This morning in Bishkek was cool and cloudy. I woke up not particularly rested. As much as I like Kyrgyzstan, it seems that it doesn’t like me all that much, as the country appears to have declared war on my body. Aside from the aforementioned dodgy stomach, I’m also absolutely covered in mosquito bites, and I seem to have developed a nasty cough, too. Oh well, nothing to do but carry on.
Bishkek city tour
We headed out after breakfast to the centre of town, and spent the next few hours walking around looking at statues. Okay, there were a few other things mixed in there, like a museum or a building here and there. But mostly, we saw statues, statues and more statues.
Remember how I said Bishkek has a very Soviet feel? Well, that’s no lie. In no particular order, we saw statues dedicated to: The 1928 women’s revolution to remove veils and head coverings, the national hero Aykol Manas, the 2002 and 2010 uprisings against the previous Kyrgyz governments, friendship between the Kyrgyz and Russian people, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Lenin, Lenin and Lenin (again), the Kyrgyz writers and intellectuals killed by the Soviet Union in the Stalin era, the female leader of the Kyrgyz Alai Kurmanjan Datka, victory in WWII, a memorial for the Soviet War, ballet dancers, the glory of workers, and probably a few others that I forgot to mention.
And a partridge in a pear tree.
In between all those statues, we also went to Ala-Too Square, otherwise known as Red Square in the Soviet era, to see the Parliament Buildings and the Changing of the Guards. We visited the stuffy State Historical Museum to see the third floor devoted to Kyrgyz history and the second floor full of Soviet history (including — you guessed it — more statues of Lenin). We went by the American University of Central Asia to watch a 3-on-3 youth basketball tournament taking place in the square outside. We wandered through Oak Tree Park, saw the Opera House, and visited Freedom Square where two wedding parties were taking place, champagne and all.
Souvenir shopping, Soviet style
Next, we visited the GUM department store to do a bit of souvenir shopping. One of a chain of department stores popular all over the Former Soviet Union, the most famous of which is in Moscow, GUM was the state store during the Soviet days. These days, it’s privately owned, but still retains much of the same structure — though the selection of consumer goods is, I’d imagine, vastly improved.
We browsed through five floors of electronics, clothing, accessories and lots of the same cheesy souvenirs we’ve been seeing all over Kyrgyzstan. You all know I’m not much of a souvenir shopper, but I did pick up a couple of small things like a scarf, a miniature yurt, and a shot glass for my collection.
Last night in Kyrgyzstan
After a quick lunch at the market, we went back to the hotel to rest and relax for a few hours before dinner. I was starting to feel worse, so the rest time was much appreciated.
It’s our last night in Kyrgyzstan tonight, since we fly out tomorrow evening to Tashkent. So we headed out to another restaurant specializing in local foods. The restaurant was quite pretty, all done up in Moroccan-style decor with cushioned benches, rugs on the ceiling, and amusing karaoke-like lounge singers. My spicy peanut chicken contained no detectable traces of either peanuts or spice, but, my stomach being the way it is, it was probably just as well. The atmosphere was good, anyway.
We headed back to the hotel after that, and I took some time to organize my bags and update this blog before turning in for an early night, the faint sound of the final call to prayer of the night wafting in through the open window.