Postcard from Bishkek

Today is Diversity Day, although it is is officially known as “The World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development“. It was established by a resolution of the UN General Assembly in November 2001 with the intention of providing an opportunity “to help communities understand the value of cultural diversity and learn how to live […]

There seems to be a universal fascination with celebrating anniversaries … and no less so here than in the West.  All the same, I was somewhat surprised the other day to see a reference to today as the “Birthday of Blue Jeans“. What started out as heavy duty work clothes have also served as a […]

To the West of Bishkek there are a series of settlements that form a continuous ribbon development along the main road towards Kara Balta (and the turn off for the Too Ashu Pass and the main Bishkek-Osh road), the Kazakh border and on to Tashkent.  One of those settlements is the town of Shopokov. It’s […]

The other day I came across an interesting article, (in Russian), entitled Stereotypes about Tourism in Kyrgyzstan … but I think the headline writer got it wrong. The problem with the headline, in my opinion, was the word “stereotypes” … in that this word usually refers to people … but the article was not about the […]

Today, back home, it’s a very big day in the world of sport … the FA Cup final. To be honest, football  oh, sorry, Soccer for the Americans - is not really my game … I was already well into my teens when I got introduced to Rugby Union. but I have to admit that there is […]

There will be a concert recital tonight in the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New  York, given by the Kyrgyz pianist Azamat Sydykov.  Although he is now based in New York and performed at many of the the other prestigious venues in the city, this will be his first performance  in the Carnegie Hall … indeed, […]

I have a friend who “loves” maps … he’ll spend hours pouring over them, studying them in minute detail, saying the place names over and over to himself … whereas most of us would only occasionally use one as a reference work, to him – an atlas is a “good read”. I once joked with […]

One hundred and seventy years ago, (on 14th May, 1844), Baron Alexander Vasiliyevich Kaulbars was born in what is now Estonia.  He was to go on to become a General in the Imperial Russian Army serving in the Russo-Turkish war, the Russo Japanese war the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion and the occupation Manchuria, not forgetting the […]

Although I was never really fond of football, (sorry, Soccer for the Americans), and rarely ever played … I did take to the game of Rugby. I was never a particular talented player, however, and I always used to joke when someone asked me what position I played, that I was usually “seventeenth man” … […]

Vasily Radlov was born Friedrich Wilhelm Radloff, in Berlin on 17th January, 1837; the only child of a local police commissioner.  The change of name is just one of the fascinating things about his story. In 1854, after finishing school, he enrolled at university and studied Philosophy.  His initial interest was in Theology but he […]