What’s so special about Kyrgyzstan?
This weekend I got a bit of a surprise and although to say that I was “gobsmacked” might be a bit of an overstatement, I was certainly taken aback.
I am often amazed how many people either telephone telephone the office or try to drop in at all sorts of time during the day … and night. Over the years there have been several occasions when I have been sitting in the office late at night , (at, say, seven or eight o’clock at night … or even later … once a couple of years ago it was two o’clock in the morning), trying to finish one task or another and received phone calls from local “prospective clients” who wanted to know where we could send them?, (to what countries we had tours that they could join?), or if we had any places available in Issyk Kul?. There have other times when there has been a knock on the door and there is a tourist from abroad, often with a copy of the Lonely Planet guide to Central Asia or some other guidebook, in their hands and who want some information about this or that, (say, about crossing Torugart or where they can go trekking/skiing/horse riding).
It’s not the questions that these callers pose that surprise me … after all, that’s our job … it’s the timing of the call. I have no idea why people think that the office will be manned at that time of night. OK – I understand that, maybe, the idea that they want to go somewhere has just come to them and that they are trying “on the off-chance”, just in case … but all the same … why do they think that the office works krooglo-su-toch-noi-ye, (“around the clock”)?
It’s not just at nighttime, either … it also happens on Sunday’s and public holidays. On Sunday, for example, two tourists from New Zealand who called in … they had only just arrived in Bishkek, just happened to be passing by and “just on the off-chance” decided to see if anyone was in the office . Well, I was there … so I invited them in …
But that wasn’t the surprise …
After we had chatted and I had answered their specific questions about Kyrgyzstan and their planned itinerary, the conversation moved on to more general topics.
Now, I am used to people asking me questions along the lines of: what I am doing here in Kyrgyzstan?, how long I have been here?, how did end up here in the first place?, what keeps me here? … and so on.
Of course, they posed some of these questions as well – and, as usual, I was happy to answer them. I also turned the tables and asked them some questions, although still related to their trip along the Silk Road, things like: Where we they from?, what had they seen so far?, what were their general impressions? … and so on.
Tony, one of our investors, is from New Zealand so I am also interested when someone else from there shows up. It is not easy to get here from New Zealand … there are difficulties getting a visa and there are no direct flights, and they are flying here it involves at least two changes of flight, (say, in Kuala Lumpur and Tashkent, or Beijing and Urumchi – unless, of course, they fly via London, in which case it’s only one! … but “via London” !?!?!?). Many New Zealander tourists, however, arrive overland as this couple had – travelling the Great Silk Road.
As it happens, they told me that they were from a part of New Zealand that I happen to know, although not that well, having been there, albeit over a quarter of a century ago … goodness!!! … how old just uttering that phrase made me feel.
But, no, that realisation wasn’t the surprise, either.
During the conversation I was asked about the possibilities for skiing. Now, I am not a skier. On one occasion, ( on my trip through New Zealand as it happens – over a quarter of a century ago!), I spent the night in a hotel at the foot of a ski field. The owner started talking about the skiing possibilities in the neighbourhood. When we said that we didn’t ski, he looked dumbfounded and, after he had recovered from his shock, he looked at us with pity and said: “I think you are our first ever non-skiing guests”.
To be fair, I have tried a couple of times … once on an artificial dry slope in the UK – and once here in Kyrgyzstan … but I feel that I am too old to learn new skills and was always scared that I would fall and break a leg – or worse. I have been to a few ski bases here and was able to tell them a little bit. I pointed out that it might be difficult to much skiing at this time of year – in August – and they only had a couple of weeks which, according to their plans, were already crammed full, so if they were really keen to try skiing, it meant that they would have to come back.
To be honest, it was said, more or less, tongue-in-cheek. Apart from the difficulties of getting to Kyrgyzstan, they have lots of fantastic ski resorts much closer to home in New Zealand and Australia which are much easier for them to reach. (I have already mentioned the problems associated with getting to Kyrgyzstan from New Zealand.)
The reply, however, was: “Oh, I am sure that we’ll be back … We just love Kyrgyzstan!”
My first reaction to this was: “Now that would make a great slogan for the country.”
I was a little surprised, however, because they have only just arrived in the country a short while ago … but, no that wasn’t the surprise. I suppose that there is such a thing as “love at first sight”.
A lot of New Zealanders love the country. Tony always said that one of the reasons he instantly liked the country when he first came here, back in the early 1990′s, was that Kyrgyzstan reminded him of New Zealand when he was growing up back in the fifties and sixties. I had felt something similar when I first came out here … certain things reminded me of how things were growing up in the UK back in the sixties. Now, these two visitors said that they felt the same … but they didn’t mention in which decade.
It was whilst I was in the middle of replying along the lines that a lot of visitors have the same reaction when one of them said “Yes, there’s something special about Kyrgyzstan …” and went on to list a few things … and that was when I got the the surprise that caused me to be “taken aback”.
You see, a few years ago I was asked to write the introduction for a new magazine, Discovery Kyrgyzstan” published by the Silk Road Media. At the time, I was the President of KATO, (The Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators), and they wanted a local “celebrity” to write a “welcome message”. I was told that it had to be a short article, less than a page long, and something general about the country. In the end, I took the theme: “There’s something special about Kyrgyzstan …” and now I found myself listening to someone else saying, if not exactly word for word, something that was more or less the same that I had written in the opening to that article.
I asked if they had ever seen the magazine and they said “No” … which led me to think to myself: “So it wasn’t just me … .”
For the record – Here’s the article:
There is something special about Kyrgyzstan …
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| Ian Claytor |
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General Director |
“… it gets into your blood, under your skin.” I don’t know exactly what it is, but there is something about this country that excites visitors – makes them want to extend their stay or at the very least to return.
Is it the spectacular scenery; the wildlife; the traditional culture; the atmosphere connected with the many historical places and archaeological sites connected with the Great Silk Road, the Mongol Hordes, the Bolshevik Revolution; or the variety of possible activities; the hospitality of the local populace … or is it a combination of all of these factors?
Whatever it is, there is something that makes Kyrgyzstan “special”. It is a small country with over 90% of the territory classified as “mountainous”. The peaks and valleys divide the landscape into quite distinct landscapes, microclimates and habitats. It is possible to encounter many different experiences in a small geographical area, and a short space of time.
The Kyrgyz, themselves, recognize the uniqueness of the country as is shown in some of their legends:
One that tells how, after the creation, God was apportioning plots of land to the various peoples of the world. The Kyrgyz, whilst waiting in line with all the others, decided that it was taking so long and that he needed to go and look after his sheep. When he returned, he discovered that God had finished his task – and the Kyrgyz asked God: “What plot of land shall I have to call my own?” God replied that all the land had been allocated – there was none left. The Kyrgyz said that he did not need a lot of land, it did not have to have lots of riches – it just had to be sufficient for him to pasture his flocks. God took pity on him and said that there was a little plot of land left. He had been intending to keep it for Himself as a garden for his own rest and relaxation, but the Kyrgyz could use it for pasturing his flocks.
Members of The Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators, (which comprise about a third of the tour operators in the country), are ready to welcome you and make your stay memorable – and are sure that that you too will agree that there is something “special” about Kyrgyzstan.
Bishkek