MORE BISHKEK

 6th - 8th Apr 2025

The statue of General Mikhail Frunze, and his horse, down near the railway station.

General Frunze (1885 - 1925) was  a highly respected leader in the revolutionary Red Army, a national hero, and is entombed in the Kremlin Wall. He was born in this city. He died of an overdose of chloroform when undergoing surgery for an ulcer. There is a suspicion (unproven) that Stalin had him assassinated for various political reasons. Anyway, the city was named after him in 1926....until independence in 1991 when it was renamed Bishkek.

There is a museum, near my hotel, dedicated to Frunze (it was his old house). I was going to visit it on my last morning here but it was closed that day.

 

I walked up to the railway station at the southern end of the large boulevard (with park between the traffic lanes), Erkindik Av (left) to explore the possibility of an onward rail journey to my next destination; Tashkent (Uzbekistan).

Right: Transport up Erkindik was available, but this buggy looked as if it needed pushing.

I discovered that the train journey to Tashkent would be a very laborious, time consuming and infrequent service, in fact impracticable. A bus service was the viable alternative. 

While taking the photo of Gen. Frunze, I met a local couple sitting nearby namely Alex and his wife Dasha. He spoke excellent English and is a (rather wealthy!) civil engineer. They turned out to be a most amusing, helpful and indeed highly generous couple. He explained the bus service, which now operates from a 'temporary' base to the west of the city (more about that later!). He also offered to take me to the Ala-Archa National Park area, about 30 miles south-west of the city, the following day. I accepted!

In the meanwhile I continued my ramblings around town. I discovered (advised by Alex) a pleasant German watering-hole called 'Steinbräu' in the east to the city (left). I expressed my interest in 'Oirish Bears' and he told me there is one called 'The Lucky Leprechaun', but it is closed for renovations. I later found out (after I had left) that there is a Harat's Irish Pub on Chuy Ave (as per the one in Almaty). Drat!

Right: Apologies, another statue. This one is of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (in Oak Park). I don't know which is which.

I made a point of going to see the 'changing of the guard' in Ala-Too Square. Apparently they are guarding the flag.

They start to attention, motionless, for two hours before being 'changed'. Quite an arduous feat. It reminded me of a similar, if more elaborate, performance in Taiwan.

The 'changing' ceremony, every two hours, is a performance of extraordinary well drilled 'goose-stepping'. It attracts a few onlookers....but not that many when I was there.

I hope the video (below) I took plays OK. It shows most of the performance.

The following morning, good as his word, Alex and Dasha picked me up from my hotel...in his very smart BMW (he has two!). We went to a nearby apartment to collect a couple of friends of his, Pavlo and his wife, and then on to visit his mother who lives in a pleasant retirement village on the way to the park. 

Ala-Archer National Park (diagram left) is at the foot of the vast Tien Shan mountain range and is at an altitude of about 5000ft at its lower end, going up to over 16000ft at the far south (we didn't go up that far!). In fact we stuck to the modest tourist trail at the bottom. It is popular with energetic hikers and I think has some skiing resorts.

Right: Our group assembled at the park.

Me, Alex, Dasha and Pavlo and his missus whose name I have forgotten.

The park is renowned for its wildlife, especially the rare snow leopard (didn't see any of those), plus various deer, ibex, wolves and many bird species. Can't remember what else but there were many tame little non-man-eating creatures such as this squirrel (left) which let me feed it some nuts without taking my fingers off.

Right: We came well supplied with liquid rations. Here relaxing by a very clear mountain stream with wine and beer.

Left: Standing on a platform next to a smart locked 'yurt-shaped' hut which, I was told is, or was, the venue for Presidential meetings.

Right: Horse-riding expeditions were arranged from here.

Left: We built a snowman.

Right: Which was completed by the donning of my cap.

Left: Next on to a restaurant on the way back to Bishkek. It was a popular place called 'Yaku', or similar. It featured individual dining 'cabins' and specialised in fish.

Right: There is a tank, seething with large trout. You go to the tank and someone nets the trout for you (2 big ones in our case), whacks them on the head and sends them to be cooked, then delivered to your cabin.

A very fresh meal, and probably wouldn't be allowed in UK! According to Alex, in previous days they had a pond well stocked with large trout and you were given a rod to catch them (easily). My sort of fishing!

Left: Me being given the honour of serving the main course. Big grilled trout.

Right: Part of our team enjoying lunch, and the trout was delicious. All these meals are accompanied by veg and tea. Tea is the normal drink with meals (no alcohol...due to Muslim culture I suppose) and tradition dictates you only fill your cup, or dish, half full. I think they have many different types of tea and maybe regard it in the same way as we do different wines.

Left: Another view of the 'restaurant' with Dasha and Alex. These photos don't show how popular it is. Most of the 40 or so 'cabins' were occupied and there was a high balcony and terrace overlooking it with a more traditional restaurant inside, plus a children's playground.

On back to Town via another call in at Alex's mother's house where she gave me a large bag of home-made scones for my onward travels. She had a couple of big Alsatian dogs in residence which apparently are very friendly....other than to intruders.

On the way back we passed a grassy area with a small herd of horses. I saw several of these on my train journey here. I asked what they were for. Alex told me that these are bred for eating. The male horses are killed for meat at about 1 year old. The mares are kept for breeding. The locals here, and in the other 'Stans', also make a lot of use of horses for riding, transport and, indeed, sport.

They play a particularly dangerous, and popular, game, somewhat equivalent to polo, except that instead of a ball it involves fighting for and carrying a beheaded dead goat or sheep. Apparently there are many casualties! In Kyrgyzstan it is called Ulak Tartysh, in Afghanistan Buzkashi and in Kazakhstan Kok Baru (I may have got those the wrong way round).

You score by dumping the carcass into a pit. I know nothing of the rules (how do they kick-off?) but it attracts big crowds and apparently spectators can get injured as well!

I somehow don't think it will catch on in UK, although in some parts nowadays you never know.

On arriving back in Bishkek we dropped off Pavlo and Mrs. I then mentioned to Alex that I had not been able to find a good tourist office as I wanted a map of the town. Sure enough, he, or rather Dasha, knew of one which was well hidden. Useful tourist advice 'bureaux' are not easy come by here...and I got a map for the time I had remaining. I suppose everyone nowadays just uses GoogleMaps or similar (as I have been doing...but without a local Sim card). He also suggested that another great place to visit was Lake Issyk Kul, where he has another lakeside house (he is a man of means!). It is a vast lake and a popular holiday resort, but is far away to the east and I wouldn't have time to do that.

All today's entertainment and expenses were paid for by Alex. I was not allowed to put my hand in my pocket! It was incredibly generous of him and nothing asked for in return. 'Raschmat' very much Alex and Dasha!

He also said that he would pick me up on my departure to take me to the 'temporary' out of town bus station. That ongoing journey to follow, eventually.

I think that will do for Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan......