From Punjab to Kyrgyzstan

That doesn't happen everyday to fly from Amritsar, Punjab to Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. And even to us, those two destinations seemed, at first, a little random. During the last week several people have been asking us : Why Kyrgyzstan? - Eh... why not? While travelling, we've been speaking for a long time with Tince about our next great trip, where we would go, etc... And Central Asia turned up being a destination we were keeping in mind for it. We were in India, looking in every directions where to go after our visa expire. Our first idea was to go to the South-East, do Thailand and some countries around (like every backpackers do). But we soon realized we were not very excited about that idea. And then we saw Kyrgyzstan on the map. So why waiting a next trip to go there if we can go now!

We went fighting for Communism!

After India, Kyrgyzstan is so normal. Being here feels like being back in Europe, or almost. An old school version of Europe, where one can buy pickled cucumbers and cigarettes one by one in the streets. Many things here remind Tince of her 90s childhood. Bishkek is a 100% soviet city. The map of the city looks like from some kind of boardgame. Parallel streets of gray blocks. Sometimes a park, featuring statues of heroic socialist characters, brings some "colors". Between blocks, two men are playing chess on a small table, keeping warm by sharing samogonka. Time to time a cheaply decorated caterring offers plov and kompot. Traditionnaly Kyrgyz people are nomadic people but Soviet union forced them into a settled lifestyle. For centuries Bishkek was a caravan stop on the silk road and only developped as a city during soviet era.

Over the skyline of the city we can see massive and snowy peaks. We can't wait reaching them. Unfortunatly we had to spend our first days in Bishkek to prepare our future trips. Everyday we walk through the long streets of the city from an administrative building to another, to Kazakh embassy, to Russian embassy, etc... Only once we managed to escape out of the city, and spent the day at Burana tower with two Kyrgyz friends. Hopefully starting from next week we'll spend more time outside of Bishkek and discover more about Kyrgyz culture.

Because Kyrgyz culture is not an obvious thing to catch in the streets of Bishkek. Everywhere here you read and hear Russian. Russification has been strong here and education system still supports it. Even two Kyrgyz persons would speak to eachothers in Russian rather than in Kyrgyz. And parents talk to their children in Russian too, often. They don't seem to care much about their language or their culture. This surprised us very much at first, especially Tince who comes from Latvia where language is so important. But I just wonder if they realize that's how a language slowly dies out.

Cinema theater "Rossiya"

This weekend comes an big celebration : Nooruz. Nooruz is the Zoroastrian new year and an important spring festival in Iran, Central Asia and Mongolia. In Bishkek the city is getting decorated and ready for celebrating. Spring is in the air and we're getting excited for the last part of our journey!