Postcard from Bishkek

During June 2014 the range of topics covered in the postcards included the following topics:

•  Travelling with Children - On Children’s Day, some thoughts about traveling with children – 01/06/14
• Picturesque Placenames - Some placenames have picturesque meanings … but they don’t always mean what they say – 02/06/14
• 2048 - A game the is sweeping across the globe … – 03/06/14
• Osh Bazaar - A look at Bishkek’s main bazaar – where it is possible to fun just about anything – 04/06/14
• Raise your voice, not the sea level - Although it’s always good to think about the environment – Thursday was a particularly good day … because it was World Environment Day – 05/06/14:
• Ishenaly Arabaev - One of the founders of Kyrgyz education – 06/06/14
• Is it all down to “the bottom line”? - The weekly postcard reviewing events in Kyrgyzstan – 07/06/14
• Car Games - On International Children’s Day, I took a look at some ways opf keeping them occupied on long car journeys – 08/06/14
• Schass! - An example of how different peoples have different concepts of time – 09/06/14
• A Day lasts how long? - On the anniversary of the death of the great Kyrgyz author … I took a look at one of his most famous novels … the title of which definitely hints at a different concept of time – 10/06/14
• The camera never lies … or does it? - abreathing new life into old black and white photos isn’t as difficult as it seems – 11/06/14
• At Bashi - I always thought that Nag;s Head was the name of a pub … but here it is also the name of a village, a local authority district, a mountain range, a river and a valley … – 12/06/14
• Cat Flap - Sir Isaac Newton’s invention (probably) which is a “must” for cat lovers worldwide – but not necessarily here in Kyrgyzstan – 13/06/14
• It’s not a joking matter - The weekly postcard reviewing events in Kyrgyzstan – 14/06/14
• Money matters …  - The situation is constantly changing, but Kyrgyzstan is still, fundamentally, a case based society … some thoughts about what this might mean for visitors to the country – 15/06/14
• Be-Cha-Ka - On World Water Day, a look at one of Kyrgyzstan’s main water Resource Management Systems – 16/06/14
• Seen from above -  It’s been suggested that the search for the missing flight MH307 should be extended to look at a remote valley in Kyrgyzstan … but … things are not quite what they seem … – 17/06/14
• Small talk  – I am not  very good at this, but @small talk@ is a vital element when doing business here in Kyrgyzstan – 18/06/14
• Accepting Repsonsibility  – Whay is it so hard for people to accept the responsibility when something goes wrong? – 19/06/14
• Take a minute to think of the plight of refugees …  On World Refugee Day, some thoughts and statistics – 20/06/14
• Fête de la Musique - The weekly postcard reviewing events in Kyrgyzstan – 21/06/14
•  Things to do, playces to go, people to see … - Must Dash … Gotta Go.  I have things to do, places to go and people to see – 22/06/14
• QWERTY – an exception to the rule - Although this has (virtually) nothing to do with Kyrgyzstan, it was time to say Happy Birthday to the Typewriter … and the QWERTY keyboard  - 23/06/14
• Zhang Qian, Chang Ch’ien – the original Silk Road traveler -  to commemorate the inclusion of the Silk Road cities of Nevkat, Suyab and Balasagin into the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites, I took a look at one of the pioneers of Silk Road Travel (although, to be fair, he almost certainly never got to visit these particular cities) –    24/06/14
• Chupacabra -  So what has been attacking and killing the livestock in the Kochkor region? … and what is the best way to deal with it? – 25/06/14
• Lagomorpha Leporidae  – among the surprising victims of the Chupacabra were sheep, a goat, hens and Lagomorpha Leporidae : rabbits – 26/06/14
• Ali bin Uthman al-Hujwiri – Sufi Saint - On the eve of Ramadan, a look at one of the Sufi Saints from the Ferghana valley – 27/06/14
• A month of prayer and fasting - The weekly postcard reviewing events in Kyrgyzstan – 28/06/14
• Traveling during Ramadan - It probably won’t make much of a difference here in Kyrgyzstan … but some things travelers should bear in mind if they are visiting Muslim countries during the Holy Month of Ramadan – 29/06/14
• Zakon podlosti - The local equivalent of Murphy’s Law – 30/06/14