The end of the Pamir Highway brought me back to Osh, the second-largest city in Kyrgyzstan (see previous post). Now I had no plan. I had failed to get a visa for Uzbekistan back in Dushanbe, and I’d already been to the major cities in Kyrgyzstan. But it seemed that all my options led to Bishkek, so after a few days of rest, I jumped on an Air Manas flight back to the capital. This domestic route was really cheap – around $40 one-way.
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| Dried fruits and nuts for sale at the market in Osh. |
I’d already spent plenty of time in Bishkek previously while waiting for my Tajik and Afghan visas. I wrote a post about that too. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to going back, but I’m glad I did. I got to know the city much better this time. I even have a favorite restaurant now – Chicken Star.
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| I wonder if this restaurant will have a new name soon… |
I decided to apply for an Uzbek visa anyway. It would take me a week to get an invitation letter, and then just a day for the actual visa. I applied to an agency for the letter and wondered what to do with my week in Bishkek. Three other travelers at my hostel were going down to a nomad festival a few hours’ drive away, so I decided to join them. It was one of the highlights of Kyrgyzstan.
We watched three traditional games.The first and most exciting is called ukak tarnish in Kyrgyzstan and buzkashi or kolpar in other Central Asian countries. There are slight variations across borders, but the object of the game is drag a decapitated goat carcass to the opposite end of the field.
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| A player reaches down from his saddle to grab the goat. The earthen ring in the background is the goal. |
The second game was a form of mounted wrestling. The object is simple – pull your opponent off his horse without being pulled off yours. The horse adds an additional element of strategy to the game – once you have a hold on your opponent, you can use your horse’s strength to pull him off.
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| Two wrestlers each try to drag his opponent off his horse |
The final game was kyz kuumai (pronounced kooz-koomai), which is played by a man and a woman on horseback. In the first round of the game, the man chases the woman at a full gallop. If he catches up, he can win by stealing a kiss. In the second round of the game, the woman chases the man and wins by giving him a few lashes with her whip!
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| A Kyrgyz woman in traditional dress wins a game of kyz kuumai by striking her male opponent with a whip |
Afterwards, tourists had the chance to participate in any of the games. A wrestling match ended with one tourist being dragged off his horse in a headlock. On a whim, I agreed to race another tourist across the steppe. Definitely one of the highlights of the whole trip and a huge adrenaline rush.
After the games, we were able to observe village life in this region of Kyrgyzstan.
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| A boy riding his donkey in Kyzyl-Oi |
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| A man and woman fill their water jugs at a well |
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| A family using a donkey and cart to transport lumber |
After the games I quickly returned to Bishkek, where I accidentally attended the grand opening of the first Baskin-Robbins franchise in Kyrgyzstan. The next day, my visa for Uzbekistan was ready. I boarded a late-night bus that took me across the border to the city of Shymkent in Kazakhstan, the jumping-off point for the Uzbek capital of Tashkent.
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| The grand opening of the first Baskin-Robbins in Kyrgyzstan |
