traveling day four - in which we have an eating tour of Bishkek

Today started with snow falling from the sky.  Lovely fluffy flakes that looked beautiful when sitting inside drinking hot tea. 

We had long discussions with our host about the therapy  conference we will be presenting at in the next week.  Strategic talking  and planning and deciding.  Then we decided to go for lunch.  We originally thought we may go and look at the Bishkek museum today - but museum schmuseum.  Let's do an eating tour of Bishkek.

We walked again through the beautiful parks with snowing falling and small boys shrieking and running around us like red slipping down satellites.  We found the largest statue of Lenin, statues of Marx and Engels having a conversation (these guys were responsible for the Communist Manifesto in 1848 containing theories about the nature of society and politics - thanks Wikipedia), statues of lions, and an amusement park.  I remembered going to the amusement park last time I was here 13 years ago.  The ferris wheel was terrifying, not for the height but for the construction.

Bishkek has changed a lot since I was here last.  There don't seem to be any more little tables on the corner of the streets selling random things like Mars Bars, single cigarettes and spanners.  There is a distinctive lack of gold teeth in the locals - gold teeth have gone out of fashion.  The little fruit and vegetable markets at the end of the street are gone.  There are a lot more modern shops and the streets are clean.  However, there are still a few baboushka traps (random holes in the footpath)., and mashoutkas still drive around packed with people.

I remember when I first arrived in 1999 and I caught a mashoutka in the first week,  These little vans drive a set route around the city and you can get on and off anywhere.  To get off you say some special Russian words, which I forgot on one of my first trips as I sped past where I was supposed to get off.  So I thought, no worries, I will sit on this little van until it gets back to my house.  I didn't know it would take a three hour trip into the mountains outside Bishkek.  The driver kept looking at me and talking to me, but I didn't understand.  So I just sat there, hoping I would get back within walking distance of our apartment.  I eventually came back into town, and the driver recognised where I had got in, and he shooed me off his mashoutka.  I paid him some more money out of sheer relief.  But they are my favourite form of transport in the city.  And the words to get off (which I have never forgotten again) are ostanevetya ostanovnka (loose guess at writing it down!). I could have also said 'stop'.

We stopped at two cafes and ate our fill in the warm to break up our walk around the town.  The food was excellent, and at the second café I ordered a hot chocolate.  It was hot melted chocolate.  Delicious, but I could feel my hips expanding.  My ski pants might be in jeopardy again.

We caught a trolley bus home, which are like trams without rails running along the middle.  They seemed to be very empty (my remembrances are of trolley buses packed with people standing room only and not even needing to hold on you were so squished).  Once on a trolley bus somebody took one of my gloves, but I didn't know the word for glove, so I was yelling out 'where's my hand'.  I didn't get it back.  Another time on a trolley bus it stopped and it wouldn't start again, so all the young men on the bus including Chris had to get out and push the bus to jumpstart it then run beside it and leap back on.

I had also forgotten how good Krygyz jam, honey and boiled lollies are.  The blackcurrant jam is amazing, and I am doing my best to eat as much as I can on toast.

Tomorrow we go on a long car ride (7 hours) to Karakol to get ready to start the therapy conference.  I have bought lollies for the trip.

Onwards.