Category: Central Asia
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Dordoi, Central Asia’s largest bazaar
Soviet Frunze has changed back into Bishkek, a stop on the Silk Road. The huge markets – Central Asia’s largest bazaar Dordoi, Osh Bazaar, Alamedin and the others – are flourishing, and the streets and underpasses of the entire city are turning into one great web of commercial activity. On my first day I saw…
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My first taste of Bishkek nightlife involves vodka, hitchhiking and a panzer tank chieftain
On Saturday I get my first taste of Bishkek nightlife. I hadn’t intended to. Constantly going through my head is the information from the “Dangers & Annoyances” section of the Lonely Planet: Bishkek smiles during the day but is neither safe nor well lit after dark. So I’d been intending to spend the evening writing…
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I witnessed Bishkek’s main Lenin statue being torn down
Quite by chance I got to see the removal of Bishkek’s main Lenin statue. Walking down Chui Prospect to Beta Stores one Saturday afternoon, I found lots of people loitering on Ala-Too Square. They had an air of expectancy; they were not simply sitting or standing under the shady cloisters to gain a respite from…
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In search of Bishkek’s Soviet past
On my first weekend in Bishkek I decide to check out some museums to explore Bishkek’s Soviet past. This takes me to the History Museum behind the Lenin statue on Ala-Too Square, and the Frunze House Museum. The History Museum is the stone cube on Ala-Too Square that I saw on my first day in…
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First impressions of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
My eventful journey from Almaty ends at the newspaper’s offices in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, where I meet the newspaper’s glamorous editorial assistant, who puts me into yet another taxi to my new apartment. The relief of arriving safely allows me, suddenly, to relax and for the first time in 24 hours I feel sleepy and the…
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Lost in Central Asia
The smell in Almaty airport is hard to define – a mix of sweat and cigarettes, fried cabbage and floor polish. Outside, the night is wet and warm. Despite accounts of Central Asia being one of the world’s driest places, rain has fallen and is now evaporating into a thick soupy atmosphere. I’m here on…
Steppe in Style 