to be fair, there were one or two tweets about it during the afternoon.  We bought a cake in the office and I gave in and let those who wanted to watch the ceremony leave early so that they could get home in time to watch it at four o’clock, (we’re five hours ahead of London at the moment).

Although we looked at the 360-degree panorama of Westminster Abbey on the BBC website, there was slightly more interest in short, four minute, video clip of Thursday’s gathering in the Orthodox Cathedral here, commemorating the arrival of the miraculous “Holy Fire” from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, (partly because Tatiana and Lisa from the office make a fleeting appearance).   (There’s more about that on ianbek.kg.)

Talking of 360-degree panoramas, I have a favour to ask.  We have a site with several such panoramas taken around Kyrgyzstan, www.see.kg, but we’ve heard from some people that it takes a long time to load.  Here, it loads in about 10-15 seconds, but one person in the States says it takes about four minutes.  We are trying to look into why this is happening.  Is it an occasional problem, or something associated with the server, the bandrate, or what?  We’ve also set up a temporary mirror site, hosted on  a different server, (http://seekg.eu5.org/).  Can I ask if it’s possible to help us by having a look at these sites and let us know how long it takes to load, then we can try and diagnose the cause and decide what to do to rectify the problem.  Thanks!

Back to ianbek.kg … we put a ‘hit counter’ on it back in September and since then we’ve had over 5000 unique visitors and over 11,000 page hits.  I know that’s not much by some standards, but it’s still very gratifying.   There’s more information on the site this week about Statisticians’ Day – a “professional holiday” here in Kyrgyzstan, World Malaria Day, Kyrgyz Cemeteries, Our attitudes to financial questions and Cashflow, the monthly meeting of the IBC which considered ways of preventing Corruption, Ella Maillart, Kyrgyz Wedding traditions, Bishkek’s fountains and  The arrival of the Holy Fire from Jerusalem.

We’ve also got up and running the latest in our series of Cultural websites.  This one is dedicated to Kyrgyz crafts, (www.crafts.kg), which features in addition to the Kyrgyz specialty of working in felt, (Shydaks and Ala Kiyiz), embroidery (Saima), patchwork (Kurak), and work with leather, wood and metal.

.

I’m off to Naryn tomorrow.  It’s a holiday, (May Day – International Labour Day – May 1st), and as it falls on a Sunday, Monday has been declared a non-working day, so we decided to take advantage and vary our normal routine of going up on Saturday/Sunday.  It’s back to the office on Tuesday, however, as it’s a short working week … just two days, Tuesday and Wednesday.  Thursday is another holiday, (Constitution Day commemorating the adoption of a new constitution following the demise of the Soviet Union), as is next Monday, (Victory Day marking the end of the Second World War, at least in Europe).   The government has decided that there’s no point in calling people into work on Friday so they have moved that working day to the Saturday of next week, making a long, long weekend – five days from Thursday to Monday.

According to the Flagcounter statistics, we have just passed 5000 visitors from 132 different countries to the site since the counter was installed last September … with 11420 individual page views.

I know that’s not a lot by  some standards … there are many sites that get far more ‘hits’, but it is still a milestone … and I am grateful.

Tatiana the rest of the crew in the office will be happy because it means another excuse for a cake!

For the record:

That’s an average of 23 new visitors a day and 53 page hits a day, but:

• Record New Visitors: November 23, 2010: 45
• Record Flag Counter Views: April 12, 2011: 354

.

Actually, the domain name was registered the day before the launch; the first video, (a 19 second clip called “Me at the zoo”, by one of the three founders, Jawed Karim) was uploaded at 8:27pm on April 23rd, (incidentally, it is still available here, (or below), and has already been viewed over 4 million times … there is also a post that claims to be a compilation of the first twenty videos posted here); from May a “Beta Test” version of the site was available; the official launch took place in November and buy July the next year there were already 65,000 new videos being uploaded every day(!) – they actually say that 35 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute(!), and something like two billion (!) videos are watched every day, so it’s no wonder that in 2007, You Tube was using as much bandwidth as the whole of the internet used in 2000.

