Friday, May 17, 2013
Today’s big adventure was a two hour hike in the Ala Arche (Colorful Juniper) National Park. As we drove to the park Olga answered a number of questions. She thinks the city is so westernized because it is a melting pot of people from all over Russia who were dispersed to these lightly populated regions after the revolution. People with money or education were not allowed to stay in their original homes. Her family is a case in point. Her great great grandmother was the daughter of a wealthy family in Ukraine. One day in 1916, she, her parents and 2 sisters were forced along with many others to leave with just the clothes they were wearing. They were relocated to a tiny village in Kazakstan and assigned a single room in a barracks. Also, the country is 65% Muslim, but “only half attend mosque and most of them drink, eat pork and swear”. And, there is a large presence of Russian and US troops in the area that add to the diversity.
That led directly into our question about politics and the US presence in Kyrgyzstan. Turns out they are intertwined. The first Kyrgyz president was appointed in 1991. He was a scientist at a university so everyone thought he would be a good president. He was for several years, but in time he began to appoint family members to government positions. By 2005 people did not want him any more and revolted. Rather than fight, he abdicated and went to Moscow to teach science in another university. It was called the Tulip Revolution.
The second president, Kermanbek Bakiyev, was also appointed, but he was bad from the start, supported by the US who were permitted an airbase near Bishkek, he appointed family and cronies to high positions and stole 3 billion dollars from the national treasury. Olga referred to him several times, without apology, as a “bastard president”. In 2009 he evicted the US base in exchange for a 2 billion dollar loan from Putin. That money was to be used to build roads, power plants and other infrastructure that never got built. Then he renegotiated the lease with the US to allow them to have a “transit station”. Later he told Putin that he had not granted the US a base, only a transit station, which Putin had not specifically disallowed. He did not return the money to Putin, who was furious. The Russian media, which was influential in Kyrgyzstan, ran an anti-Bakiyev campaign that led to protests, bloody riots and an eventual coup in May 2010. Bakiyev escaped to Ukraine, which gave him asylum. The power vacuum was seized upon by the mafia and drug lords to benefit themselves. Under the guise of inter-ethnic violence, which Olga said did not really exist, laborers in the south of the country were paid to kill both Uzbeks and Kyrgyz indiscriminately to destabilize the Fergana Valley region. Violence inevitably escalated. Over 200 people died, 300,000 lost their homes and 100,000 crossed the border into Uzbekistan as refugees.
Not wanting to repeat the problems, it was decided to appoint someone for a two year term only, while a constitution was written and an election was held. Of the 13 candidates, only the one female candidate would take the short term job. Her name was Rose. According to Olga, she turned the country, which was on the brink of civil war, around. She did what men don’t do. She asked the international community including the UN, the US and the Russians for help to resolve the problem in the Fergana Valley. The fighting there had become so fierce that many homes were burned to the ground and people were killing each other for no good reason. As result of Rose’s negotiating skills, the US sent building materials, tents, food and supplies. The Russians sent in soldiers to clear away the destruction and build houses. Mediators were brought in to help both sides resolve their issues and within 2 months the problem was resolved. She helped draft a new constitution and left when her term was up as she said she would. The people loved her. Meanwhile, Olga does not know how large the US transit station is, but she knows there are 2000 Kyrgyz working at the base…… er, station. It and the Russian base are only 60 kilometers apart.
The fourth president is the first elected one since independence. His name is Almazbek Atambaev and he has been in office about a year. The people are hopeful that he will be good, but it is too soon to tell.
By now we have arrived at the park and Olga, who says a lot in a very short amount of time, making it very hard for me to take notes, switches gears and tells us that the par is the home to an international school of alpinism. The English only school, called Ratzek, trains hundreds of people from all over the world in many skills related to both winter and summer alpine activities.
Olga and Misha, our driver, suggested a hike to a waterfall about 3.5 kilometers distant. We knew it would be uphill, but we were a kilometer into the hike when we realized the vertical gain would be over 1000 feet nearly straight up. It was slow going but the alpine scenery was gorgeous, the wild flowers in full bloom, the air clean and comfortable with gathering scattered clouds. Mark had his altimeter, so we know that we started the hike at 7100 feet and at 8300 feet he said he had had enough and we turned around. We did not make it to the falls, but we could see them in the distance and could see the trail. To us there was not enough pay off to continue. We hung out in an alpine meadow for awhile taking photos and then hiked back down the mountain to lunch at the trailhead guesthouse. Just as we left the guesthouse, the sky began to rain. Good timing. About half way back to town we left the rain behind and had to stop at a huge field of red poppies. They were so beautiful, even Misha and Olga were taking photos with their phones.
Back in town, Misha drove us around the center while Olga told us what was important.
We stopped to see statues of Lenin, Marx and Engle, which have been relocated to back streets rather than city center. They are still in public view because 30% of the population is Communist. We also stopped at the Greek Orthodox church. It is rather tired and unimposing, but does sport a few onion domes. Olga said it was used as a warehouse during the Soviet era and that the other, bigger church had been taken down by the Soviets to make room for a road. The people were so upset over it, that the road had to be built around the church site and a round about was put there with many flowers. A service was in progress when we went inside. I enjoyed listening to the chanting and singing. There were no seats in the church, but the walls were covered in religious paintings and icons. The few people in attendance seemed very focused on the service and their prayers.
At 5pm we drove a short distance to Olga’s grandmother’s home. She had arranged for us to have tea with her grandmother and see the home they share. Olga’s 85 year old grandmother was quite charming and totally present. She answered all sorts of questions about her life during the Soviet years, which she enjoyed because life was simple and secure; about WWII, which was not so bad as all 6 of her brothers went to war and came home uninjured; and especially about her large family, which we met going through the thick family album. She and her second husband built the house in 1955 and she has lived there ever since. When she dies, Olga will get the house. We learned that Olga is engaged and that her husband to be will live in the house with her and her grandmother until granny dies.
It was 7:20pm when we returned to the hotel. We got a bite to eat in the club lounge and called it a long day. Tomorrow we head east along an old silk road artery toward Lake Issyk-Kul.
Adventures with Julia 