Backdate: Kyrgyzstan Bishkek Aug 2019 Day 1 & 2

2/8/19 Fri: I believe it was more of a "leap of faith" when I decided to visit Kyrgyzstan... a landlocked country in Central Asia not as well-known as it's former Soviet republics of Uzbekistan nor Kazakhstan, at least to us tourists. Truth be told, I was "stan-ed" by the Google images of their nature out there. I did my research online to know as much as I could, contacted CBT Tourism in Kyrgzystan, and finally decided to visit the north-eastern part of Kyrgyzstan with two other long-time friend, Jess and YJ, whom were willing to "plunge into this unknown" with me after some consideration. 
Some friends joked that I like to go to "exotic places", but nope, I don't see myself as an adventure seeker, though I admit that I am curious about the world, and well yes, some portion in me prefers "the road less travelled". I would like to avoid crowds even when I travel, though I enjoy striking conversation with random travellers on the trip. Yes I have a tendency to go to and liking for places of nature (mountains and forests) as being in it calms my soul and strengthens me mentally and spiritually, but I certainly don't mind travelling wherever and whenever I can. Furthermore, the current COVID-19 situation has taught me not to take travelling for granted.

It seemed the best time to visit Kyrgyzstan was from June to August or September, as the temperatures would drop drastically after that, and that can make travelling to mountainous areas, which was where our main areas of visit were at, dangerous or difficult. *Still, I think the coldest we'd experienced was 5 degrees Celcius or so at Tosor Pass and some other high altitude areas.* We took some time to confirm our schedules and the itinerary booked with CBT Kyrgyzstan (USD 970 per person for an 11-days worth of off-road tour), booked air tickets (S$1494.20 per person) on Cheaptickets.sg and hotel stay (two nights' in Bishkek Rich hotel for S$219.86 for three pax) via Expedia, and bought the Tokio Marine's travel insurance at $69.60 per person for our 14-days of travel. I also took the typhoid vaccine (but not rabies, hence I did not dare go near the wild dogs in Kyrgyzstan) at Jurong Polyclinic in July ($28.50) as well, and changed S$300 for USD220 at Faizam Forex prior to the trip. *I have roughly another USD100 on me since Tanzania days haha.*

Potato sent the three ladies off at Changi airport Terminal 4 late at night on Thursday. *Had to keep the weight of our checked-in luggages at 20KG each as Air Astana legs of the trip would not allow limit beyond that.* YJ had supper at the foodcourt, bought her contact lenses and we waited for the 2.40am flight (delayed by 1hour and 10minutes) on CX714 to Hong Kong.
There were some turbulence on the flight, but I think it was still okay for me to tahan, though I can never really fall asleep on flights. I set foot at Hong Kong airport (days before riots and chaos set in there, and we were lucky in a sense that our flight back on August 15 was on Thai Airways so we transferred in Bangkok instead~) for the first time at 6.30am. Gloomy morning. We shared their云吞面set and that alone costed S$17! Tasted meh-meh. 

Flew on Air Astana KC930 to Almaty airport at 9.45am next. Took us close to seven hours to reach the small Almaty International airport in Kazakhstan. The local time was 2.40pm, and we loitered at the small airport for another three hours before the last leg of our flight to Manas International in Kyrgyzstan. 
There was wi-fi available, but my phone could not connect to it somehow. I thought we'd see less of Asian tourists here but to our surprise, there were many Koreans and Chinese tourists amongst the travellers. 