Despite the phenomenal success this demonstrates, the site has not been without controversy.  The very name was the subject of a court case as there already was a site with the registered domain www.utube.com.  Then again there has been criticism that You Tube does not screen the content uploaded by users … either the videos themselves or the comments.  There have been complaints about copyright infringements, material likely to cause offence to particular groups or national sensibilities, incite religious or racial hatred, homophobia, expresses “holocaust denial” … and a host of other issues.   Some of the material has caused the site to be blocked by countries such as China, Iran, Libya, Morocco Pakistan, Thailand and Turkey.  Some schools have blocked the access site because there is no control over what material might be accessed by students and even You Tube, themselves, now block access to some material on a regional basis.

Of course, it wasn’t cheap to set the system up.  They had venture capital of something like USD11.5 million, but it was worth it because in November 2006 it was sold to Google for a reported USD1.6 billion.  Now that’s a rate of return on investment!

You Tube is just one of a range of sites that have demonstrated such phenomenal success.  Others include My Space, Facebook, and Twitter.  One of my particular favourites was www.milliondollarhomepage.  The idea was to create a page with one million pixels and then “sell each” pixel for a dollar – there was a minimum purchase of 100 pixels.  Having paid for the pixels, the tenant can then submit an image which will be uploaded, along with a suitable link to their own site if they wish.  A simple idea … but worth “a million”.

Anyone who has a good idea needs to be careful to protect their interest.  They say that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”, and You Tube certainly has its “imitators” people who have taken the idea and adapted it in one form or another.

Here, for example, there are several sites which allow users to upload videos in much the same way as the original You Tube.  They tend to be heavily laden with clips of local interest – for example political or social comment.   Also, on the internet there are several specialist sites which make available clips on a particular theme, for example “travel”.

One of the features of You Tube is that each video can be accessed from distant sites – each video has an “embed code” which can be pasted into another page, just as I have done.  Whereas I do it occasionally, some sites take advantage of this facility to offer a variety of video clips from the original site, sorted and grouped into categories.

Here are just a few such video sharing sites either based in Kyrgyzstan or with content about Kyrgyzstan.  Some of them are in Russian … or Kyrgyz, but still worth a visit:

General Video Sharing sites:

YouTube – Kyrgyzstan

The classic You Tude … with user submissions tagged with Kyrgyzstan

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Kyrgyzstan&search=tag

.

.

Indiaforumstv – Issyk Kul page

There’s no information about who they are but the site seems to host a collection of You Tube clips … This is a collection of those with the Issyk Kul tag

http://video.indiaforumstv.net/Issy-Kul/

.

.

Kyrgyzstan !on Openviv

A video sharing site – with a with user submissions on a wide variety of topics including short “professional” films

http://openviv.com/show/Kyrgyzstan/page-1

.

Search videos for ‘Kyrgyzstan’ on Vimeo

A video sharing site – with a with user submissions on a wide variety of topics including short “professional” films

http://vimeo.com/videos/search:kyrgyzstan/46ec948f

.

.

Local Video Sharing Sites

Blive.kg

A local video sharing site – like You Tube … in Russian

http://www.blive.kg/

.

.

Bulbul.kg

A local video sharing site established by a news agency based in Bishkek – like You Tube … in Russian

http://www.bulbul.kg/

.

.

Namba.kg

A local video sharing site – like You Tube … in Russian

http://video.namba.kg/

.

Obs.kg

A local video sharing site – like You Tube … in Russian

http://www.obs.kg/

.

.

Smotri.kg

A local video sharing site – like You Tube … in Russian

http://smotri.kg/

.

.

Travel Related sites:

CheckMyCity.com – Kyrgyzstan Page

My city travel community and video guide … is about promoting various countries around the globe. Our members can upload their videos, write blogs, connect and interact with other members all over the world, upload their interesting pictures, write about events, restaurants, attractions, museums in their communities, make hotel reservations and bookings, check and get the best hotel deals from a list of 78,000 hotels worldwide and much more. This web page is unique by its’ concept and presents a perfect travel guide.

