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| view of Tian Shan mountains from our hotel room |
Travel lightly when you come to Central Asia. Unless you fly across borders, you will be dragging your suitcases at least a kilometer from one country to the next. We have learned to travel pretty minimally, so didn't find the dragging part too onerous. It was the border guards in Uzbekistan who filled that category.
The first really creepy guard checked our passports, looking at each page to see where we had traveled in the past (many places), then waved his wand over our backpacks and suitcases, pointing and grunting when he wanted something opened. He spent about 5 minutes examining 3 tiny paper ornaments I had bought and ignored my camera, thank goodness, since I have over 600 photos on it so far. That could have been an hour's entertainment for all of us.
Next he looked at every page of Don's book and magazines, which he couldn't read, before passing them back and sending us on our way. Then to the guard outside the border and customs building who also looked at our passports in detail. The border officials (remember that we were leaving, not entering, the country) stamped our passports fairly quickly, but then proceeded to inspect everything in our bags, including every bottle of medications we had. This time I only pulled out 2, but Don had a long discussion about half a dozen items with the guard who had no idea what Don was saying.
Two guards looked at every photo and video on our phones. I think they were just bored because the guy looking at Don's photos got quite excited about his video of Victoria Falls in Zambia and really seemed to like the one of the mist from the Falls which Don had taken by mistake. He was fascinated by a video of Don's son's graduation and asked lots of questions in Uzbek and a few words of English about that. All fine except that this entire operation took over an hour.
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| carved door of mosque in Osh |
On the Kyrgyzstan side of the border, we were through in 2 minutes.
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| carpenters near the bazaar in Osh |
The economic activity as soon as we crossed into Kyrgyzstan was lively, compared to Uzbekistan. The economy here is a bit freer--Uzbekistan's government controls its economy completely--and with high unemployment, most people in Kyrgyzstan need to start a little business such as a shop in order to support their families. Our guide told us that teachers and doctors are at the bottom of the pay scale because they work for the government. They earn between $100 and $200/month. Most hope to find a job in a private school or clinic, which pays better.
We started in Osh, the border town, one of the great Silk Road cities, but dusty and not as interesting now as it must have been 1500 years ago. The town does have a good bazaar, much more like the crowded and chaotic bazaars we've seen throughout Asia and the Middle East. Uzbekistan's bazaars are organized, orderly and clean in contrast. Lunch was in an Uzbek home, pilaf (plov), and delightful. This is a very conservative family, so the women are basically secluded at home and rarely go out, though both daughters are going to school. Their school, unlike most, requires girls to wear head scarves. We saw the daughters walking home. One had removed her head scarf and her grandfather, outside to greet us, was not pleased.
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| lunch in Uzbek home |
We flew to Bishkek last night on a late flight because you never know how long the border crossing will take. Bishkek is a pretty city of about 2 million people, set between the Pamir and Tian Shan mountains, with peaks over 18,000 feet shimmering in the haze. It has wide streets, lots of trees and beautiful parks. Coming to Kyrgyzstan is mostly about the mountains--most of the country--with hiking a major activity.
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| Kyrgyzstan Parliament |
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| Bishkek opera house with roses |
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| changing of the guard outside Lenin Museum, Bishkek |
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