Postcard from Bishkek

Djalal-Abad is the administrative, economic and cultural center of Djalal-Abad oblast (province). It lies in the south of the Kugart valley, in the foothills of the Babash Ata mountains to the North. The climate is noted for dry, hot summers, warm and sunny autumns with rare rain bursts and winters are warm with high humidity. […]

Some years ago I went on a trip and one of the places where stayed was in a homestay.  On the television that particular evening there happened be a performance by one of the leading manaschi … and our hostess, shamefacedly lowered her voice and almost whispering told me a secret … “I don’t really […]

Last year was supposed to be my year – the Year of the Snake. I was born in 1953 and in the Chinese Calendar, that was the Year of snake … and according to the Chinese Zodiac, every year has an animal associated with it – there are twelve of them in a cycle, (Rat, […]

Back in 2007, the Kyrgyz Post Office issued a stamp showing a man looking awfully looking like Santa Claus: a jolly looking, “portly”, round faced old man with red cheeks, sporting a long white beard, and a flowing red coat … apart, perhaps, from the fact that he was wearing a white Kalpak – the […]

As I listened to the Global News podcast from the BBC, I wasn’t sure if I could believe what I was hearing … in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, a Gay Canadian comedian was leading a Ginger Pride Parade as part of the Fringe … it has to be a joke, I thought … but no, even […]

Place names can be very picturesque and convey an image, rightly of wrongly, of the place in question. In Britain, for example, we have Oxford and the city;s coat of arms depict a Ox walking over water – fording a river.  (It’s true that the full crest also has a Black Elephant, a green beaver […]

As well as the epic saga Manas, the Kyrgyz have about 40 other “minor epics” such as Kojojash, Kurmanbek Baatyr, Tolubai and Er Toshtuk.   The name Kurmanbek is a fairly common name among the Kyrgyz and although it will probably be associated for many years to come with the second President of Kyrgyzstan, it has a long and […]

One of the best known legends of the Kyrgyz is about the hunter Kambar, the Komuz and the first Kyrgyz tune. Kambar was a hunter who lived in the mountains. He was, true to his calling, a brave and strong man – on one occasion encountering a snow leopard whilst on a hunting expedition and overcoming […]

Toru Aigur is a village about 20 kilometres East of Balykchi. It’s a small and seemingly unimposing village which one might easy pass by and miss it, but it is one that I often cite as an example of the fact that there is almost always something of interest to be found wherever you look. […]

I was intrigued to see news reports recently about some workmen who were renovating a house in Britain and came across a pigeon in the chimney … not just any old pigeon, but a messenger pigeon with a coded message written on thin rice paper and  attached to its leg.  It seems that the bird […]