• Issyk-Kul Kyrgyzstan
• Bishkek Kyrgyzstan

http://checkmycity.com/video-travel-guide/Asia/Kyrgyzstan/122

.
LivingScoop – Get an Eyeful of the World

A video sharing site that claims to have “unlimited free speech and freedom of all expressions” … here are some of the user submissions tagged “Kyrgyzstan”

• Karakol snowboard and ski jumping day – LivingScoop
• Extreme swimming in winter Issik-Kul – LivingScoop

http://www.livingscoop.com/index.php

.

Travelistic- Search Results for ‘Kyrgyzstan’

A Travel related site offering a number of videos submitted by users … Here are a few tagged “Kyrgyzstan”

• An Adventure to Lake Issyk-Cold
• Taste Testing Shoro
• Rocking Out in a Bomb Shelter

http://www.travelistic.com/search/search?search_terms=Kyrgyzstan&commit=Search

.

Travel Ideas by Travercial

A site showing travel related videos submitted by users … here are two specifically about Kyrgyzstan:

• Kyrgyzstan: On the Road
• Kyrgyzstan: Back Country Snowboarding

http://www.travercial.com/

Travelpod videos – Kyrgyzstan page

A travel site where users can upload blogs as well as video … here’s the search page returing those user submitted videos tagged “Kyrgyzstan”

http://www.travelpod.com/videos-mp3s/0/Kyrgyzstan.html

.

.

.

.

I was ten years old, and still at Primary School on January 1st, 1964, when the disc jockey Jimmy Saville presented the very first edition of the United Kingdom’s flagship programme reviewing the pop music charts, Top of the Pops, (TOTP).  To be honest, I can’t remember actually watching it, but I am sure that my brother and I would have joined with the vast majority of Britain’s youth gathering in front of their TV sets to watch the new programme.  Little did anyone realize that the programme which was scheduled for a short run, would still be running over forty years later.

The line up on that occasion began with The Rolling Stones performing “I Wanna Be Your Man”, followed by Dusty Springfield with “I Only Want to Be with You”; the Dave Clark Five with “Glad All Over”; The Hollies with “Stay”; The Swinging Blue Jeans with “Hippy Hippy Shake” and it finished with that week’s Number One, the Top of the Pops, “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by The Beatles.  All of them, names to cherish in their own right, not simply because of their role in this particular piece of historical trivia.

In most cases the disc jockey would announce the next number and the screen would show a spinning record before switching to a view of a dance floor with young people gyrating away.  For some numbers a professional dance troupe would perform a routine on special stage.   Occasionally, depending on the vagaries of the movements of individual records up and down the charts and which acts were available, (and willing), some artists would appear on the show.  (Not all acts were keen on the exposure of a live appearance on the show, however, as live performances do not always reflect the same quality and sound on the commercial recordings.)

Although it was rare for a record to be featured in consecutive weeks, (unless it happened to Number One), sometimes, recordings of an earlier appearance was repeated in a subsequent broadcasts, and my brother once pointed out to me that you could tell if the producers thought that the record had a “future” or not … if it did, then the crowds were kept back, at a distance, so that the film could be used again.  If not, however, then the crowd were allowed to gather up close to the artists.

Then a new trend appeared, that of the “pop video” produced by the record company in order to promote the record.  This added a new feature to the variety of formats available to the producers.

Today, the music video is so endemic that it is easy to forget what the original programmes were like – unless we watch some of the archive films that have managed to survive the clean-out of the BBC which claimed many of the early episodes, (including the only live appearance made the Beatles, back in 1966), or films like Hairspray.

.

All this came to mind because the other day I was watching the news on one of the main local channels and when the bulletin had finished it was followed, as is often the case here, by a clip of traditional Kyrgyz music.

Now, although I actually enjoy traditional Kyrgyz music, I have to admit that I normally “channel hop” during these moments.  The reason for this is simply that I am not a great fan of music videos.  This one, however, was different.  Whereas the video normally shows the artists dressed in traditional national costumes standing somewhere in the mountains, amidst greenery, by the side of fast flowing streams with visions of tall mountain peaks in the background, this one interspersed shots of a young musician, Asylbek Nasirdinov,  performing on a variety of instruments somewhere in a studio, with scenes from a feature film, newsreel shots of the Manaschi, Sayakbai Karalaev, and a variety of other “archive” clips.

