Country #76: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
This past Monday, I had a brief (10 hours brief) stay in the spell-check bewildering country of Kyrgyzstan. It, along with its fellow "stans", was part of the former Soviet Republic, something which is unmistakable to this very day. To maximize my time in Bishkek, the capital city, I hired a guide and driver to show me around.
The guide, whose name, Salabek, I mangled mercilessly in person and probably more so in print, was young, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and distractingly twitchy. While sharing facts about his country and its people, he would blink furiously, constantly fiddle with his messenger bag and worst of all, lose track of where the sidewalk ended and the street began, causing him to wander into oncoming traffic on more than one occasion. My attention was constantly pulled between trying to absorb all this city had to offer and making sure Twitchy did not become Kyrgish roadkill.
As part of our tour, he showed me around Bishkek's monuments, squares and governmental buildings, almost all of them dating to a time prior to the country's 1991 Independence. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan went into an extended financial crisis, which has only showed slight signs of abating in the last five years (with substantial help from neighboring Kazahkstan).
As a result, the capital city has a distinct time-warp feel to it. While other former SSR nations have made efforts to erase their Communist past, Bishkek is still home to the Lenin Library, prominently features a statue of Karl Marx engrossed in conversation with Friedrich Engels, and after some debate about removing a large-size monument to Lenin from the front of the National History Museum, simply decided to re-locate it to the heavily trafficked rear of the building.
The shopping mall, which is housed in a former Soviet supermarket, has a disjointed, scatter-shot, put-it-all-out-there quality, that reminded me of similar stores I have seen in Havana and Moscow (something which is not really captured in the photo above). Then, there was what was probably my favorite moment of the entire tour. Our driver, an excitable man who spoke no English and proudly flashed a row of gold teeth every time he smiled, pulled a crazy six lane U-turn as we were leaving a farmer's market. Not two minute later, a sedan-type car (Honda maybe?) pulled up alongside of us.
The sedan's driver waved a flashlight (the covered kind that parking attendants use) at our driver, causing our guy to promptly turn the corner and pull over. It was only at that point that I realized, the flashlight/ sedan guy was a cop. The two of them stood by the road talking for a few minutes, prompting me to wonder what Twitchy and I would do if our driver got hauled in. My concern grew a bit as our driver got into the passenger seat of the maybe-Honda, but it was short-lived, since he emerged seemingly unscathed just minutes later and returned to our car.
Through Twitchy, he apologized for the inconvenience as I pressed him for details... Yes, he had been stopped for the u-turn. Yes, he had gotten a fine. No, he would not be going to court because he had already paid the fine. Well, no it was not officially a fine. No, there was no paperwork, points, etc. Um, yeah, there was some negotiation involved. End result, yes, he had bought off a Kyrgish cop for a total of 100 som, or roughly $3.
When I asked if the department was aware that this was happening, they patiently explained to me that the cop would not keep the entire amount, but instead give a percentage to his immediate supervisor, who would in turn give a percentage to his supervisor, etc., etc. Only a few hours in the country and already, I had witnessed some governmental corruption. Score!!!
As we continued our tour, it was Twitchy's turn to ask me questions. He asked what I expected the Kyrgish people to look like. He wanted to know if Americans thought that all people from Central Asia were like Borat. And he wanted to know if I was excited about Obama, and admitted that he, along with all his friends from the University were very happy with our choice. He explained that the Kyrgish people were more out-spoken, liberal and tolerant than many of the neighboring countries.
His explanation why had to do with their history, traditionally they have been a nomadic people living off of livestock. If something or someone ever upset them, they could freely speak their mind, pack up their yurt and their animals and move far away. Their neighbors, by contrast, were farmers, so if something disturbed them, they had to stay put and accept whatever cards life had dealt them.
After what felt like 30 minutes, but was actually more like three hours, our tour came to an end. I would lying if I didn't say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. During this short stay, I felt as if I had not just visited a new country (#76 for anyone keeping track), but also visited a different era and although there was not much to see, touristically speaking, the overall nature of the city and its people made it fascinating place to visit, even if only for 10 hours.
Soldiers guarding Kyrgyzstan's flag in Ala-Too Square.
Statue of a woman casting off the Islamic veil.
All historic sites and monuments we visited had a photographer onsite waiting to capture the moment.
Soviet-era monument commemorating the friendship between the SSR's.
Another soviet-era remnant: an amusement park-style shooting gallery smack in the middle of downtown.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Lenin gracing the rear of the Historical Museum...
and Freedom gracing the front.
A monument shaped like a yurt honoring soldiers killed during WW II.