Air Astana KC109 departed at 5.40pm. As it was a smaller plane, and I reckon with the geographical location and the condition of the sky on that day, it made the close to one-hour trip the most "horrifying" flight in my life thus far. The whole plane was basically jerking left and right, up and down almost throughout the trip. *It's a wonder how YJ can still sleep la lol! 她是我见过最能睡的女人了~适应力超强的！也许那趟旅程对她而言像是躺在“摇篮”里，但对我而言可是“地震”啊~* I thought even 很能睡的Jess looked uncomfortable in it, let alone someone like me who's never a fan of turbulences and airplanes. 
Thank god we arrived at Bishkek (800m ASL) at 6.35pm safely. Yes, Kurmanjan did told us we could get free SIM cards at Beeline's office at the airport, but the driver being sent to pick us up could not speak English at all! Luckily, I had Kurmanjan's number beforehand and spoke to her on Whatsapp using the limited wi-fi connection. He brought us to MegaCom's outlet at one corner and we decided to buy the 10GB data plan with SIM card for 50 som each after we changed for some Kyrgyz som (USD1 was about 69som then) at a money exchanger office not too far away. 

We did not know the name of the driver since he did not speak much, and his only job was to send us to Rich Hotel from the airport. The sky only goes dark at 8+pm in Bishkek, and the surrounding reminded me and YJ of our days in Zanzibar somewhat. Our room was on the fourth floor, and there were no lifts in the hotel~ No frills, simple room and we had breakfast for the next two mornings during our free and easy time in Bishkek.

I downloaded the Yandex Taxi app in my phone before coming to Kyrgyzstan so we could book our own cabs for travelling around if needed. However, I think I sort help from the reception lady to tell the driver to get us down (79 som) to Chicken Star, one of the more famous Korean restaurant in the city for our first meal at Kyrgyzstan when he arrived. 

We ordered Kimchi gimbap and fried tokpokki, as well as the Chicken Star Special (some fried chicken basically) at the restaurant. I thought the special dish was nice. Dinner was 1483 som, and the helpful waitress helped talk to the cab driver before we cabbed back to Rich Hotel (129 som). *The safety belt was already spoilt, and halfway through, a random beggar walked up to ask for money. The driver didn't help me much though. Good thing I had my wallet and phone out of sight.*

Some issues cropped up with my SIM card, so we asked for help from the receptionists and they told me that I don't have credit left in my card, so they directed us to the mart attached to the hotel to for me to top-up my card. *What the!? I only just bought it today!* It was frustrating as the instruction on the machine was in Russian, but the cashier still tried to help us with his broken English. In the end, I trusted him and put in another 200 som, in which they said the data should be able to last me for two weeks. Well, I seriously doubt their words at that point of time, and can't help but worry for the rest of my trip in the mountains... We also bought two big bottles of mineral water for 52 som at the mart.

3/8/19 Sat: Had buffet breakfast at the hotel before we cabbed down to meet Kurmanjan at CBT's tourism centre at 11am, where she would collect the package costs and explain our itineraries for the next 11 days. *We all thought the cab driver was pretty good-looking sia... and he turned to smile at Jess once too haha! Too bad we can't communicate la~* There were one or two other groups of tourists in their office at that time too. *We bought a bottle of Kaya for Kurmanjan, as well as one for our driver Sergey later too.* She spoke in good English and did a pretty thorough explanation, addressing our concerns too. *Looking back, I wished she had given us a driver or guide with that standard of English. It would have improved our experience and knowledge much more.* Kurmanjan advised us to change for USD at a random bank opposite her office before she helped us call a cab to drive us to Yr Kese, our lunch venue. This uncle was rather talkative, so I tried to use my "limited Kyrgyz" to speak to him lol~

Yr Kese is a chain outlet in Bishkek, and it's known for their affordable prices and local dishes. There was no other customers when we got there (soon afterwards, a group of ladies came in to sit at the long table beside us), and we went with our intuition on what to order haha. *The waitress who took the orders for us looked like a student.*
The Mampar (soup with vegetables and small pieces of homemade dough) was very oily and a little salty, and it also has some beef in it I think. The berries lemonade was yummy though. We also had potato with chicken breast meat and egg, YJ's favourite mutton satay and rice with mutton... the mutton tasted great. *Toilet was clean too.*

1776 som was a decent price. We walked over to Ala-Too Square in the warm afternoon to explore the city centre for a bit after lunch. *The two ladies kept on shunning from the sun while we were opposite Ala-Too Square lol.*

One could see The State History Museum and Manas Statue there. Saw that pedestrian crossing? I observed that cars actually do stop for people to cross! Then, we walked into Panfilov Park, and saw the monument below that signifies the friendship between Kyrgyzstan and Russia.