As it happens, I had seen this very clip just a couple of days beforehand, when Asylbek visited me in my office with copies of the presentation CD that he’s just had produced with eleven tracks and two video clips.  We had sponsored the design for the CD and he was bringing me our copies.

I have known Asylbek for almost all the time I have been here in Kyrgyzstan.  He is married to the sister of one of our shareholders and we meet maybe half-a-dozen times a year, mainly at family gatherings.

He is a talented musician, having studied at the Conservatory, and performs both as a soloist and as a member of a folklore ensemble, (at the present time, for example, he is the Manager of the ensemble “Saamal”).  He performs, not only here in Kyrgyzstan but also abroad where he has participated in many international folklore festivals.  Although he does play the Komuz, (a sort of three stringed ukulele), he specializes in wind instruments, (some of which are more unusual), and, in keeping with the traditional nomadic culture, he doesn’t just play the instruments, he actually makes his own.

When we were preparing the website www.sounds.kg, he was extremely helpful giving us much valuable advice and information.  It seemed that nothing was too much effort, he found us books, instruments – including some of the very rare instruments that it is difficult to find, contacts of other people who could also help us, he spent time with the photographer – it’s his photograph that you’ll see on the site – and he gave us permission to place some of his recordings on the site for people to download.

Some of the tracks are quite haunting and reminiscent of music from my past … no, not the music of The Beatles and the Swinging Blue Jeans, but Twin Peaks, The Flight of the Condor, Enigma and Enya.

.

Although I found the clip sufficiently enticing to avoid the temptation to reach for the remote control and start channel hopping, there was one thing that I felt could have made a really big improvement … Like most of the musicians here, Asylbek is very intense when it comes to performing.  He is proud of his traditional culture and concentrates intensively on his performance, which means that he doesn’t smile that much.  That’s not he’s playing the wind instruments, such as the Choor and the Chopo Choor, (indeed it would be impressive if he was able to smile whilst playing them – especially the Choor which looks extremely uncomfortable instrument to play … he says, though, that it isn’t), but it would be nice if he could whenever possible, for example when he plays the Komuz, and it would help to convey the feeling that he is actually enjoying what he is doing, (which he is … ).

.

As I said, the CD is a Presentation CD, which means that it’s not on sale anywhere.  For anyone who is interested, however, some of the tracks are available on www.sounds.kg, and in particular, I recommend the second track: “Balbal tun”, (“Night of the Balbals”), which was the piece featured in the clip.

The idea behind the site is to provide links to webpages which concern travel to Kyrgyzstan, in particular to travellers’ tales, where they give accounts of their visits to Kyrgyzstan and their impressions of the country and what it has to offer.  We made a policy decision in the early stage not to link to sites that “sell” something.  As a result we are happy to include book reviews, but not links to sites like Amazon which sell the books.  Let’s face it, if someone likes the review and wants to buy the book, it is easy enough for them to find the relevant Amazon page.

Likewise we decided not to include links to tour company sites.  To be fair, we do have pages about Celestial Mountains in the “About Us” section and this includes banners and links to our growing family of websites, and there are links in the main section to the various “information service” sites that we operate, (such as www.sounds.kg about traditional Kyrgyz music), but not to the sites that “sell” tours or our tour services or which promote our hotels.

We think that this is logical and that people will understand.

So what was the dilemma?

Well, we came across a report of a tour which we thought was interesting.  It wasn’t written in brilliant English, (but who am I to comment on that), and much of it was in note form, but I liked the post gave because in giving a number of highlights from a tour, including a number of unusual features and places that are sometimes overlooked by tourists “in a hurry”, but also because it was fair in that it mentioned both good things along with things that could have been better.

The post was headlined, “Impressions about trip to Kyrgyzstan of the tourist from France”, with the subheading: “My trip in Kyrgyzstan with ****: meeting wonderful places and remarkable people”.  Now, it would have been really nice if it had said, “My trip in Kyrgyzstan with Celestial Mountains: meeting wonderful places and remarkable people”, but it wasn’t written by one of our clients.    The tour company that organized the trip was mentioned not just in the title, but in several different places … and in glowing terms.   As it happens, that in itself, that didn’t worry me.  It was an important part of the tourist’s experience and he felt that he wanted to give them credit for having done a particularly good job.  Fair enough!

