Postcard from Bishkek

Yesterday was a long and tiring day – with a strangely quixotic ending.

I should have known that it was going to be “one of those days” when I woke up and realized I had overslept … having spent too long the night before catching up on correspondence and other things – even though I hadn’t finished.

Although I was late getting down to the office, I got through the remaining correspondence and checking the new emails even though the computer and the internet connection have been plating up recently – and I was able to complete most of the other routine tasks quite quickly … and I was rapidly getting back on track.  Great, I thought to myself.

Then there was the phone call from the hotel which started with the phrase, “I’m sorry to call you so early … ” – that’s always a bad sign.  The receptionist went on to tell me that there were a couple of guests who didn’t have any money and couldn’t pay their bill … oh, the pleasures of running a hotel!  It was urgent because they had to leave to catch their flight.  We quickly came to an agreement as to what to do next – unfortunately, it’s not the first time it’s happened but, (fortunately), there were a couple of factors which made it easier to resolve this particularly incident amicably.

Hopefully, I thought to myself, that’s the bad news for the day … it turned out to be just of the bad news.

I waited for the other staff to arrive but eventually had to leave for the hotel where there usual documents that needed to be gone through … yesterday’s reports, purchase approvals, for things like soap, questions from the staff about the regime, people wanting advances on their salary, discussions about what to do about the state of the garden,  … and so and so forth … all part of the normal routine.

Then it was on to the less usual routine matters such as conducting interviews for a vacant staff post … as it happens, it was a particularly strong field of candidates which made the decision that much more difficult.  I was turning my attention to the annual proposal forms for the insurance when a journalist phoned who wanted to take an interview about the state of Kyrgyz Tourism …

Eventually it was back to the office and I met with some tourists planning to cross Torugart, riding their own motor bikes.  We discussed the procedures and I pointed out where I thought they might encounter problems … but they are experienced travelers and judging by some of the stories they told Ilona and me, I am sure that when and if they round to writing the account of their trip it will be a fascinating read.

Having swapped reminiscences with them, it was soon time to do the expound my thought for the journalist and before I knew it the end of the working day was rapidly approaching … and it was back to the hotel to meet with the night shift, resolve a couple of other problems, talk to the gardener about what we had decided following yesterday’s discussion and meet with another client to discuss another “little local difficulty” which looks like it is going to keep me busy over the next couple of days.

To be honest, it was pretty warm and I was sweating profusely … I was beginning to flag and was looking forward to a nice refreshing shower.  I got my shower a little earlier that I expected, however, when that skies darkened and the heavens opened.  It was quite a torrential downpour,  and people came outside to watch from under the canopy, relishing in the sudden cool air, the dramatic skies and the refreshing sense that the rains often seems to bring here.

It surprising, the locals really seem to enjoy the rain.  Mind you, they prefer to stand under the awning rather than wander out in the rain.  As I went to recover my Iced Tea which was standing on one of the tables on the patio, there were gasps as people seemed surprised that I was prepared to venture out into the rain – but I simply pointed out that I was British … and more than used to encounters with precipitation.

The rainstorm ended almost as suddenly as it had started … having been little more, I suppose, than a shower although the brief thunder and lightning had made it seem more.

I started to make my way back to the office and began my usual habit of running over the days events in my mind … what had gone well, what could have been handled better – and how?, what was there to learn from today’s events.

That’s when the long and tiring day became quixotic.

Arriving back in the office, I settled down to scan the local news.  I cam across an article about how the deputies to the local authority have proposed creating three new cycle routes (cycle lanes) around Bishkek.

One of the deputies described a meeting with representatives of the Mayor’s Office deputies and Bishkekglavarhitektury – the city’s planning authority.  The meeting had developed these three cycle routes which “would be explored by municipalities for road construction, traffic control and pedestrian traffic, and architectural plans.  A preliminary decision on these routes and municipal services will be presented to the deputies on June 19th”, she explained, when it is planned to give until end of October to implement the plan.