Early settlers would place these statues on graves to protect the dead.
Soviet supermarket turned Department Store.
The guide, whose name, Salabek, I mangled mercilessly in person and probably more so in print, was young, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and distractingly twitchy. While sharing facts about his country and its people, he would blink furiously, constantly fiddle with his messenger bag and worst of all, lose track of where the sidewalk ended and the street began, causing him to wander into oncoming traffic on more than one occasion. My attention was constantly pulled between trying to absorb all this city had to offer and making sure Twitchy did not become Kyrgish roadkill.
As part of our tour, he showed me around Bishkek's monuments, squares and governmental buildings, almost all of them dating to a time prior to the country's 1991 Independence. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kyrgyzstan went into an extended financial crisis, which has only showed slight signs of abating in the last five years (with substantial help from neighboring Kazahkstan).
As a result, the capital city has a distinct time-warp feel to it. While other former SSR nations have made efforts to erase their Communist past, Bishkek is still home to the Lenin Library, prominently features a statue of Karl Marx engrossed in conversation with Friedrich Engels, and after some debate about removing a large-size monument to Lenin from the front of the National History Museum, simply decided to re-locate it to the heavily trafficked rear of the building.
The shopping mall, which is housed in a former Soviet supermarket, has a disjointed, scatter-shot, put-it-all-out-there quality, that reminded me of similar stores I have seen in Havana and Moscow (something which is not really captured in the photo above). Then, there was what was probably my favorite moment of the entire tour. Our driver, an excitable man who spoke no English and proudly flashed a row of gold teeth every time he smiled, pulled a crazy six lane U-turn as we were leaving a farmer's market. Not two minute later, a sedan-type car (Honda maybe?) pulled up alongside of us.
The sedan's driver waved a flashlight (the covered kind that parking attendants use) at our driver, causing our guy to promptly turn the corner and pull over. It was only at that point that I realized, the flashlight/ sedan guy was a cop. The two of them stood by the road talking for a few minutes, prompting me to wonder what Twitchy and I would do if our driver got hauled in. My concern grew a bit as our driver got into the passenger seat of the maybe-Honda, but it was short-lived, since he emerged seemingly unscathed just minutes later and returned to our car.
Through Twitchy, he apologized for the inconvenience as I pressed him for details... Yes, he had been stopped for the u-turn. Yes, he had gotten a fine. No, he would not be going to court because he had already paid the fine. Well, no it was not officially a fine. No, there was no paperwork, points, etc. Um, yeah, there was some negotiation involved. End result, yes, he had bought off a Kyrgish cop for a total of 100 som, or roughly $3.
When I asked if the department was aware that this was happening, they patiently explained to me that the cop would not keep the entire amount, but instead give a percentage to his immediate supervisor, who would in turn give a percentage to his supervisor, etc., etc. Only a few hours in the country and already, I had witnessed some governmental corruption. Score!!!
As we continued our tour, it was Twitchy's turn to ask me questions. He asked what I expected the Kyrgish people to look like. He wanted to know if Americans thought that all people from Central Asia were like Borat. And he wanted to know if I was excited about Obama, and admitted that he, along with all his friends from the University were very happy with our choice. He explained that the Kyrgish people were more out-spoken, liberal and tolerant than many of the neighboring countries.
His explanation why had to do with their history, traditionally they have been a nomadic people living off of livestock. If something or someone ever upset them, they could freely speak their mind, pack up their yurt and their animals and move far away. Their neighbors, by contrast, were farmers, so if something disturbed them, they had to stay put and accept whatever cards life had dealt them.
After what felt like 30 minutes, but was actually more like three hours, our tour came to an end. I would lying if I didn't say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. During this short stay, I felt as if I had not just visited a new country (#76 for anyone keeping track), but also visited a different era and although there was not much to see, touristically speaking, the overall nature of the city and its people made it fascinating place to visit, even if only for 10 hours.
Soldiers guarding Kyrgyzstan's flag in Ala-Too Square.
Statue of a woman casting off the Islamic veil.
All historic sites and monuments we visited had a photographer onsite waiting to capture the moment.
Soviet-era monument commemorating the friendship between the SSR's.
Another soviet-era remnant: an amusement park-style shooting gallery smack in the middle of downtown.
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
Lenin gracing the rear of the Historical Museum...
and Freedom gracing the front.
A monument shaped like a yurt honoring soldiers killed during WW II.
Early settlers would place these statues on graves to protect the dead.
Soviet supermarket turned Department Store.
Great post Berti. One of your best. I could "live" the experience through your narrative. Uncanny pictures of the old USSR. Surprised you didn't see one of Stalin.
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