Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Bishkek

(oops, this was meant to be put up during the same month as our other Kyrgyzstan trip report posts)

Our original plan when we organized our trip to Kyrgyzstan was to keep the rental car one day after arriving in Bishkek and check out the national park Ala Archa, a reasonable day trip from the city. By the time we got to Bishkek we needed to not get back in a car so we ditched the plan and never regretted it one moment.

Instead, we took it relatively easy.  Our apartment was pretty central so we could walk a lot. We arrived in the early evening and after settling into the apartment went to the nearby Obama Cafe. A cardboard cutout of our esteemed leader greets guests at the front door, and the kids enjoyed shaking his hand. The meal was pretty good, American/continental fare of course.

Next day we took care of business, returning the car, visiting the Osh Bazaar to get fruits and veg and learning a bit about the bus and taxi systems in the process. We also walked out with 2.5 kilograms of honey, adding to the kilo we'd purchased on the road back to Bishkek from Issyk-kul. We are completely enamored with the honey in this part of the world.  We also discovered a cafe that carried a full line of vegan desserts, enabling Alex to enjoy a rich chocolate cake in a cafe for the first time (Hello, Astana. C'mon, if Bishkek can do it, you can. Seriously, there is nothing you are incapable of achieving if only you want to do it!)

We also ate Nathan's hot dogs (again, c'mon Astana!).  We gorged on cherries and apricots, only to learn upon return home that cherries and apricots had come to Astana too during that week.  We visited the National Museum and checked out a variety of art, reminding me that the kids do have a longer tolerance for museums than they used to and especially when we make an effort to engage them.  We visited the WWII memorial with an eternal flame and tribute to the war years of 1941-1945, and discovered we hadn't taught the kids much about that time.  In preschool in St. Petersburg they learned the Piter story, focusing on the horrific 3 year "blokada" wherein the city was essentially cut off from the rest of the world for years and many starved to death, but neither school nor we had taught them much else about the war.  So on a beautiful sunny day in Kyrgyzstan we talked to the kids about Hitler, and a bit about Stalin.

We visited the old style Panfilov Park, which was essentially a pay-per-ride amusement park where the kids had a great time on rides that would have been condemned in the USA.  The park was insufficiently staffed, and some rides were only open during some times, so the kids didn't get to do everything they wanted but it was still a win.  We ate unfortunately bad Indian food because I just wanted Indian (note: it didn't scratch the itch).

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