Postcard from Bishkek

There are some moments in history which are pivotal in some way or another.

Many of us of a certain age, for example, will remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news that JFK, (President Kennedy), had been shot … or how we learned about the attack on the Twin Towers of 9/11 … or the night that the Berlin Wall came down … or, (at least for those of us in Britain and Europe), staying awake on July 20th, 1969, so that we could watch the momentous occasion when the lunar module of Apollo 11 touched down, (at 02:18UTC – basically GMT), on the surface of the Sea of Tranquility.

The pictures, at least on our Black and White TV, were grainy and unclear … the bleeping soundtrack, (and I mean that literally – there were lots, of bleeps), was at least clearer as we got the message: “The Eagle has landed!”

It was touch and go, apparently, with the original selected landing site proving to be unsuitable as it was strewn with boulders, leading them almost running out of fuel and a ball point pen having to be pressed into service as a lever … but they made it … and they defied the many doomsday predictions about being swallowed up by in the sand surface.

Preparations for the the astronauts to leave the module took longer than the two hours allocated for them, but eventually Neil Armstrong emerged from the hatchway and started to descend the ladder … as he finally stepped onto the surface of the moon, he uttered the phrase: “That’s one small step for man, One giant leap for mankind!”

He always claimed that he actually said “That’s one small step for a man, One giant leap for mankind!” … but the recordings are indistinct and although some recent digital analysis of the recordings suggest that he might actually have said this … it’s not really that important … what was important was that he and Buzz Aldrin had made it.

Although there are plans for further trips to the moon and suggestions that mankind’s next target should be a trip to Mars – I doubt that I will see the like of the “small step” again in my lifetime.

There are other steps, however, perhaps not as dramatic, but maybe just as symbolic, which I hope we will see.

In the meantime, The President seems to have made a number of “not so small” steps this week.

The first came on Sunday with an interview given to Britain’s Guardian newspaper in which he lambasted the British government for saying that they supported the development of democracy in Kyrgyzstan but ended up “hosting a guy who robbed us”, referring to Maxim Bakiev, son of the ousted former President who has been tried, (in absentia), on corruption charges, (channeling millions of dollars of public money into private bank accounts), was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison.  In the meantime he flew to Britain and lodged an application for political asylum which is still being considered.  In language that can be described as being frank and far from diplomatic he gave vent to feelings shared by many here.  His outburst certainly won’t have done him any harm in certain circles here.

I don’t think the fact that Britain has decided to introduce a measure to help ease the process of applying for a visa will help mollify with President Atambaev or any other of their critics here.  The visa procedures involve the collection of “biometric data” used to identify the traveler … and up until now that has involved a trip up to Almaty. Now, there will be a “mobile clinic” visit Bishkek once a month which will obviate the need for the 500km round trip across the border … however. I don’t think people are that impressed with the move … it’ll only be available once a month … and appointments will be necessary (which have to be made over the internet) at a cost of USD198 … and that doesn’t include the cost of the cisa itself.

The Americans put in a plea to have Maxim extradited, also on corruption charges, but the case fell because they didn’t offer any evidence in the court hearing.  However, something is going on behind the scenes because his bank accounts in the States have now been frozen whist the courts consider whether to return it to Kyrgyzstan or not. Maybe I am just being cynical, but like most people here I am left wondering if the fate of the Manas Transit Base might not have something to do with the posturing – if that’s what it is.

To make matters more interesting, an analytical piece appeared in Turkey, suggesting that the Russians were well aware of possible moves to unseat the present regime last year and even moved troops to meet any eventuality.  The conspiracy theories were given further boost when, in a speech welcoming home Kyrgyz sportsmen on Friday, Atambaev made coded references to the possibility of further attempts to “split” the country emerging either in the Autumn or next Spring.

In the meantime, the Ata Jurt politicians who won their appeal against a conviction of trying to overthrow the government and storm the White House last October, were supposed to be in the Supreme Court where the Public Prosecutor was appealing that court decision.  However, they didn’t turn up which meant that the case had to be adjourned … and nobody seems to know where they are.   About 400 of their supporters turned up outside the Supreme Court Building in order to protest their case – leading to clashes with the police … one got arrested for teaeing the T-shirt of a TV news cameraman sent to cover the event … and a man got himself arrested for drinking alcohol in a public place – and upon conviction he was fined 100som … just over 2 dollars … which hardly seems a deterrent … mind you I didn’t know it was illegal to drink alcohol in a public place …

That’s not the only trial that has been in the news … the trial of some of the soldiers involved in the 2010 revolution continues – and this week burst into scuffles in which several soldiers were attacked and injured.

 

The border dispute with Kazakhstan involving the ownership of a canal … and more importantly, it’s water … looks like hotting up with more protests this week – including the damming of the canal – which incidentally deprived several Kyrgyz villages of access to water as well.

 

During the week we saw the news that six resorts up at Issyk Kul, and some buildings in yet another, were closed due to a failure to keep environmental standards.  I was a bit concerned because Andrei had just come back from a weekend up at the lake with friends … and although their resort wasn’t one of the affected ones, they were in the same village.  As it happens, he says that everything was fine and there were lots of visitors – which bodes well as it is still early days … the high season has only just started.

As it happens, the Department of Tourism has had to do an about turn.  Earlier, when all the protests about Kumtor were taking place on the Southern Shore, officials were saying that it would have little if any effect on the season as a whole … but now they are having to admit that we are likely to see fewer tourists from Kazakhstan this year than we are used to.  Traditionally, Kazakhstan provides the vast majority of visitors to the “Pearl of the Tien Shan” … apart from, the Kyrgyz themselves.  They are claiming that the reason for the downturn is partly as a result of the rallies, but also partly due to “bad weather”.

