Impressions of Kyrgyzstan
In 2007, the Celestial Mountains Tour Company, The Silk Road Lodge and the Celestial Mountains Guesthouse (Naryn), organized a competition: “Impressions of Kyrgyzstan”.
Visitors to Kyrgyzstan, (entry to the competition was open to all comers except the staff of the companies listed above and their relatives), were invited to send their “Impression of Kyrgyzstan” – either in words (a phrase/sentence, or a longer description), a photograph, a video clip or other format.
The idea was that entries should be something which encapsulates the impression and/or memories of their visit to Kyrgyzstan: a place, a feature; an incident; …
We received various entries including phrases (or slogans), descriptions, pictures, slide show and some drawings. Each has given us material on which to reflect and will help us in planning for the future development of our tours and services. Besides, after summing up the final results of the event we probably will use information from the competition entries in presentations, training and advertisement.
We would like to thank all the participants for their interest in the competition and for their time and efforts they have spent to prepare their entries. All those who sent us their works were awarded notes of thanks and encouraging prizes.
Also, we are grateful to all our partners who helped us prepare and run the competition. In particular our thanks to Dinara Kemelova at the Kyrgyz Embassy in Japan and Thomas Haefliger (from Switzerland) for their assistance in translating materials into Japanese and German. Special thanks also go to Sergey Pyshnenko for offering a prize to be given to one of the participants.
In particular we would like to thank and congratulate the following entrants on their work:
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Isabelle de Valleuil, (France)
Slideshow – it’s an flv file and should play in your default player Isabelle de Valleuil has long been interested in the countries that make up Asia; an interest which intensified with her study at the School at the Louvre. However, it was also necessary to travel to the region and at last she had the chance to begin a journey along the route of the Great Silk Road that took her through Kyrgyzstan. She felt that it was important to record the places she had visited and the impressions they created in photographs and so, on her return to France, she created a slideshow in order to share the impressions with others. She says that her time in Kyrgyzstan was a short, but enjoyable, experience due to the warm hospitable reception of the local people, the professionalism of the local guides and the extreme beauty of the landscapes. Isabelle hopes to return and make a further expedition among the wonderful natural landscapes. In her five minute slideshow Isabelle de Valleuil displays photographs that she took during her visit to Kyrgyzstan in May 2007, accompanied by a soundtrack of traditional Kyrgyz melodies. The slideshow illustrates both the natural and cultural diversity of the country. |
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To download a copy of the slideshow in flv format (it’s 20Mb) |
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Suzy Gaussent, (France) “A Kyrgyz Diary”, illustrated travel notes;
Suzy Gaussent was a teacher of German, before becoming an inspector of the Academy in Paris. She is now retired, a grandmother with two grandchildren. She has been drawing since childhood, and painting for the last twelve years. During this time she has taken part in many exhibitions, and also has organized two of her own, in Paris and in the south of France. |
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Jean-Louis Gouraud, (France) Phrase
Jean-Louis Gourand is a publisher, and has published more than hundred books about horses, and riding. He is the author of the book “Central Asia, the centre of the world (horse)”, published by Belin in 2005. In 1990 he completed a 75-day expedition from Paris to Moscow (3333 kms) with two French trotters. |
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| “There is really only one problem concerning Kyrgyzstan – a lexical one. There are not enough words to express the admiration one feels “. | |
Bishkek