Postcard from Bishkek

The other day Maxim sat opposite me and asked, “Have you been to America?”.

When I said “Yes, four times,” he wanted some more details … so I explained, ” … once to Los Angeles in California, another time to New York and twice to Florida”.That was followed by another question: “What about France?” “Yes, lots of times,” … and then “… and Moscow?”, “Yes …”, “… and where else?”.

I decided the easiest way to answer him was to show him the “Cities I’ve visited” page on the TripAdvisor site.There it is possible to see where my travels have taken me.

Although they are clustered throughout Europe, Central Asia and New Zealand there are a few more far flung flags on the map to show, for example, my trips to South East Asia and the Caribbean. There are, also, huge areas of the globe where where I have yet to venture.

It might seem that I am well travelled, but I don’t think that is particularly true especially when I compare it to some others.  I know many people who have travelled much further afield than I have.  I have met several people who are “stamp collecting” – but they are not philatelists scouring the world for postage stamps, they are seeking Entry and Exit stamps in their passports.  There are several who are trying to collect stamps from all the countries and territories in the world.  That includes one famous reporter for CNN.  There is even one person who writes a blog about his attempt to do this in one continuous journey.

I suppose, however, that I am reasonably well travelled, especially when compared to our American cousins.  Apparently, only something like 40% of Americans possess a passport, and many of those seem to have applied for one solely in order to be able to visit either Canada or Mexico.

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Maxim’s questions were a little unusual for me, because I am usually asked where have been, here in Kyrgyzstan … Issyk Kul?, Osh?, Talas?, Batken?, Tash Rabat?, Altyn Arashan? Saimaluu Tash? … and so on.  In some cases I am able to answer, “Yes, of course, many times” or, perhaps, a straight forward “Yes”, but sometimes I have to admit, “No, unfortunately not.”

One of my favourite “coffee table” books is a photo album of Kyrgyzstan: “Mysterious Kyrgyzstan”.  The photographs in the book are a fascinating mixture of landscapes, portraits and photos of human interest, snaps of fauna and flora, examples of handicrafts and so on.

In the introduction, Victor Kadirov, the author, says that his aim was that the book should “lift the veil of secrecy that covers our Kyrgyzstan,” and that he wanted to “show some places that it is possible to visit in a car,” as he did when he took the photos.  However, although most of the places that he photographed to include in the book are, indeed, within easy reach of the road, I think that some of them, (in particular Saimaluu Tash), may stretching the point a little bit.

Having said that, it struck me as a very good idea for a project.  We often take our surroundings for granted as we get on with our daily lives, sitting behind our desks or rushing around the city from meeting to meeting.  I know that I am sometimes taken aback as I move around the city and catch a glimpse of the mountains through the gaps between the buildings, especially when the sunlight glistens off some fresh snow, and I am often struck by the thought that the mountains are “so near, and yet so far”.

What’s more, there are so few roads in Kyrgyzstan, although there are many tracks that venture off into the hills along valleys.  As we travel up to Naryn each month, for example, I often find myself looking along a track that leads off into the mountains and wondering what we would find if had the time to venture off the beaten track.  There is one in particular as we ascend from Naryn towards the three thousand meter Dolon Pass, at a hairpin bend in the main road, a dirt road ascends through a side valley.  On the map, it is possible to see that it should be possible to make a detour and rejoin the main road the other side of the pass.  I often thought how nice it would be to follow this road and see what was there.  Once we did so and, although there wasn’t anything particularly spectacular about it, we were rewarded with a pleasant drive … and have repeated the experience on a number of occasions.

Then again, there are places that it would be to drive by without necessarily being aware of what we were passing.  I have lost count of the number of times I have driven to Tash Rabat over the years, but it was only last year that we found the ruins of Koshoi Korgon, an ancient settlement set back just a few kilometres from the road.  It’s actually possible to see it from the road, but you can’t really get a feel for the scale of the place until you drive up to the walls.  At least there are now signposts on the main road to help people find it.  Another example would be the Skazka valley on the Southern shore of Lake Issyk Kul, and here there are no signposts so most people pass by with no inkling of what they passing up.

It is true that, whilst there are many interesting places to visit within easy reach of the road, there are also many which that are not simply “just off the beaten track” but are, in fact, quite remote and difficult to reach.   I keep hearing people enthuse about the Ala Kol Lake at the head of Altyn Arashan, and promising myself that I will go there one day.  The other day, a fellow Brit enthused about a jailoo, (a high mountain pasture), in a valley above Tamga which can only be reached by horse or after a long trek.

Then there are places which are, technically, not difficult to reach, but which require long journeys, and often involve overcoming bureaucratic barriers.  Although I have been to the Batken oblast, for example, the presence of the enclaves makes travel to this extreme south western corner of Kyrgyzstan less than simple.  As a result,  I have yet to see the Aigul flowers that grow in the vicinity, or see the craftswoman making the Leilak woven carpets which are a speciality of the region, or visited the relatively unknown Karavshin valley which is reputedly a paradise for mountaineers and trekkers.   Then there is the Besh Aral National Park at the foot of the Chatkal valley;  Sheker, the birthplace of Chinghiz Aitmatov, the caves of Chil Ustin … and so the list goes on … and on.

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Of the myriad of places in the world that I have not yet visited, it is difficult to say where I would like to go if I had the chance.  I have to admit that I have nurtured an ambition to travel to South America ever since I studied it for A-Level Geography – but I am not sure that I will manage it now.  After all, there are so many places in Kyrgyzstan left to explore!

In fact, this was brought home to me yesterday, when I saw a post from Bektur, (one of Kyrgyzstan’s foremost bloggers), which went something like this, (it was in Russian, so this is a rough translation):

There is a crazy road from Osh to Son-Kul Lake via Kazarman.  Over crazy mountains.

It is striking that in my circle of friends are people from Italy and the Netherlands, who have done this road, but I never have.

Also, I have never travelled the whole of the Bishkek-Osh road.  I have driven to the turn-off for Talas and in the Osh area, up to  Djalal Abad. But I have never been, for example, to Toktogul.

I also never driven a car west of Osh – except for very short stay in Batken last year, where I came straight from Khujand.

True, as a result of this short visit to Batken I can proudly say that I have been in all the regions of Kyrgyzstan.

But, I think most of my fellow countryman have been to a maximum of two areas of the country out of  seven, (not including the cities of Bishkek and Osh).

In which parts of Kyrgyzstan have you NOT been?

 

I flushed with pride when I read that, thinking that I HAVE travelled the Djalal Abad-Kazarman road;the whole of the Bishkek-Osh road; that I have been to Toktogul, (although, to be honest, I don’t remember that much detail about it); that I have travelled West of Osh, through the Tajik and Uzbek enclaves, on my way to Batken and that I have visited all seven oblasts in the country – and both of the two major cities Bishkek and Osh.

On the other hand, there are an awful lot of places I have to visit: Altyn Arashan and Lake Ala Kul, the Enilchek Glacier and the Merzbacher Lakes, Saimaluu Tash, to name just three.

Although, I agree with Bektur and Victor, that a lot of local people have not visited many of the fantastic places around the country, judging from some of the conversations I have had with people here, I think Bektur is probably mistaken in that a lot of his fellow countrymen have been to more than just two of the regions in the country, (especially those in the older generations).

However, the closing line struck me as a good question, and also one that could be applied pretty universally around the world.  

After all, although I was born and grew up in the UK, how many places there have I never visited? … Stonehenge is perhaps the classic example.

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You can see a few photographs taken on my travels here.  There aren’t that many of them because, although I once had lots of photos, when I came here I either stored, gave away, or had to junk many of them.

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Tags: Kyrgyzstan, Me, Places