Bishkek! My Bishkek!

20 June 2009

Bishkek tonight and tomorrow—similar to Tashkent in the wide boulevards crying out for a Red Army parade of tanks and some half-hearted anti-capitalist rhetoric, the Russian-style buildings and rather hideously grand public spaces. It doesn't feel particularly Kyrgyz, and is populated with a lot of ethnic Russians, which makes it different to the rest of the country that we've seen up till now. Still, good to have a city around us again. Too much nature makes me itchy.

Six days of bushcamping with no showers is at last at an end, and my manky hair is pleased about that. Surprisingly easy to deal with, barring the chalky dry skin and filthy feet and general less-than-beautifulness. Have washed my hair twice and deep conditioned and scrubbed bits with my Uzbek pumice stone and am looking almost normal. Before and After:

The Hotel Alpinist is close to a western-style shopping mall, differing only in that everything in it appears to be fake. There's a fake North Face shop, a fake Pierre Cardin, and a fake Adidas store, among others. Also a Russian hunting and fishing shop full of what appear to be t-shirts advertising the merits of drinking vodka, hunting bears, and being an American GI in Vietnam.

Went to a bar called the Metro Bar, full of expats, with the South Africa/Lions rugby match on as well as Angels/Dodgers baseball. The first Americans we've even seen since Khiva seemed to be military—there's still an American air base at Manas airport north of the city, though the Kyrgyz government has ordered them out by mid-August in favour of Russian money. Burgers and fries and even Bud Light. Because this is what we've come to Kyrgyzstan for.

Not a whole lot else to talk about in Bishkek...we're off for a few more nights camping in Kyrgysztan on the way to China in the next week. The mix of camping and cities is, on the whole, actually quite good. Bush camps give us time for reading and chatting and doing not very much, in generally gorgeous surroundings. A city now and then provides culture and laundry facilities. Overlanding is obviously new to all of us, but I can't see how you'd improve on the variety of experiences we've already had. It's like backpacking without the pretentious hippies, and with someone else to sort out visas. Even given the occasional chilly days and odd dodgy tummies, we're having a brilliant time. It's always better than being at work, and that really is my personal litmus test. We'll be home the day we decide the Tube is preferable to the Truck.

Shout out to some of you reading this: FOB and FRN at 9 Elms, really good to hear from you; have come across some extremely random objects that have put me in mind of all of you on occasion. Hope you're all well and still employed.

Dad, Happy Father's Day from Kyrgyzstan! Hopefully we'll be able to call tonight, but no guarantees...am thinking of you, and looking forward to you driving me to Taco Bell at the first opportunity.