My problem was that it was posted on their own website, which was clearly a tour company site and was clearly a selling site.

So, under our own criteria, no matter how interesting the account we couldn’t include the link on www.links.kg.

.

I called the manager of the company concerned and explained the situation to him.

I asked if, by any chance, the account had been posted anywhere else, somewhere where we might have been able to provide a link.  Unfortunately, no.

He said that he understood and suggested that I could take the post and place it elsewhere … but where?

Personally, I think that this is a job for a “Kyrgyz Tourist Promotion Board”.  They should be monitoring accounts in the media, searching the internet for suitable material, and trying to bring them to a wider audience, (for example, through Press Releases, or possibly a site like www.links.kg).   Unfortunately, however, there isn’t such an organization.  That’s one reason why we started the site in the first place.

As it happens, it’s not the first time we’ve come across the problem.  The same day that we came across this post, for example, we came across another one but, for the record, the post I have been refering to can be found here: eng.concept.kg/news/403

We’ve added three new spherical panoramas to our website www.see.kg …

1. The entrance chamber to the Kan-i-Gut caves in Batken
2. A beach at Bosteri on the Norther shore at Lake Issyk Kul
3. The square outside the Philharmonia in Central Bishkek at nighttime

1. The entrance chamber to the Kan-i-Gut caves in Batken:

The mysterious and legendary cave of Kan-i-gut lies some eighteen kilometers from the settlement of Samarkandyk, in the Batken oblast, on the slopes of a spur of the Turkestan ridge of mountains.

The entrance is approximately 5 meters high, and the “black hole” is so deep it sometimes appears to be bottomless.  appears  The earliest references to this massive cave are in the works of Avicenna and over time it has served as a mine for precious metals and a prison.

From as early as the 10th and 11th centuries silver and other minerals were extracted from the caves … and at one time the cave was known as the “Mine of Death”.  In the days of the Kokhand Khanate, criminals sentenced to execution, political enemies of the authorities and others were sent here to work in the mines.  They were turned loose in the labyrinth of caves, which stretches for over three kilometers, and if they returned without ore of the precious metals, they were either killed or sent back to look again.  Once they entered the caves – there was no way to emerge again.  Many invented tales to astound their goalers - and hopefully earn themselves a release – including stories about a sleeping camel with jewels as eyes, a mysterious green plant that grew underground, walls made of silver bricks, and terrible creatures which acted as guardians protecting the caves treasures.  The mines are now all but exhausted.

In 1896 two Russian amateur geologists were sent to the explore the cave by the then governor of Turkestan.  Their account of their visit includes a description of what they encountered.  The expedition wasn’t exactly well equipped by modern standards  with just one rope, some candles, a primitive lantern, a shovel and some smoked fish.  They negotiated with some local shepherds who agreed to show them the caves – but warned them of the dangers of getting lost, or confused, in the labyrinthine maze of which the cave consisted.  They were told stories of how a party of five once descended … never to return … their skeletons still adorning one of the cave’s galleries.  The shepherds also told them of the ancient accounts of magical forces which protected the many treasures which lay within.

The explorers said that the entrance to the cave reminded them of a gothic temple, or cathedral.  They proceeded onwards, into the darkness.  Although remembering that many individuals had been lost in these caves before them, they carried on and penetrated deep into the system.

During the Soviet period, further explorations were carried out, including an expedition in 1920 which lasted some 20 days, and hich discovered a second entrance to the system.    Several maps of the system were created … and various caverns were given picturesque names: “Red Water Pool”; Skeleton Hall; “Bridge of Sighs”; “Bottom of the second Precipice”; “Camel Grotto”; Dragon’s Labyrinth” … and so on.

In 1972, 1976 and1984 further expeditions took place, and although the mines may have been worked out the caves still managed to reveal many treasures.  A horde of 23 square coins from the 18th and 19th centuries was discovered.

