Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Many thanks to all of you who have sent comments. We enjoy reading them and hope you will be understanding that we are not able to reply to each one separately. We encourage all of you to comment and ask questions. I will try to answer them via post. Also, I will appreciate any answers you can give to the questions I have raised, especially in the last couple of posts.
On the way to the Dushanbe airport, I realized that I have been misspelling the word and calling it Dushambe. Please note the correction. I will try to be more diligent. For some reason, I have been exceptionally tired most of the time we have been in Tajikistan.
When we arrived at the airport, the owner of the Tajik agency providing our services was there to say good bye and presented me with a scarf–purple–how did she know? This was our second meeting with her as she had greeted us, when we arrived at the Hyatt, to apologize for the lack of Air conditioning in our first car. We appreciated her concern and the speedy arrival of a different car with working AC. I think she also had something to do with the fact that an airport official was given our ticket documents and proceeded to march us to the head of each line and directly through airline check-in, customs and passport control to the waiting lounge without any baggage checking. Mark surprised him with a nice tip for the service.
Our afternoon flight to Bishkek provided us with exceptional views of the Fergana Valley and the Pamir and Tian Shan Mountain Ranges. The 200 mile long Valley is the most fertile and salt free land in Uzbekistan and home to 40% of Uzbeks. The area is south and east of Tashkent. We passed by the road to the valley on our way over the mountains to Dushanbe. The southern third of the valley lies in Kyrgyzstan. From the air we could see that the Kyrgyz take advantage of every inch of their arable land until the Pamirs deny fertility.
Known as the “Roof of the World”, the Pamir range is one of the most remote regions of Asia. Perched at the high crossroads of China’s Xinjiang province, Afghanistan’s Wakhan Corridor and Pakistan’s Chitral region, the multitude of spectacular peaks rise from 11,500 to well over 20,000 feet. We could see deep arid valleys with large muddy rivers and many glaciers. From the comfort of our plane, I could only wonder at the daring and courage of the likes of Marco Polo, who is said to have passed through these mountains in the 13th century and the 19th century British and Russian explorers who were determined to survey the many passes and routes through the mountains in their countries seesaw struggle to gain control of Central Asia. Just before we began our descent into Bishkek we could make out the even higher Tian Shan range, where we will be in a few days.
On the ground we taki’d by a number of US military planes–C5As and refueling tankers–and wondered about their presence here. Our flight arrived in Bishkek an hour+ earlier than planned and our guide was not waiting. Fortunately we had been provided with contact information in just such a situation. Olga, our Kyrgyz guide, admitted no one was enroute to pick us up and told us to take a taxi. The city is a good distance from the airport so we enjoyed the fertile valley scenery as we drove along. Olga was at the hotel to pay the taxi and greet us. We agreed to meet in two days to start our tour with her. Meanwhile we were on our own in another Hyatt Regency for the rest of today and all of tomorrow. I could not get to the room and change into my swim suit fast enough. All I wanted to do was be by the pool, read a book and not think about travel or the blog. Later, we ate a very nice western meal at the hotel and went to bed early. TOMORROW IS A FREE DAY !!!!!
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Can’t help myself. As I sit here by the pool, I keep thinking of the things i want to tell you.
Here are a few more details about cars, which Mark is helping me to get correctly. In Turkmenistan, we saw lots of used cars from the US–especially Toyota Camrys, many with dealer decals indicating a number of different states. However, there were not many cars in the whole country as the population is low, there are not many roads and there is good bus service in the one large city of Ashgabat. In Uzbekistan we saw almost exclusively GM Chevrolet’s and Daiwoo’s as they are manufactured locally. There, approximately 80% of families have a car. In Tajikistan there were more Korean, Russian, Japanese and some GM Opels. Only 60% of families have a car there. Here in Kyrgyzstan, we have, in less than a day, noticed many old German BMW’s, MBs and Audis. There are also some Lexus, Hondas and Toyotas.
Kyrgyzstan is slightly smaller than South Dakota and has a population of 5.5 million, with 1 million living in the capital, Bishkek. The country was annexed to Russia in 1876. In 1916, the people revolted against the Tsar, but were severely defeated with 1/6th of the population dying during the revolt. The country joined the Soviet Union in 1936 and finally gained independence in 1991. 75% of the population is Muslim and 20% is Russian Orthodox. 30% of the population is under 14 and 25 is the average age. Amazingly, 95% of the country is at an elevation of 1000 feet or higher. Bishkek is not an ancient city. It was a fort guarding the trade routes at the fringe of the Kokand Khanate (territory) and, after annexation in 1876, became a Russian garrison town.
THis morning, while walking around the center of town, which in my opinion is not very attractive compared to other capital cities like Ashgabat and Dushanbe, we could not help noticing how western every one is dressed. No traditional clothes at all and very few scarves worn in the religious muslim style. Many women are in jeans, above the knee skirts and short sleeve blouses or t-shirts. This is clearly a secular country. We blend in completely and are barely noticed. Our hotel has more Americans than we have seen elsewhere, including US military personnel. I met one in the elevator and asked about the planes at the airport and his purpose here. The planes, he said, belong to a small US base at the airport what assists our efforts in Afghanistan. He is part of a team of people who are here for a short time to train the US base personnel in earthquake preparedness.
Learning about each country’s currency and exchange rates, both official and black market, has been challenging as we just get the hang of one, and then move to another country. I thought you might like a bit of explanation on the matter. In Turkmenistan the currency is the “manat” where 2.85 equaled $1. In Uzbekistan, Mark carried around stacks of “sum” at the black market rate of 2500 to $1. The currency used in Tajikistan is called the “somoni” and the rate there is 4.8 to $1. There was no credit available in any of these countries and we went through cash at a great rate. In Kyrgyzstan we are using a currency called “som” that is worth 48.18 to $1. We are finally able to use an ATM here in Bishkek.
I am out of thoughts. Bye for now. Am going swimming.
Adventures with Julia 