Postcard from Bishkek

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 […]

A short while ago I was invited to a Concert in the Seitek Youth Center by the Tatar Folk Ensemble Duslyk - which is Tatar for “friendship” or “Commonwealth”.  It’s their twentieth anniversary – and also the fifteenth anniversary of the Tatar Union “Berdemlek“, (which is Tartar for Unity). To be honest, I knew from previous concerts that I had […]

I am an ex-pat, a British citizen who happens to live and work in Bishkek, the capital of the Kyrgyz Republic, where I am the General Director of a couple of companies which run a tour company and a couple of hotels.  I have lived here since 1995 although, as I have written elsewhere, I […]

The Week of Korean Culture here in Bishkek came to an end yesterday.  It was organized to commemorate 20 years of establishing diplomatic relations and, as well as the official opening ceremony without which no official festival would be complete, there was a seminar, concerts and degustations of Korean cuisine. Although I had put it in the […]

At the moment there is an exhibition in the Frunze Museum about the  ”The Dungans of Kyrgyzstan” – a photo-documentary exhibition of the history of the Dungans beginning with their transfer to Central Asia in the late 19th century. I have mentioned the Dungans in some previous postcards, (notably in Nationalities, the DunganMosque in Karakol and […]

Last week I posted I postcard about the Dungan Mosque in Karakol.  One of the things for which the Dungans are particularly noted is their cuisine, which is a very distinctive style of cooking which originated in the East and is very popular all over the world due to the variety and originality of its dishes […]

In the Karakol city centre, on the corner of a crossroads, there is small, tranquil courtyard which sees a number of visitors descend upon it throughout the week. Many of these of tourists coming to see a remarkable building, probably one of the most photographed buildings in Kyrgyzstan – the Dungan Mosque. The Dungans are ethnic […]

There has been a certain amount of controversy about the state of journalism in Kyrgyzstan in recent weeks.  Part of this may well have been associated with the World Press Freedom Day, which was commemorated earlier in May.  In fact, however, there has been much discussion about the state of journalism in the republic for […]

Last week one of our staff walked into my office and told me that I had a visitor from the Tatar Choir “Berdemlek”.  I said that it was OK, I knew who it was and what it was about. Sure enough, it was one of the members of the choir who had brought me an […]

When I first came to Kyrgyzstan, back in 1995, people often quoted, almost as a mantra, that Kyrgyzstan was a multicultural society with over 80 nationalities represented in the population.  It was so often quoted that it was easy to accept, remembering that the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic spanned the ancient trade route known […]