Jet lag started the morning early. We had breakfast at our hotel, a very russian breakfast of juice, blinchikis (kind of like a crepe), sausage and eggs. We then made our way to Dordoi, the largest bazaar in central asia.
The bazaar was the definition of Kyrgyzstan's diversity. My hostess, fluent in several local languages, was able to point out through language, dress and accent, where people were from: Uzbek, Chechen, Kyrgyz, Russian, Kazakh and so forth.
The bazaar had everything. Our favorite parts were the shops that sold traditional clothing and modern Kyrgyz fashion. Both of which are extremely popular.
We found a wonderful hat shop also selling traditional Kyrgyz ladies' scarves, a necessity for some of our site seeing, such as visiting the inside of local mosques.
Aijaan (my hostess), pushed me away from the variety of bazaar snacks. Normally I'd object, but her reasoning was valid: "They don't make it well here. You have to eat this in Issyk Kul." Except when we hit the Samsa. Samsa are one of her favorite snacks, and I understand why! It's a triangular puff pastry filled with ground meat and onion. She got chicken, I got beef. Really good! We also bought some fresh cherries.
After last night's extremely rich dinner (horse meat, anyone?), we opted for a much lighter lunch, then got in the taxi for Issyk Kul. Our driver was an older man, originally from Issyk Kul, who made the ride a blast by pointing out everything on the road, trading jokes and puzzles and talking to us about Kyrgyz culture and history. His wife ended up in the taxi, and a few hours later, his son and daughter in law, so before long this was a family trip to Issyk Kul. His wife brought sour apples, fresh apricots and home made bread, all of which were delicious.
The ride to Issyk Kul took around three and a half hours, but since we left pretty late, we only arrived nearing 8 PM. Aijaan and I headed off to find dinner and I heard a rustling. I looked down to see something, roughly pica sized, running around. She said "It's a hedgehog". Holy moly, Kyrgyzstan has wild hedgehogs.
In the restaurant, one ran across the restaurant and took a nap behind the counter. Apparently, he's a regular. I shall take photos of the next one I find.
Not much else to report! Shall write more tomorrow.
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| Dordoi Bazaar |
The bazaar was the definition of Kyrgyzstan's diversity. My hostess, fluent in several local languages, was able to point out through language, dress and accent, where people were from: Uzbek, Chechen, Kyrgyz, Russian, Kazakh and so forth.
The bazaar had everything. Our favorite parts were the shops that sold traditional clothing and modern Kyrgyz fashion. Both of which are extremely popular.
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| Kalpak, one of the traditional styles of men's hat |
Aijaan (my hostess), pushed me away from the variety of bazaar snacks. Normally I'd object, but her reasoning was valid: "They don't make it well here. You have to eat this in Issyk Kul." Except when we hit the Samsa. Samsa are one of her favorite snacks, and I understand why! It's a triangular puff pastry filled with ground meat and onion. She got chicken, I got beef. Really good! We also bought some fresh cherries.
After last night's extremely rich dinner (horse meat, anyone?), we opted for a much lighter lunch, then got in the taxi for Issyk Kul. Our driver was an older man, originally from Issyk Kul, who made the ride a blast by pointing out everything on the road, trading jokes and puzzles and talking to us about Kyrgyz culture and history. His wife ended up in the taxi, and a few hours later, his son and daughter in law, so before long this was a family trip to Issyk Kul. His wife brought sour apples, fresh apricots and home made bread, all of which were delicious.
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| Road to Issyk Kul |
In the restaurant, one ran across the restaurant and took a nap behind the counter. Apparently, he's a regular. I shall take photos of the next one I find.
Not much else to report! Shall write more tomorrow.
Thanks for your interesting post! I love the part about the whole family joining you for the long taxi ride.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly made the ride more interesting! Sadly, I only speak a few words of Kyrgyz.
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