Spending a month hanging out in Bishkek has allowed me to do several walking tours with the amazing Rahat of Bishkek Walks. I loved her unusual ideas of building a walking tour about a very specific aspect of Bishkek History (the Interhelpo: The making of industrial Bishkek tour), and exploring the history of Bishkek and Kyrgyzstan through …
One of the things I love to do while travelling is trying my hand at any local handcraft I come across. I still wear the silver ring I made in Nicaragua, travel with the scarf I made for myself in El Salvador, and will forever be in awe of the women who make the beautiful …
Having explored an obscure but interesting part of the history of Kyrgyzstan’s capital on the Interhelpo: The making of industrial Bishkek walking tour with Bishkek Walks, I immediately signed up for Rahat’s Mosaics of Bishkek: Soviet Street Art exploration. I have a particular fascination for street art wherever I go so was very keen to …
When I was in Kyrgyzstan 2 years ago, I really wanted to participate in the walking tours offered by Bishkek Walks. Dennis from Walking Almaty (the Green Bazaar and Golden Quarter tours are two of the best walking tours I’ve ever done) recommended them to me, but unfortunately I did not have enough time, given …
Interhelpo and the making of industrial Bishkek – walking tour Read More »
Late start this morning after a night that was still below zero, but not quite as cold the night before. Was lovely to be able to eat breakfast in the sunshine and enjoy the view 😊 Then, with 20 sets of fingers and toes crossed, we headed back up the road to see if we …
Kyrgyzstan – Tajikistan via Pamir Highway – Part 2 Read More »
The way I’m traveling at the minute is not my typical style. Usually I spend a fair amount of time in a place before moving onto the next, and I rarely have a set schedule for doing so – if I like a place, I’ll stay longer. If I don’t like a place, then I’ll …
Leaving Bishkek for the last time, we had 2 long drive days to the Tajikistan border via Osh. Aigol from the Green Apple hostel wished us luck with a juniper burning ceremony, and off we headed. Kyrgyzstan is most definitely a land of mountains – with over 90% of the country actually classified as such. …
Kyrgyzstan – Tajikistan via Pamir Highway – Part 1 Read More »
The first day in Bishkek, a group of us went on a walking tour with the amazing Aigol from the Green Apple Hostel to learn a little about the city. I mentioned to her that I was really interested in the traditional food of the countries I visit and asked her to let me know …
While we were waiting for James to un-stick the truck from the Tamgaly petroglyph mud with the help of his fireman and Army friends, we hired a mini-van and headed off from Bishkek for a 3-day tour around Issyk Kul – the second largest mountain lake in the world (behind Lake Titicaca). It turned out …
One of the days we had in Bishkek we decided to head out to the nearby Ala-Archa National Park for some hiking. Archa means “many groups of Juniper trees” of which there are 4 types within the park. It is only 40km away and it was absolutely perfect weather to enjoy the scenery and get …
