Postcard from Bishkek

In the former Soviet Union there was a network of state run Circuses – and the Khirghiz SSR was no exception, although it was established only in 1962, when a troupe was formed called “Molodaya Kyrgizia” – “Young Kyrgyzia”.

You can imagine my surprise when, one day in 1999, I sat at my computer and downloaded the latest episode of Alistair Cooke’s letter from America and read the opening sentence: “The name Bishkek does not come trippingly off the tongue … “