Bishkek

Crossing the border from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan proved to be a bit difficult due to my passport but going into Kyrgyzstan was seamless. I had no idea why they had to make such a big deal out of it.

As soon as I stepped on Kyrgyz land, the taxi drivers started to hound on me. They wanted some dollars to bring me to the city but I just wanted to use a marshrutka. First order of business however was that I needed to exchange some money. Not too much, just a couple of dollars to get some change. A girl selling sim cards brought me to the money exchange which was highly appreciated.

From there, I asked one of the guards where the marshrutka going to Bishkek was and he told me to just wait. After a while, he flagged one for me, and off we went. It was my first time inside one, the inside was actually bigger than I thought it would be. Comfortable too, nothing like the jeepneys of Manila. A half-hour ride or so, I found myself in Bishkek's city proper. I was expecting it to be something like Almaty it seemed less developed in terms of infrastructure but still quite beautiful!

I was dropped off by the main mall, Tsum, where I went inside to withdraw some more cash from the ATM. I walked over to my hostel, Cozy Hostel, which was a 20-minute walk or so. I was really thinking to myself if I actually had the energy to explore Bishkek today and decided that I would just rest for the rest of the day after getting settled in.

For the first time, when I arrived at the hostel, there was nobody in the reception except this one cleaning lady who just showed me to my room without even checking me in. Weird but okay. There were two Chinese dudes watching TikTok by the window. I was having trouble once again with Airalo and my e-sim which I found tends to happen a lot just as it did when I went from Bangladesh to Nepal. As soon as I got it fixed, I made my way to the Zhirgal Banya but not before dropping by a restaurant called Navat which had one of the most delicious meals I've had in a long time, albeit it wasn't Kyrgyz.

The banya was the perfect opportunity to unwind, heal, and rejuvenate all the stress of the day. I couldn't even believe I was just in Shymkent this morning. Just a short walk took me to Soviet-style domes which I guess were the bathhouses. I had no idea of Banya culture and I found myself quite lost as to what to do. It's very different from the onsen culture in Japan.

I just wrapped myself with a towel and took a shower first. Afterwards, I tried to approach the sauna, one gentleman gestured to my feet. But I didn't exactly bring slippers so I tried to go inside and he gestured again that I should wear slippers which made sense as I felt like I would have burned my feet inside there.

I went out to the lockers and asked for a pair of slippers and off I went but it was still a no-go! Apparently, I also needed to get a wooden board to sit on so I went outside and got one. When I finally got all the stuff, I showed myself in again and was greeted cheerfully by the gents inside. I took my place and together we basked in the heat. They were curious and asked where I was from and one guy taught me all the ways of the Banya.

One technique I learned was going to a lower elevation which was drastically less hot. He also taught me to fold my towel and drape it over my head which helped even more. I was learning so much! Some of the men were also hitting themselves with this strange branch that apparently made it so that the pores open and more heat is absorbed. Crazy stuff. The guy told me it might be a bit too advanced for me at the moment.

When it was getting too hot for my taste, I then went to the ice baths. There was a huge pool and the water was as cold as winter's ice. I loved it, so numbingly cold. Most of the other guys couldn't stay long but I could even fall asleep.

After 3 more rotations of the banya and the pool, I found myself ready to leave and walked back to my hostel. I made some small talk with a guy from Uzbekistan who was working in Dubai. The hotel manager finally showed up as well in our room, I struck a deal with him about getting my guy from Shymkent to just deposit the 50 USD security deposit I made to his account to pay for my booking here. I was glad he was flexible about it.

I packed up my things because tomorrow, I was heading out to a 2 day trip around Lake Issykul.Read more