Mysterious Kyrgyzstan

I wanted to get to Bishkek and start a bit of a trip in and around Kyrgyzstan. I was planning on joining a 9 day Pamir Highway adventure from Dushanbe to Osh, but two things stopped me. First, the "juice was not worth the squeeze". To join most tours the price is around $500 US, but that does not include accommodation or food along the way. The feedback on the food at any of these "pre-selected camps is shit and most people get sick. Second, I would be in a car up to 8 hours a day with short stops for photos and maybe a few hikes. I saw no join in this regardless of the "unbelievable scenery" that I would have experienced. So in the end, Robert, Kaori and I all decided to book a flight to Kyrgyzstan, where I promptly lost my Visa Card. 

Onwards to Kyrgyzstan

Dushanbe Airport

The flight from Dushanbe to Bishkek was a short couple of hours. Customs was a bit cumbersome and slow but entry was simple enough. I might have mentioned in the past that I was keeping my Visa card in my phone case, but it was a bit loose and I kept reminding myself that "it was going to fall out one of these times" and as I walked through customs into the arrivals area my visa card decided to take a solo trip on it's own. I have other cards so that was not an issue. I just needed to cancel it because the ease with which can now just tap made me vulnerable. HOWEVER, the Simplii Financial Visa card can not be cancelled or put on hold online. You need to call them and speak to an agent directly. In this day and age of convenience and simplicity, this is a nonsense. In the end I had my sister Kim call them for me and they put a 60 day hold on it. I will still need to call them, which I will do from S. Korea. 

I booked into the QLIFE Capsule Hotel for $11 a night. It was a brand new Capsule hostel. I like a capsule hostel because it gives you an enclosed space instead of just a curtain. Some find it claustrophobic but I like the bit of privacy that it provides. Plus it was downtown and close to everything, including a doctor which Kaori needed to see. Her ankle was not getting any better. As was the routine, I needed an ATM and my eSim was working great. I got all that settle fairly quickly as I left the other two to sort you which ATM had the lowest fees and which SIM card was the cheapest. 

I immediately headed out to explore this city on my own. There was nothing really new and modern like there was in Dushanbe but the streets were clean, and the buildings were well maintained. What this city had was monuments, lots and lots of monuments. There was also a walking route where you could see old soviet buildings that were still in use. They were quite obvious to the newer building around them, but it was cool to have an explanation for each of them. This was not a "free walking tour, tip at the end" that I am addicted to. This was an online map that you followed and it took me down some back streets I never would have found.

The other thing that Bishkek had were plenty of monuments and memorials. Many were celebrating their military history against the Nazis, plus their new independence from Soviet Russia. As I have found throughout central Asia, these monuments are intricate and detailed, almost freakishly lifelike. The highlight of this walk was the changing of the guard at the huge flag pole across from Ala-Too Square. The actual ceremony took about 15 minutes and I found that the style of marching was quite odd. Not so much straight leg goose stepping but they guards pushed their legs in more of an arching motion. Regardless, they were focused and well trained. 

I did discover that The Ala-Archa National Park is located in Tian Shan Mountains, is 35 km south of Bishkek and easily reached by a local bus. The ride takes about an hour but having such an incredible place so close to the capital makes it such an easy day-trip for lucky locals and travelers. That is next up after a full day of walking and exploring Bishkek.