Postcard from Bishkek

According to Pravda, the two greatest events of the last century for Russia were the victory during the Great Patriotic War, (the Second World War), and the first manned flight into space. As we approach the seventieth anniversary of the first of those events, there are a lot of events commemorating the end of the war, […]

In 1982, the International Dance Council declared April 29th as International Dance Day with the aim of attract the attention of a wider public to the art of Dance … (which can hardly be a great surprise, after all, they are the International Dance Council) … and it has been celebrated annually ever since. Getting international recognition […]

Apparently, it’s the answer to a crossword clue:- “A city ESE of Tashkent (3 letters)”.  Although I have to admit that a lot of people might well be flummoxed by it, to anyone who knows this part of the world, the clue is relatively easy to solve: OSH.  I can’t help thinking, however, that there […]

As a schoolboy of thirteen year old, (or thereabouts),  in history lessons we were taught that the circumnavigation of the globe was an expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan in 1522 – 30 years after Christopher Columbus had ‘discovered’ the ‘New World’. Now, I know that I am being pedantic, but Ferdinand Magellan was NOT actually the […]

There are a number of tour itineraries that can be considered to be pretty “standard”.  In some cases the terrain and time scales dictate an itinerary … In terms of geography, for example, following the Silk Road involves using one of only two border crossing points: Torugart or Irkeshtam. The time scale will help dictate […]

I receive a number of newsletters every day and occasionally one of them carries a link to a site featuring photographs of vehicle registration plates from around the world. It night seem like a pretty esoteric topic for a website, but there are people who collect and study all sorts of ephemera:  stamps, postcards, coins, bus […]

In the United States, today is Arbor Day – a day when individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees.  (It’s actually a ‘moveable feast’ in that it takes place annually on the last Friday in April) Although Mankind has long had a special affinity with trees, the Celts, for example, held […]

Spoiler alert: This is not really about Kyrgyzstan … but I thought it was worth sharing: On April Fools’Day, 2010, an on-line store in Britain amended its terms and conditions to include a new clause: By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 […]

There is an old schoolboy joke, (with mildly racist overtones), that runs: “Why aren’t there many phones in China?” “Because there are so many Wings and so many Wongs, someone might wing the wong number”. When, back in 1876, Alexander Graham Bell spoke the words “Mr. Watson, Come here, I want to see you” and thus delivered the […]

Today, the second Tuesday after Easter, is Radonitsa – often referred to as Roditelskoy Dehn – Parents’ Day. It’s a day to remember our parents and other relatives, a day when families visit the cemetery and clean the graves of deceased relatives, saying prayers of intercession for the departed. It’s an Orthodox tradition, and seems to […]