The caves have not yet revealed their full extent … although more 30km of tunnels have been explored, it is thought that many more remain to be discovered.

2. A beach at Bosteri on the Norther shore at Lake Issyk Kul

Lake Issyk Kul lies at the bottom of a drainage hollow, or depression and has no outflow.

Mountains ring the lake and there are several valleys worth visiting, Gregorievka and Simeonevka on the North, Barskoon on the South and numerous others around Karakol. To the North are the Kungei (“Sunny”) Ala-Too mountains and are criss-crossed by trekking routes including ones that connect the lake with Almaty – while to the South lie the Teskei (“Shady”) Ala- Too mountains.  These mountain ranges protect the Issyk Kul hollow from winds bringing either extreme cold – or extremely hot – winds.

Issyk Kul is Kyrgyzstan’s largest Lake and at about 180 km long by 70 km wide and 668 meters deep at the deepest point, (the average depth is about 300 meters), it is the world’s second largest mountain lake – and the fifth deepest lake in the world.

The lake has been held in high regard by the Kyrgyz – it is known as the “pearl of the Tien Shan” – and in 2004, the government declared the lake as the “property of the nation”.  One source even suggests that, at one time, it was even forbidden to swim in the lake.

Due to its size it sometimes appears like an inland sea, and it has a fair number of beaches.  Most of these are on the Northern shore and have long acted as a magnet for tourists.  There are a large number of sanatoria, holiday camps and hotels on the Northern shore and these were very popular in Soviet times.  Cosmonauts, after they returned to earth were brought to the lake to rest and recuperate and Brezhnev had a Dacha on the shores of the lake.  In 1999 there was an accident where a lorry carrying cyanide fell off a bridge and poisoned the river water and this led to a dramatic decline in the number of tourists to the region, although numbers are beginning to rise again.

The tourist season usually runs from June until September – but the peak season is from about 25^th July until 25^th August – and it may be difficult to find places and prices are at a premium.  A number of the sanatoria, hotels, guesthouses and homestays around the lake operate all year round – although some are open only during the summer season.

Bosteri is a village on the Northern shore of the lake, to the East of Cholpon Ata.  There are a number of Sanatoria and resorts such as, Kyrgyskoe Vzmoriye, (or “Kyrgyz Seaside”), which is one of the largest and most famous of the sanatoria, with a wide variety of facilities.

Nearby, archaeologists have discovered evidence of the oldest human habitation on the northern shore of the lake.

3. The square outside the Philharmonia in Central Bishkek at nighttime

The Philharmonia is one of the most striking and easily recognisable, marble-faced, buildings in downtown Bishkek, at the crossroads of prospects Chui and Manas.  Although it is known simply as “The Philharmonia”, it’s full title is “The Philharmonia Concert Hall, (named after Toktogul Satylganova)”.

This is, in fact, the third such home of the Philharmonic Society – which was established in 1936, based on the orchestra of the Kyrgyz State Theatre. The first home of the society was in the building now occupied by the Metro Pub, (on the corner of Prospect Chui and Turusbekova) and the second the Kyrgyz Promstroi Bank on the other side of Prospect Chui from the present building.

The present concert hall was built in 1980 and the Manas Sculptural Complex which stands in front of it, was erected in 1981.  The complex comprises of a statue depicting the legendary Manas in a pose resembling St. George slaying the dragon.  He is riding his horse, Akula, with a dragon, (or winged snake), entwined around them.  The plinth on which he stands is flanked by statues of his wife, Kanykei, and his friend and advisor, Bakai, and busts of various famious Manaschi (Balykov, Dzapiev, Orozbakov, Karaliev) .

Inside there are two concert halls, one large with capacity for an audience of 1200 and, on the third floor, a smaller one with 300 seats.  On the ground floor there is a large restaurant – and the building also houses two night clubs.  The spacious lobby with displays, and busts of some famous Kyrgyz musicians.  There are are some large stained glass windows, displaying Kyrgyz motifs which make an interesting sight when lit up at night.

The ticket office is on the Western side of the building.

Concerts include performances of both classical (western) and traditional Kyrgyz music as well as by local popular artists (pop music – Kyrgyz “Estrada”).