Woke up to a clear sky. Had a superb breakfast laid out for us. We ate to our heart's content after which we had to visit the our clearing agent's office for the bikes.
The lady who owned the guest house we were living at spoke to the officer we were supposed to visit and arranged for her husband's car to drop us there. The gentleman didn't know a single word of English. With our SIM cards finally activated we started using the Google translator on our phones.
It had been raining since breakfast so we later set out to buy an umbrella or a 'zontik' as it is called here. What happened in the next few hours was pretty unexpected. We visited many stores, walking around looking for a zontik (umbrella) but discovered that it wasn't easily available although almost everyone on the road was carrying one.
In the middle of our mini treasure hunt we received a call from our clearing agent who wanted us in her office in 10 minutes. Luckily we were around her place and could make it there in time to sign some crucial documents to procure our bikes. She offered us some coffee which was more than welcome in the rainy weather.
Off again to find a zontik, we visited more than 4 malls, walked for about an hour and a half, asked the locals but still couldn't find out. In the meanwhile we ended up visiting a monument but had no idea what it was, or what it stood for. The only person who stopped to talk to us was a youngster, who spoke promising English but could not even convey the name of the monument to us. Finally we found out that it was called 'Victory Land'.
Language shall be a big barrier all through the trip until we reach UK.
Finally, however, we did end up finding zontiks at a road side market and bought three for 450 som.
What really appalled me ever since I came to Kyrgystan was the Som: Rupee value. Can someone please explain why the value of the Som is higher than that of the Indian Rupee? When we got there 1 Krygystani Som was equal to 1.2 Indian rupee. As far as I could see and find out, there are no industries here whatsoever, masses are poor and the standard of living is low. Parity between rich and poor is also very wide.
Now for some societal and cultural differences that I noticed on my short time here.
Almost everyone in a car stops and waits for a pedestrian to cross the road. A welcome change after the mind numbing traffic in India.
The food is tasty much like the food we get in India only less spicy and low in salt content. Vegetarian food is almost impossible to get. No chapatti, very little rice. However, the problem of figuring out what is listed on the menu is the most difficult part.
The younger generation speaks English in bits and pieces.
Today for lunch -- we visited Buhara a specialty restaurant that serves Uzbekistani dishes in Kyrgyzstan. One young boy in the restaurant could speak some English. But placing an order with him was also very difficult. This time we managed to convey what we wanted but went wrong with the quantity.
We ordered Lamb Sashlik and Chicken Tandoori. The food was delicious but heavy and so was the glass of their local draft beer.
Wifi is available everywhere which is a big boon. I had planned to rely on using the wifi connection whenever available to communicate with family back home and write these blogposts.
I do hope that wifi will be available down the line too.
The highlight of my day was the sight of more than 20 limousines parked at one place. I took some photos and couldn't help posing in front of the Hummer Limousine. :P It seemed like all the limos belonged to a single service provider. Pleasant surprise indeed.
After the heavy lunch we decided to walk back to the guest house which was about 3.6 kilometers away. We noticed state run buses, the only buses allowed to run, which did so on electric cables. This kept the speed of the buses in check and kept them confined to one side of the road only, hence not interrupting other vehicles on the road.
Walking was perhaps easier than using public transport as again language was the problem.
Most malls look dead from outside maybe because they were all factories in the country's pre-independence era, much like the mills in Mumbai converted into pubs. The busiest malls were the one that had electronic gadgets in them.
The shocking thing to note was we saw only one motorbike which passed us and one scooty. No one rides a bike here ?
It got very cold in the evening. We went to a near by cafe for dinner and were lucky to get some food as it was already 9 pm and all establishments close by then. By the time we were halfway through our meal we had to pay up as the owner was leaving. We were the last guest.
Back in the guest house as it was chilling. We learned that its never so cold in June here. Hopefully the weather changes and predictions are that it shall be sunny for the next three days.
Bike update:
We are extremely worried as our cargo has reached Uzbekistan but it will be a couple of days before we get our bikes. As soon as we get our bikes we shall leave for our extraordinary journey the very next day. Right now our scheduled date to leave Bishkek and go toward Osh is 20th June which seems unlikely now.