Yes we took a mandatory tourist shot here too! The sun was getting hotter by the day, and hence we walked over to Oak Park in hope of getting some shade. There is a statue of a botanist at the entrance too.

Saw a table tennis table in the park, as well as a cute baby Husky playing with his owner. I booked for a cab ride to Osh Bazaar in the afternoon, and he managed to find us at the right side of the road after a while. It was a quick 10-15 minutes' ride before we alighted at the busy and packed Osh Bazaar.

The place is famous for local food and groceries. We window-shopped around the area and bought drinks (peach tea for me) to quench our thirst in the heat (34 degrees Celcius). YJ bought peach as they looked bright and fresh. We also came across an area where they sell all sorts of cheese, and also fruits. *Their watermelons and winter melons are huge!*

We also crossed the road and walked into a rather run-down jewellery and electrical appliance mall. Nothing much for us there.

Big problem arised after I booked the taxi at the busy Osh Bazaar. The driver actually called me and mumbled in Kyrgyz or Russian which I have no idea what he's talking about at all. We walked outside to a random corner where there was a street vendor and another guy standing beside. I signalled for help from him to help reply my driver, hoping he could help tell him where we were at. The conversation ding dong-ed between the two, and this guy looked at me, confused, and no one around seemed to be able to speak English either. I'm sure I thought to myself "完蛋了" at some point of time, but I tried my best to比手画脚to him. I think another issue was that the driver found it hard to drive in to where we were, and he wanted us to go to another point to meet him, which I totally couldn't get him. *Don't know how but soon I realise the guy who helped me on the phone was a taxi driver himself LOL~ he must be frustrated at us for not taking his cab yet want him to help another driver...* Anyway, we finally saw our cab driver and he, of course, took the time to "teach us some lesson in Kyrgyz" on the way to Bishkek Park shopping mall. *Not that we understood though lol.* We went to a supermarket and bought some sweets we want to give to the kids in the mountains.

Headed over to TUMAR Art Salon next to the mall, which sold Bishkek handicrafts and specialities like honey, Shirdak and tea sets. They were catered for tourists, hence the higher prices, and I didn't buy anything there in the end. Randomly hopped into Adriano Coffee for dinner later on. We spent more than three hours there... I reckon the longest I'd ever stayed inside a café.

I ordered Rose Hip tea and trout with potatoes (1665 som) for dinner. The trout was so-so, but the potatoes, tomatoes and cucumbers were delicious! We had a great conversation in the café, and Jess and YJ bonded quite a bit there too imo. We only have each other to depend on in a foreign land, so a certain level of understanding and cooperation amongst travel mates are essential on a trip. The pretty waitress helped talked us to book a cab back to our hotel at night, and that sort of concluded our short less than two-days' trip in Bishkek Capital. For me, the inability to communicate was the biggest barrier, so I reckon having a physical guide is still the best way to explore the city, but those words and phrases I learnt in Kyrgyz online and from Kurmanjan was still helpful to some extent:

Hello - salaam
How are you - Kon dai sen
I'm good, thank you - jak shil, raak maat ("raak" pronounced with a "hurrr" sound, the kind you make when you want to spit)
Thank you very much - chong raak maat
Delicious - dam duu
What's your name - senin ating gim
My name is Sharon. - menin atim Sharon
Goodbye (the one leaving) - jak shil kal
Goodbye (the host) - jak shil barl
Yes - ova
No - jok
Excuse me - soranam
Good Morning - gut maan duu taang
pretty - sol luu
I - mien
You - sien