Bishkek

Trip Start Jul 30, 2008
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29
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Trip End Ongoing


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Flag of Kyrgyzstan  ,
Tuesday, October 21, 2008

After two flights full of some "intereting" people, we finally arrived in Bishkek. We were a little anxious about getting into the country as we had heard (read actually, from the US Travel Alert site) that Kyrgyz's customs officials were corrupt and would ask for bribes. Fortunately, we did not need to shell out any Marlebo Reds as we moved smoothly through customs. Our first point of contact in Bishkek was our driver from the guesthouse we were staying at. He quickly escorted us to the guesthouse in a very nice Mercedez, all the while avoiding the police (also supposedly corrupt). Safe and sound, we crashed in our room for the night. The next day, we oriented ourselves with the new city. As far as first impressions go, we were definatley no longer in Europe, but not quite in Asia. We also received our first rash of stares. Its hard to describe what it feels like to be looked at like you are from another planet and it is something, at  least I will never get comfortable with. Anyway, Bishkek is a not yet modern former Soviet city full of Kyrgyz's and Russians. You would not want to vacation with your family here. One plus, however, is the newly thriving toursit industry. Among our fist order of business in Bishkek was, surprisingly, finding our way out of Bishkek closer to the beautiful lakes and mountians Kyrgyzstan is known for. To this end, we found a wonderful tour company recommended by one our fellow travlers called Celestial Mountain Tours or something like that. They helped work out our border crossing with China (you have to have a special permit and a Kyrgyz driver to take you to the border and a Chinese driver pick you up) as well as help us plan our excursitions into the mountain and lake towns. So after a day full of planning, we got ready for an early dinner (as it was not recommended to be out much past dark for fear of running into corrupt police). We entered a suspect establishment only to be blessed with one of our best meals yet (laghman = one of our new favorite meals). The staff there were especially nice considering our lack of Central Asian language skills. The next day was collecting our visa extentions and getting ready for our real adventures in Kyrgyzstan.
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