We pray for our bikes to come in ASAP.
The lady who owned the guest house we were living at spoke to the officer we were supposed to visit and arranged for her husband's car to drop us there. The gentleman didn't know a single word of English. With our SIM cards finally activated we started using the Google translator on our phones.
It had been raining since breakfast so we later set out to buy an umbrella or a 'zontik' as it is called here. What happened in the next few hours was pretty unexpected. We visited many stores, walking around looking for a zontik (umbrella) but discovered that it wasn't easily available although almost everyone on the road was carrying one.
In the middle of our mini treasure hunt we received a call from our clearing agent who wanted us in her office in 10 minutes. Luckily we were around her place and could make it there in time to sign some crucial documents to procure our bikes. She offered us some coffee which was more than welcome in the rainy weather.
Off again to find a zontik, we visited more than 4 malls, walked for about an hour and a half, asked the locals but still couldn't find out. In the meanwhile we ended up visiting a monument but had no idea what it was, or what it stood for. The only person who stopped to talk to us was a youngster, who spoke promising English but could not even convey the name of the monument to us. Finally we found out that it was called 'Victory Land'.
Language shall be a big barrier all through the trip until we reach UK.
Finally, however, we did end up finding zontiks at a road side market and bought three for 450 som.
What really appalled me ever since I came to Kyrgystan was the Som: Rupee value. Can someone please explain why the value of the Som is higher than that of the Indian Rupee? When we got there 1 Krygystani Som was equal to 1.2 Indian rupee. As far as I could see and find out, there are no industries here whatsoever, masses are poor and the standard of living is low. Parity between rich and poor is also very wide.
Now for some societal and cultural differences that I noticed on my short time here.
Almost everyone in a car stops and waits for a pedestrian to cross the road. A welcome change after the mind numbing traffic in India.
The food is tasty much like the food we get in India only less spicy and low in salt content. Vegetarian food is almost impossible to get. No chapatti, very little rice. However, the problem of figuring out what is listed on the menu is the most difficult part.
The younger generation speaks English in bits and pieces.
Today for lunch -- we visited Buhara a specialty restaurant that serves Uzbekistani dishes in Kyrgyzstan. One young boy in the restaurant could speak some English. But placing an order with him was also very difficult. This time we managed to convey what we wanted but went wrong with the quantity.
We ordered Lamb Sashlik and Chicken Tandoori. The food was delicious but heavy and so was the glass of their local draft beer.
Wifi is available everywhere which is a big boon. I had planned to rely on using the wifi connection whenever available to communicate with family back home and write these blogposts.
I do hope that wifi will be available down the line too.
The highlight of my day was the sight of more than 20 limousines parked at one place. I took some photos and couldn't help posing in front of the Hummer Limousine. :P It seemed like all the limos belonged to a single service provider. Pleasant surprise indeed.
After the heavy lunch we decided to walk back to the guest house which was about 3.6 kilometers away. We noticed state run buses, the only buses allowed to run, which did so on electric cables. This kept the speed of the buses in check and kept them confined to one side of the road only, hence not interrupting other vehicles on the road.
Walking was perhaps easier than using public transport as again language was the problem.
Most malls look dead from outside maybe because they were all factories in the country's pre-independence era, much like the mills in Mumbai converted into pubs. The busiest malls were the one that had electronic gadgets in them.
The shocking thing to note was we saw only one motorbike which passed us and one scooty. No one rides a bike here ?
It got very cold in the evening. We went to a near by cafe for dinner and were lucky to get some food as it was already 9 pm and all establishments close by then. By the time we were halfway through our meal we had to pay up as the owner was leaving. We were the last guest.
Back in the guest house as it was chilling. We learned that its never so cold in June here. Hopefully the weather changes and predictions are that it shall be sunny for the next three days.
Bike update:
We are extremely worried as our cargo has reached Uzbekistan but it will be a couple of days before we get our bikes. As soon as we get our bikes we shall leave for our extraordinary journey the very next day. Right now our scheduled date to leave Bishkek and go toward Osh is 20th June which seems unlikely now.
We pray for our bikes to come in ASAP.
great man keep it up
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