Hope in Bishkek, Part II

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As clearly I’ve had to take it upon myself to serve as the US-Kyrgyzstan Tourism Director / Diplomacy Chief (Colin Powell rudely ignoring my suggestion that he do some high-profile PR for our Central Asian ally), and as it’s a beautiful spring day here in the North East, I thought I’d share these awesome photos of the sights in and around Bishkek, my partner’s hometown.

16 thoughts on “Hope in Bishkek, Part II”

  1. Beautiful. But I must admit I was distracted by the ad for “hity radio v MP3 formate” — seems like you don’t have to actually know any Russian words in order to read Russian internet ads.
    So does your partner speak Kyrgyz or Russian or both?

  2. So does your partner speak Kyrgyz or Russian or both?
    Both and then some. He’s quite the polyglot. Although his Kyrgyz is getting weaker the less he uses it he says (I’ll have to take his word for that. Qumis,* being the only Kyrgyz word I know, and I’m not even sure of the spelling).
    *It’s the Kyrgyz national drink, fermented horse milk. Er, uh….Yum?

  3. The words were really hard to read, Edward, so I treated the site like a Playboy mag and just looks at the pictures.

  8. Qumys is great. I love it. I wish I could get it here. My only advice is not to drink it at 14,000 feet…
    have you been in kyrgyzstan? where did you have kumiz (that is the right spelling, guys)
    i would love to find here in new york, but the best test is have kumiz in mountains in kyrgyzstan, it’s fresh and after couple of drinks you might get drunk….

  9. Altitude tends to amplify the effects of alcohol, Edward. It’s something you notice even at 5000 ft.
    Ahhhh. Thought perhaps it curdled or something (the idea of it, other than culturally, is hard to appreciate); but never let it be said I wouldn’t try it at least. Nathan, there’s no way to get it in the US?

  11. Uh, I think I’ll take Murat’s word for it that outside the Kyrgyz mountains it’s not the same anyway. Milking a horse is not on the list of things I really feel a strong need to do before I die.

  13. I’ve had to take it upon myself to serve as the US-Kyrgyzstan Tourism Director / Diplomacy Chief
    They should hire you!
    and i think you are right, they should hire him…

  15. Well, I think he should have to show he can milk a horse, first. 🙂
    Hang on here. I’ll leave the East Coast elitist-turned-rugged-outdoorsman nonsense to Bush, if y’all don’t mind.

  16. Well, I think he should have to show he can milk a horse, first. 🙂
    It’s only a matter of time before this degenerates into bull-milking jokes. So what are we waiting for?

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