The first option – the “Big Ring” – incorporates Prospect Chui and Gorky Street, (from Prospect Mira to  Shabdan Baatyr Street), then out to the village of Kok-Jar, circling round through the residential districts (11th, 6th, 9th) via Aaly Tokombaeva Street to the Southern highway back to Prospect Mira.

I am sorry if that means nothing to you, because you don’t know Bishkek, but if you click on the article you can see some maps which, even if you don’t read Russian, should give you some idea of the ambitious extent and scope of the plan.

Another option – The “Small Route” – which takes in Ahunbaeva and the Southern Highway (from Doronbeka Sadyrbaev Street to Prospect Mira), then following Aaly Tokombaeva Street to Baitik Baatyr Street and on to the village of Orto-Say, (following Imanalieva Street) up to Doronbeka Sadyrbaev Street.

The third option, euphemistically called  ”Tourist” – goes from Abdumomunov Street, (from Panfilov to Pushkin Streets) and Prospect Chui, (from Pushkin to Orozbekova Streets). This route goes around the cultural center of the capital atking in the main sites such as: Ala-Too Square, the National Museum, the Old Central Square and Panfilov Park.

Now, that all sounds pretty impressive and I think Boris Johnson, (currently the Mayor of London), would be impressed … Let’s hope that encouraging people to ride cycles will do something to help ease the city center’s traffic congestion which does seem to be getting out of hand.  I suspect, however, that there will be very few cyclists that decide to venture in the bleak mid winter, when frosty winds make moan, earth stands like iron and water like stone.

Still, it seems to me like a step in the right direction … my congratulations to the Burghers of Bishkek for an interesting and innovative proposal!

It felt like a very positive end to the day.

 

Then, Maxim turned up with a group of his friends and their news took the shine off this positive conclusion – and seemed to send mixed signals about the authorities attitudes towards the city’s cyclists.  They had been at one of their favourite nearby haunts – the Philharmonia.  This large concert hall is set with a large plaza in front of it, stretching from the Marie to the Kyrgyz State University.

It’s a popular gathering place and there always seems to be large crowds here.  Maxim and his friends often gather here and ride their beloved BMX bikes, practicing tricks and basically doing no harm … although I have to admit that they sometimes come a cropper when one trick jump goes wrong – and pedestrians might need to keep their wits about them and the cyclists do.

They often photograph each other and other people photograph them as well.  Several times they have been approached by film crews who want to do a feature about them on one of the local stations.  All that practicing seems to pay off as well because several individuals have gone on to win prizes in competition both here and abroad … and the cycling competitions are always popular events when it comes to the Street Festivals.

Add to that the interest in the Annual Mountain Bike Festival and the Cycle Marathons around Lake Issyk Kul in recent years and you might think, therefore, that the authorities might be keen to encourage this youth activity.

Well, if I understand the situation correctly, it seems that the administration of the Concert Hall aren’t too happy about the current situation and have appealed to the police to encourage the trick cyclists to “move on”.

I am told that, when the police appeared and started to clear the space, they were asked where they could go to practice their “art”, but responded with something like, “I don’t know – it’s not our problem.”

As it happens, there is a cycle come skatboarding park on the outskirts of town, “Freedom Park” – but it is a long way from the city center, relatively small and it’s a commercial venture, so they have to pay to use it.  There are also a couple of Cycle Tracks around the city but these are basically just rinds established for Cycle racing.

 

Now, to be honest, I can understand that some people might be concerned about the safety issues, and possibility of damage being done to the fabric of the square … but, it seems to me, that it would be good to encourage this as a healthy activity … and whereas, with one hand they seem to be keen to do just that – with the other, they seem to wanting to discourage it.

 

Here are some photographs of Maxim and his friends, both at the Philharmonia and at Freedom Park:

 

UPDATE:

… and here’s a clip that they have shot … :

mo.25

 

Tags: Expat, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan