Postcard from Bishkek

I recently got taken to task by a former client … she had come to Kyrgyzstan for a two week holiday which included a week of horse riding in the Terskey Ala Too mountains south of Issyk Kul and she wondered why we didn’t make much of this sort of tour in our advertising: “the […]

Last week I read an article where the author asked: “How easy is it for people to do business with your organization?”  He advised that, “if you don’t know, you’d better find out—and fast.” The experience is basically instrumental in both attracting and retaining a customer … and hence in the firm’s income stream, turnover, profit […]

The other day I had the occasion to call for a taxi for a friend and rang one of the many taxi firms in Bishkek.  As usual, they asked for the address, where the passenger was going, and for a telephone number.  I gave them the information, and they told me the taxi would arrive […]

I came across an interesting dilemma last week concerning our site www.links.kg. The idea behind the site is to provide links to webpages which concern travel to Kyrgyzstan, in particular to travellers’ tales, where they give accounts of their visits to Kyrgyzstan and their impressions of the country and what it has to offer.  We […]

The first amendment to the American Constitution was introduced along with other measures which formed what is known as “the Bill of Rights” in order to provide guarantees for civil liberties which were thought to be inadequately provided for in the original document.  This particular amendment was directed towards the freedom of religion, the freedom […]

Friday, I received a phone call from one of our guides.  The couple of clients that he was with wanted to meet me when they got back to Bishkek. No problem – I am always happy to meet with people … although I am not very good at “small talk”, I am by nature a […]

Unfortunately things don’t always go right … even in the the best run establishment, things can go wrong, problems can arise, and grounds for complaint can occur. There are some people who complain “at the drop of a hat”, who think nothing of making a scene at even the smallest mistake or mishap, whilst others […]

We got some bad news recently … one of our clients has passed away – or perhaps I should say, one of our former clients has passed away.    Although it is always possible, (and it is one of my recurring nightmares), to date we have never “lost” a client on one of our tours or […]