Personally, I found that explanation rather hard to justify – give the temperatures that we are experiencing at the moment … and the fact that they are also reporting that we are seeing more Russian visitors.  I think that the Deputy Minister may have hit the nail on the head when he suggested that the Kazakhs have simply switched their alleigences – because they can now afford to do so, and travel is becoming far easier for them … which doesn’t bode too well for the future.

Mind you, the officials are trying to pull out all the stops to develop new markets – especially India and China.  That seems to me to be a very sensible approach … but first, they’ll have to do something about :

• the visa situation … which at the moment entails waiting a minimum of ten days to get approval for a visa application – in the worst case that I know of it was 72 days (!)  My first thoughts when I saw a headline to the effect that India and Kyrgyzstan were signing an agreement on the introduction of a visa free regime between the two countries was how this was a really positive step … until I saw the next line … it was restricted to “holders of diplomatic passports” … and there aren’t many people that fit into that category.  On the other hand, it is hoped that the introduction of a new system of electronic visas, (due to start in August), will help here – however, personally, I have yet to be convinced.   
• the lack of flights between the two countries – although there is now a flight between Bishkek and New Delhi, the timetable seems to be a bit erratic … the Delhi flight has always been troublesome … although, many years ago, there were two flights timetable each week, they rarely ever both flew … and, at the moment, there are few flights to China – just to Urumchi and although there are apparently quite a lot of Chinese tourists coming into the Xingjian province, the separatist movement and civil protests including attacks on police stations in the province cast a huge shadow over this as a destination and a transit route..    
• the activities they can undertake when the visitors arrive … for example, although there are plenty of Chinese restaurants in Bishkek, there’s really only one Indian Restaurant.  The possibility of opening a Casino zone up at the lake might offer some attraction but there’s a lot of opposition to this proposal.    

As it happens, India has been in the news quite a lot this week – and not just about tourism – other items have appeared about new investments, (in a dried milk factory, a potato processing plant, yet more hydro power projects, the garment industry and the Kyrgyz have proposed a new pharmaceutical project).  We’ll have to wait and  see what comes of these proposals in the future.

 

Once again, several interesting statistics emerged this week … including:

• Kyrgyzstan is among the 28 countries of the world where the Gross National Income, (GNI), amounts to less than a thousand dollars per person, alongside our neighbours, Tajikistan.   
• According to the results of a study in Armenia, Kyrgyzstan is NOT in the list of the ten countries with the worst roads … something which astounded many people here.  Actually, I am not one of them … although Kyrgyzstan’s roads may leave a lot to be desired, they don’t strike me as all that bad … at least not the main roads.  Technically, even though some of them are in dire need of repair, they are certainly a lot better than they were when I first came here eighteen years ago … and work is underway on many of them … the main Bishkek-Torugart road, for example, and the Osh-Batken-Isfana road has just started, (both of them with support from the Chinese).  The Chinese are also interested in the construction of the new North-South alternative route.  What did surprise me about this survey was that Russia WAS included in that list.  
• One in five of “all able bodied Kyrgyz” are migrants working abroad. Actually I found that headline a little disingenuous – the situation is probably worse … almost a million people have left the country to work abroad since Independence over 20 years ago – which is about 20% of the current population … but that includes children, pensioners and others … not just the “able bodied population” …
• Three cadets from the police academy died in an accident involving the minibus that was carrying them back to town after attending a training session at a shooting range just outside Bishkek.  Apparently the minibus left the road and overturned, landing on a pile of construction materials at the side of the road.  The most shocking part of the report wasn’t just the sad loss of three young lives – but the fact that the 16-seater minibus was actually carrying 40 people.     

 

Perhaps one of the most interesting news items of the week was about a scheme to help raise finances for Kyrgyz farmers … In a version of Farmville, members of the public are invited to invest in livestock or seed crops and choose a plot of designated land.  Then they can follow the progress of the investment, talking to the person / agricultural worker looking after the crops of livestock on-line  then follow the progress of their investment before receiving the produce at maturity.

Also, there is a new flight opening up in Kyrgyzstan, linking Bishkek with Naryn – at 2500 som per person, it’s not that cheap and only operates once a week – but I think I am going to have to give it a try.

It might not represent a giant leap for mankind, but it is still an interesting small step.

 

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Postcard from Bishkek: the weekly postcard that I send out as an email also gets posted on the website ianbek.kg each week – and there are other postcards which don’t get sent out.  This week, for example, there has been the following postcards:

• Three Lakes and a Reservoir - Here’s on itinerary for trying to see as much of Kyrgyzstan as possible in a short time - 14/07/13
• A Kyrgyz vocabulary -  The chance discovery of the Rosetta Stone in 1799 led to a dead language coming alive, sometimes I feel the need of a Kyrgyz Rosetta stone – 15/07/13
• Food ettiquette - It’s important to be aware of local traditions when dining out -16/07/13
• Andrei Rublev - The Russian Orthodox Church commemorates it’ most famous painter of icons - 17/07/13
• Hearts of Oak - Bishkek’s trees in crisis - 18/07/13
• The after effects of a robbery - Being a victim of a robbery can have some unwelcome consequences -19/07/13

It is possible to follow me on Facebook, (where I have specific pages for Celestial Mountains and ianbek … and also links.kg, Kyrgyz Diary and Kyrgyzstan Visitki), and also on twitter, (@Bishkekpostcard and @celestialMTC ).

Tags: Expat, In_the_News, Life_in_Kyrgyzstan, Weekly_Postcards