Kyrgyzstan, Part I

Part I: Kyrgyzstan Is A Real Country?

After twenty five years in the Army, I have finally had the chance to go somewhere overseas where no one is trying to shoot me.  I volunteered to take part in an annual Regional Cooperation exercise that involves the United States, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan in an effort to build trust and relationships among the Central Asian nations and the US. 

When I told people that I was going to Kyrgyzstan for two weeks they often responded with, “that’s a real country?” 

My trip lasted three days; departing Raleigh at 7:20pm on a Wednesday and arriving in Manas Airport at 6:00am on a Friday.  In between were three flights, three stops, a two hour delay, and over sixteen hours of flight time to arrive ten time zones ahead of where I started.  I was lucky to travel with others headed to the exercise so I didn’t have to figure London’s Heathrow airport by myself, although I did have to wrestle my luggage away from the all-to-eager taxi drivers in Kyrgyzstan. 

Manas

On the approach to Manas, dawn was breaking and I got to see the snowcapped mountains that surround this region.  Some of the peaks of the Tien Shan Mountains are taller than the Rockies and stand between the capital, Bishkek in the north and to the rest of the country to the south.  Living in North Carolina and New York, and generally sticking to the east coast, I never get to see peaks like this.

Without a doubt the first two and a half days were a whirlwind as we waited for more people from the exercise arrived.  We bussed in to the hotel with a Navy Ensign, Ilena Rush, who grew up in Belarus and had been a civilian translator at this exercise the year before.  Her fluency in three languages most likely helped her get a direct commission.  She helped us get out of the clutches of the taxi drivers at the airport and was quickly adopted as our around-the-town interpreter. 

We pulled up to the Hyatt Regency, the best hotel in the city of Bishkek, and probably the whole country.  The reason for the expensive hotel was that several dozen American servicemen were about to spend two weeks in a country that, while friendly, does have some US resentments.  The Hyatt afforded the greatest distance from any road and had the tightest security.  The Hyatt also had a nice gym, outdoor pool, a bar, and a great restaurant that included a gourmet buffet breakfast with the room price.  I was not about to complain.

Ala-too Square

WWII Memorial

Kyrgyzstan is not without its own internal strife.  A former Soviet republic, they gained independence in 1991, ousted the former Soviet leadership in 2005, and went through a brief and violent coup in 2010.  Most of the latter part occurred here in Bishkek.

Lenin

Bishkek as a capital city is set out on a grid, Soviet style, since the city was founded after the rise of the Soviet Union.  There are wide boulevards and every street is tree lined with spacious sidewalks.  There are clear signs of an infrastructure in need of repair; missing sewer grates, broken pavement, poor drainage, but as a whole the city functions.  The city is also alive.  Families are out in the numerous parks until well after nightfall and there always seems to be music and bright lights coming from one spot or another.  The city is most definitely aware of itself because there is art in the parks, museums, amusement parks, and statues of famous Kyrgys.  If you look carefully you can still see Hammer and Sickle iron works on most public buildings – not to mention the thirty foot statue of Lenin down the street from the American University of Central Asia.  

Park Ping-Pong

Park Fountain

Bishkek has hundreds of restaurants of all different flavors and tastes.  To date I have been in Russian, Kyrgy, Indian, Italian places as well as the pub downstairs.  Many of these places have seating out on the sidewalks or under awnings.  Most of the staffs I encountered were either able to speak English or had English/Russian menus to point at.  The food has always been very good.  For every five places to eat there must be one nightclub or bar.  And so it was that on one night I found myself with six others and Ilena in a Kyrgy nightclub called The Bar Code. 

Fish-Out-of-Water comes to mind walking into a disco where every other patron is both Asian in appearance, but also twenty-five years younger than me.   Those kids politely ignored us and danced among themselves.  I lasted until 12:30am (thanks to the jetlag) before I called it quits and went home.  While Ilena and others might be night owls, I never have been.  Walking back to the hotel – while not advised – only took ten minutes at a brisk pace. 

Osh Bazaar

Fresh bread

Shopping in the bazaar

Isles upon isles of clothes.

I went to the Osh Bazaar the next day.  While there is high end shopping in Bishkek, most people shop at the bazaar - an odd mix of buildings, open air markets, and isles and isles of covered, cramped and congested shopping stalls with clothing of questionable authenticity.  It was claustrophobic and warm.  There were smells as sweet as fresh bread and candy and putrid as slaughtered animals and unwashed human beings.  Every price is negotiable - even if you cannot speak the language.  However you take it in, the bazaar is a feast for the senses.

Of course there is corruption.  Of course there are undertones of  unrest. Of course there are issues that always seem to surface in this region.  However, this trip isn’t about any of that and you won’t find it unless you go looking for it.  

And that is not my mission here.

Instead, a capital city, at the foot of the Tien Shan Mountains, in the warmth of summer is a not a bad way to serve your nation.   

And, yes, Kyrgyzstan is real country.

(Part II: Playing Tennis with a Football Bat)