Bishkek, Kyrgystan

Tuesday was a blurr of travel. First a bus ride to the border. It was very hot when we arrived, and we had to schlep our bags over uneven terrain to officially exit Uzbekistan and get our passports stamped. More rough terrain in no man's land to get stamped into Kyrgyzstan. Two smaller coaster buses met us on the other side, and drove us to Osh for lunch. 

Perhaps this is the only camel caravan we'll see. 

I was surprised that Osh is another big modern city, with a mostly middle class population. 

I seemed strange that in Uzbekistan, stop signs were in English. Here they also say STOP, but in the Cyrillic alphabet.

After lunch we drove to the airport, to fly to Bishkek. The view out the window was fabulous. Check out these mountain ridges. In spots I could even make out trails in the snow.

Now we're in Bishkek, another big modern city. I've had enough cities. This is a statue of Lenin. Here, as in Uzbekistan, they have mixed feelings about the Soviet period, also more positive than negative. It is remembered fondly as a time of plenty.

We saw these little girls picking bouquets of dandelions in the park. It reminded me of the many dandelion bouquets I received as a primary school teacher.

I lagged behind the group to sing a couple of simple English songs to the kids, but I soon got hustled to join our group. I've decided that I am definitely not a group tour kind of a person. I think I might have already said that. 

These kids were posing for a class photo. Those are traditional Kyrgyz felted wool hats the boys are wearing. 

Men playing backgammon, a popular game here.

A felted and embroidered wallhanging from the Soviet period. 

Lots of construction everywhere in Bishkek. 

I thought these were statues, but they are young soldiers on guard. 

We watched the changing of the guard. It was quite impressive seeing these soldiers goose stepping a whole city block.

The town is celebrating 100 years of police service. 

There are lots of statues. This one is supposed to depict pushing away the dark past to make way for the bright future. 

A random sample of people in Bishkek. I'm still surprised that everyone seems modern and middle class. 

Fabulous wool, ready for felting, at the market today. 

And this morning we are off to Naryn, to visit a women's felting coop.