Arrival in Bishkek

We flew from Almaty to Bishkek last evening. The flight was only 40 minutes which was shorter than the drive from the airport to the city center of Bishkek. We enjoyed an evening at the Sheraton which was a luxurious treat before heading over to the My Hotel Bishkek today to meet our new travel buddies at noon. We are a group of 10: 8 from the British Isles and Gilles and I, so we will likely adopt their accents! We started our city tour with a visit to the Osh Bazaar, one of the largest and most vibrant bazaars in Central Asia. It indeed was a bustling place, especially as the start of school is approaching and lots of families are doing back to school shopping. After a stroll through there we went to lunch at The Navat Restaurant, a familiar dining spot for us as we had eaten there twice in Kazakhstan. Time to walk our lunch off and see the City Center so we saw the sites by foot. The streets are lined with shady trees and flowers, mostly roses, and are wide and clean. Two years ago, a massive restoration of monuments was completed and attractions were in pristine condition. Our route was centred around the Ala Too Square and Victory Square, the capital’s World War Two Monument. We also saw a monument of Lenin. There is still a heavy presence of Russian influence. People speak Russian and Kyrgyz and the currency is Som. We returned to the hotel for a welcome pre dinner nap and then set off to enjoy a delicious dinner at yet another Navat where we enjoyed a pavlova and tomato and onion salad and more delicious bread. Tomorrow is a big day and anticipation is high for the real adventure to begin.Lue lisää