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For someone who had Geography as the best subject in school and graduated at university in the same subject, I always had an interest for that part of
the world, East of the Ural mountains, where Asia meets Europe and, until little more than 10 years ago, was known as big USSR. There, the world had
its biggest villain: o communism, system whose study used to fascinate me, for the simple reason that I was absolutely against it. Today, years after the
Union fell, we have several countries that appeared from that process, and its natural heir, Russia is involved in ethnical conflicts, terrorism and high
crime rates. But how are the so-called "satellite countries"? McDonalds, imported cars, cell phones... or not?
There are a few companies flying already to Almaty (formerly known as Alma-Ata) and Tashkent, but not so many to Bishkek (former Frunze). The big
problem, though, is that all of them leave from some part of Europe at lunch time, getting there between midnight and 2am, which means one day you
miss and one more danger. The solution I found was to spend one day in Istanbul (another story). From there you can fly to Bishkek at 10pm and get
there in the early morning.
Probably, to get some more hard currency for the country, everybody needs a visa, and the only way you can get it is contacting a local travel agency
(there are several of them on the internet), who will provide an invitation letter for the visa. Without mentioning the hassle it was to get the visa, all I have
to say is that I had to reserve a night at a very bad hotel for USD20 and an airport pickup, which after all was useful. The boring part was that after a 6 hour
flight, the guy took me to the agency office and made me wait ONE HOUR for the director and his daughter, the only English speaker there, and good
looking, by the way. That was all because they didn't take pre payment by credit card and if I wasn't honest I could have disappeared without a trace. Still
at the airport, you have to fill up some forms saying how much money you are bringing and other things I had absolutely no idea about. They were all in
Russian, and some guys offering to translate them for you, I accepted that but, of course, I didn't pay the money they asked. I feared for what these guys
were writing about me there, but... could I do anything?
About the capital, DON'T GO in August. The heat is unbearable, worse than in Rio. The hotel in which I supposedly had a bedroom reserved was
reserved on that same morning and you pay when they want you to. When I got there I tried all possible ways to know if I had to pay at check in or at
check out, but I didn't get any answer, and I found out the worst way possible. Few minutes before going to bed, they called me on the phone (yes, the
place had TV and telephone!), asking for Dollari, Dollari! The first two days were dedicated to strolling and seeing the old buildings, monuments and
Soviet statues. I could also see the quantity of European cars, most of them older than 5 years, which makes me wonder if they were legally imported.
To eat, of course, nothing that looks trustworthy, although they still don't have the mad cows disease in Asia. As here the big yellow M is still not present,
the salvation was the Evropa Market, which sells imported food items at Western prices, except for the national mineral water, which costs 10% of any
Volvic or Evian. Tough was to ask which was the still water. I hate the sparkling one!
The main tourist attraction are the beautiful mountains ("the Switzerland of Asia"), to ski or climb or Issyk Kul lake, also surrounded by mountains. As I am
not a climber and I couldn't ski in the Summer, I went to Karakol. To get there, you have to take the lakeside road. Four hours tight in a van at least 15
years old, seeing the wonderful countryside landscapes. I stayed at the "hotel" Stadion, literally under the crowd seats. I was stupid enough to pay two
days in advance (total: USD 3). That was the closest I got to spending the night at the prison. The WC, a disgrace. The town, despite the wonderful
landscapes, didn't have anything to do, or to eat!
Having survived two days there, including the nights spent at that stinky bedroom, I was back in Bishkek on a Saturday. One more failure of planning,
because I was depending on a visa for Uzbekistan. As I had wasted a Thursday and a Friday in the countryside, had a whole week in the capital. Ended
up finding out a small restaurant where you could eat a decent pizza and coke for a reasonable price. A relief for someone eating biscuits, coke and
sweets taken from home.
I tried to find some of the places listed on Lonely Planet guide, taking the opportunity it was a Saturday night and I still hadn't gone out at night. The locals
have Asian traces and there is also a significant Russian majority, which means the women there are wonderful blondes or the oriental type. At night,
though, the street are not illuminated and I couldn't find any of the bars listed even being able to read the names in cyrillic alphabet.
On Sunday, I went to the Uzbekistan embassy to ask what they would be open on the following morning. The security guard told me it was 09:00. Having
a Lufthansa ticket, I depended on a Uzbek visa to get to Tashkent (which was 1:30 flight time, at USD 100 the onward ticket), or if the worse came to
worst, go to Almaty, Kazakhstan, 4 hours by car and ask them to take that ticket and fly from there. When the Monday came, of course I supposed there
would be no queue, as the Kyrgyz didn't need a visa for Uzbekistan. So, I got there a little before 10 and they told me it was closed, it opens between 8
and 10 every morning only. I tried to talk to them, but of course nobody nderstands English and there was nothing they could do for me. I ran, then, as
fast as I could, to the Kazakh embassy, where there was a huge queue. After three hours, I got in, and had to beg the person to get me a transit visa for
the same day, as they normally take three days to be ready. he asked me to come back at 4. These were the longest three hours of my life. The visa is
quite nice, even had an hologram. There I went: bus station. Got to Almaty in the evening, and I even thought about taking next day's flight, but I was so
annoyed I had to give up going to Tashkent that the only thing I could think about is to get back home. After eight long hours at the airport, the plane took
off at 4:30 am. |
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Kyrgyzstan:beautiful, no infrastructure 09/28/2002 15:10
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