Postcard from Bishkek

A souvenir is a momento or keepsake, valued for the memories that are associated with it.  The name actually comes from the French for remembrance or memory.

Tourists often like to take things home with them that helps them to recall their holiday.  It could be something small and inexpensive,  a book or a recording, an example of traditional local craft work, a knickknack, or even simple postcards, (I used to collect postcards and thousands of them).  Some people buy things to go on the wall – a picture or a wall hanging – and from here in Kyrgyzstan, many visitors take away them one of the traditional felt carpets – either a Shyrdak or an Ala-Kiyiz.

Actually, to be perfectly honest, these felt carpets have some disadvantages.  First of all, they are not really very sturdy, (especially if you don’t take your shoes off before walking on them), and holes can appear in them quite quickly.  On the other hand, they can feel quite luxurious, come in all sorts of sizes and can be incredibly beautiful.  They also make fine wall hangings – and that’s where I put mine; on the wall, not on the floor.

Another advantage is that they can be incredible personal and unique … in the same way as a photograph taken by the Street Photographer.  Occasionally, for example, we get asked to organize a demonstration of craftwork as part of a tour itinerary.  Usually, as part of the demonstration, it’s possible for the visitors to take part and help to create an ala kiyiz – either a large one, (a sort of group effort), or a small panel, which they can then take home with them.  The basic idea behind these felt carpets is actually quite simple … that’s not to say that they are easy to make; they can involve quite hard work, not to mention the time it takes, and to get the best results you really need to have some experience to get the best designs.  So, the final product might not be of the best quality, (for that they would a lot more time – and experience), but it does have the advantage that they can point to it and say, “I did that!  All my own work.”

It carries with it memories and associations that truly makes it unique and special.

Last week I wrote a postcard about another special momento, a sketch book filled with drawings and notes during the course of a tour.

Well, this week we received yet another example of a unique, personalized, special momento.  

It arrived in the post and I was surprised that it only took two weeks to arrive from the UK – by air mail. (Not long ago we received a letter that took three months to arrive!)    

Inside the envelope there was a calendar for 2015.  What made it special was that it wasn’t a commercially produced calendar, but a personalized one, designed and printed, (in a limited run), by the tour group themselves.  The pictures that they chose to illustrate the calendar were selected from the photographs that they had taken on their trip … showing places they had seen, things they had done and people they had met.  As I said, it was all very Personal and Unique as well as being utilitarian and attractive … and was something that will be with them all year.

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The trip was the idea of one of the group.  It was to mark her birthday – a round figure … a jubilee year – and, last year, she started thinking about how she could mark the occasion … something special and “unusual”.

Now, she knows Kyrgyzstan quite well … she’s been here before.  Her father had worked here and was responsible for organizing support for a couple of charity projects up in in Karakol – including the Orphanage which I have written about before, (and which is now supported by the American charitable foundation Roots and Wings which also supports projects in India and Cameroon).  Most of her friends, however, haven’t been – and some didn’t even kn0w where it was.

Rather than just organizing a “party” she decided that she would like organize something memorable and special … that could involve her friends and also help the charitable projects that her father had set up.

We put together a trekking programme for her based on Karakol, so that they could visit the projects.  She gathered a group of friends together to help her celebrate her birthday together and they started advertising the projects and collecting sponsors.  The sponsors weren’t paying for the trip, the group met all the expenses themselves, but went as donations but went as donations to the charity to be used in supporting the projects.

Having some idea of what the group were undertaking, she arranged for everyone to “practice” on some hill walking back in the UK … which is just as well because I wish I could say that the trip had gone off like clockwork … life isn’t like that.  After a brilliant summer the weather took a turn for the worse and we had to change the itinerary at the last moment, taking the route in reverse order.  Even so, it was cold and a little uncomfortable, especially at night.   On top of that, the Lake District in Britain isn’t as high as the Terskey Ala Too mountains that flank the shores of Lake Issyk Kul and they experienced some difficulties associated with the altitude.

They did, however, succeed in the aims of the trip; visiting the projects in Karakol, completing the trek and attending a traditional festival, celebrating the birthday and, more to the point, raising more than USD50,000 in support of the projects.

One of the group wrote this blog entry about the trip … “I’m still not sure how to rate this holiday apart from a once in a lifetime opportunity and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”.

Congratulations to everyone in the group … a job well done!

Oh, and an imaginative, personal and unique momento … and here’s the calendar.

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