KyrgyzAltyn Hotel Bishkek

... teenagers do, waiting for the last moment before it is time to join their class. The pavements are full of young people. Yes, there are older people there but the overall impression os of a very young city. Not at all like Karakol.
Large grey government buildings dominate and the parks in the centre are full of new and old statues. Poor old Lenin, once resplendent in the main square has been relegated to a small park to ...

... to myself. The little heating element hob thing gave off some reassuring sparks and smoke when you plugged it in. No electric shock for me though, as I worked out the sequence to put the plugs in so as to avoid the sparks and smoke (no joke...). Well, the food - some meaty dumpling things, quite tasty when hot, but make you want to throw up when cold. I seem to be encountering these quite a lot.

Following that, I spent much of the next day going ...

... is very strange) you can all come and have a drink and I can tell you about it.

I'm feeling sad to be heading back into the realms of reality, banks, student loans, finding accomodation etc, but am very glad to be heading back to see all my dear friends and family. I'm also looking forward to pork pies and a pint of Harvey's!

Take care all and thank you for watching,

Sincerely,

Sam

... ways around every rule. Driving through dusty, bumpy roads flanked by desolate mountains, we passed through checkpoint after checkpoint after checkpoint on the Chinese side. The Chinese customs and quarantine station was the real fascinating part. Taking almost 2 hours to pass though, we had every piece of luggage scrutinized, our passports check page by page (to questions of "where is this stamp from? What is this visa for?) and then they told us to turn ...

... Festival might have a different meaning here in Kyrgyzstan; though there was music, dancing and a scary traditional game, where everyone ran 100meters to a small child whose feet were tied, with the first there cutting the rope for the child to run free. Much child crying ensued.


It was here that we found out about a salt lake, Shor Kol - 40km away, from another American guy who was writing/photographing a book on Kyrgyzstan. In keeping ...

... au hasard : affiches a tous les carrefours, distributeurs de tracts, annonces hauts-parleurs... Dans les banques, les guichets fermes affichent un portrait du president. Comme si chez nous a la poste, au lieu de la perpetuelle annonce "guichet momentanement ferme" on avait une affichette "Votez Sarkozy au gros zizi".
Bon allez, je vous livre le scoop : Bakiev sera elu a pas moins de 90 pour cent et la tripotee d'observateurs internationaux nous aura coute bon bon : voila tout ce qu ...

... at night- this factors stipulate thermal activity.
The southern part of valley (from Kyzyl-Su river till ridges of Zaalayskiy range) is wider and has piedmont relief crossed by many rivers. The range has the height in average of 6000-6500 m. And the crown is Lenin Peak (7134 m). At the paraxial part of the range, high-mountain relief is strongly pronounced with narrow valleys, covered with glaciers and high Rocky Mountains.

Some about the ...

... twirling shadows streaming down its slopes. "Khan-Tengry" – "The Master of the Sky" in Mongol language, from time immemorial is known to native local inhabitants, Kyrgyz, as "Kan-Too" – "Blood Mountain" ("kan" means "blood", "too" - "mountain").
First scientific account on the Peak dates to the middle of the 19th century when Khan-Tengri had been seen and described by notorious Russian explorer of the ...

... area of Western Tien Shan is regarded as very attractive in the region, owing to its immense valleys and peaks exceeding 5000 metres. We make our way in picturesque valleys, cross several passes that lead to great canyons, cloudless alpine lakes and foamy mountain rivers. We’ll visit the large valley of the Chatkal river with a pristine nature. Twice we’ll cross the Chatkal ...

... said that night “This city does not feel real. It is like watching a play with the locals acting out the scene. You are afraid to find out too much detail as you might find out something you don’t like”. I could not have agreed more.

If we thought that Bishkek was a strange place, then our Silk Road Lodge felt even stranger. The two storey English guest house style lodge set in pretty rose gardens reminded us of something out of Fawlty ...