Hello from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan! This is the first time I’ve had Internet access in the week I’ve been in Central Asia. Unfortunately, this computer doesn’t have a working USB port, so I can’t upload the blog entries I’ve been typing on my Windows Mobile phone. I’ll do that when I get a working USB port.
But very quickly, I arrived in Tashkent, Uzbekistan safe and sound (after being bumped up to business class on Uzbekistan airways. Its really nothing fantastic, wider seats but food is terrible). Spent a day in hot Tashkent weather visiting the bazaar. It was a very interesting experience as not many tourists go there. As such, we always drew curious attention, especially from the store keepers. They were all very friendly and its unfortunate that we couldn’t speak any Uzbek or Russian or carry a conversation.
From Tashkent, we flew to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. At customs leaving Uzbek, I had my run-in with the infamous crooked customs official looking for a bribe. That’s a story I’ll tell another time.
From Bishkek, we took an exciting car ride (again, another story for another time), to Kochkor where we went for 5 days of horse riding up in the mountains. We stayed in traditional normadic yurts and ate their food. It was a great experience overall.
So far, I’ve had 2 quintessential Central Asian experiences… the hassling for a bribe at the Uzbek airport and Kyrgyzstan pit toilets (worth a full entry on my blog by itself). I hope to get a good USB connection soon so I can upload what I’ve written so far.
Posted by kelxia 
