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Background: A Central Asian country of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions, Kyrgyzstan was annexed by Russia in 1864; it achieved independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Nation-wide demonstrations in the spring of 2005 resulted in the ouster of President Askar AKAYEV, who had run the country since 1990. Subsequent presidential elections in July of 2005 were won overwhelmingly by former prime minister Kurmanbek BAKIYEV. Current concerns include: privatization of state-owned enterprises, expansion of democracy and political freedoms, interethnic relations, and combating terrorism.

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By calpreece
September 14th 2009

Day 12, Back in Bishkek Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol » Cholpan-Ata

Final day at the lake

Day 12, July 6, 2009, Monday, Duishombu: We are back in Bishkek. I awoke this morning the first time at 5 am, but knew that trying to stay awake would be impossible, so I went back to the bed and slept again until about 8:30 am. Bishkek is warm and sultry this morning, but there is something nice about being back to the familiar. A good shower, consistent hot water, food on demand, and even when you don't want it. Coffee for me and permission to make it myself. We did finally made it to beach sometime after noon yesterday. I [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 13th 2009

Day 11, A Much Better Day Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

Entrance to Park

Day 11, July 5, 2009, Sunday, Jekshembi: Well, yesterday's poor weather resulted in some new information and a fun day after all. I am always reminded of the quotation in Pooh's Birthday Book for July 2nd birthdays which is “Suddenly, Piglet realized that it was a much better day than he had thought it was.” My friend Joe Weaver had one and he maintained it religiously, always sending some homemade art project to you for your birthday. At any rate it was that kind of day. The weather was cold and windy and the beach was out of the question. So, [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 13th 2009

Day 10, What Day Is It? Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

Gulsara

Day 10, July 4, 2009, Saturday, Ishembi: If it were not for this travel diary and my Mac, I would not really know what day it is. I am not even sure how many days I have been in Kyrgyzstan at this point, except that it appears to be day ten according to the diary. One loses all track of time except for sunrise and sunset in places like Lake Issy-Kul. And that, of course, is the point. Gulnara, Emil's mother, Timurlan's aunt, and my friend, arrived sometime late last night and is sleeping in one of the rooms. Timka waited [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 12th 2009

5th Day, At Lake Issy-kul Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

Lake Issy-Kul

Day 5, Monday, Duishombu, June 29, 2009: What an excellent day yesterday turned out to be. I finally made enough noise to get Timka out of bed and thinking about going to the beach around 10 a.m. No one seems to be ready to head to the beach in this country until nearly noon or later. I see very few people heading down to the water on the roadway that leads to the beach before 10 am and it seems yesterday that most went to the area that serves the motel around 1 p.m. The beach was not very crowded on [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 12th 2009

6th Day-At Cholpan-Ata, Lake Issy-Kul Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

My friend Timurlan

Day 6, June 30, 2009, Tuesday, Sheishembi: Did I mention the rain? Yesterday was a washout, no trip to the beach. The clouds darkened and gathered over the mountain tops and then brought the rain and cold down with them. It was snowing at the higher elevations and there is new snow on the mountain tops that we can see from our motel and our vantage points. I have tried to look-up just how high these mountains and the lake are, but I don't have that information stored in my computer. I put the pdf version of one guide and some [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 12th 2009

7th Day, Still at the Lake Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

The lake

Day 7, July 1, 2009, Wednesday, Sharshembi: Today is the last day that I can tell people I am Altimish-Alti, since tomorrow is my birthday and I will have to begin saying that I am Altimish-Jeti. Sixty-seven, and I am celebrating my birthday for a second time in Kyrgyzstan and this time I am at the 2nd largest alpine lake in the world, and probably the 4th or 5th highest in altitude. I think we are at about 5-thousand feet or so. What an experience for me. Timka and I made it to the beach yesterday around 11 am after a [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 12th 2009

Day 8, More days at the lake Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

Borzoi

Day 8, July 2, 2009, Thursday, Beishembi Surprise, surprise, we are still in Cholpan-Ata at the Cafe Chebek and the motel with the empty swimming pool. Our plans to return to Bishkek were changed around noon. Emil called from America to tell me that we were not going back to the city until Friday. When we had first worked on a bit of a schedule for me during this month without him we had discussed staying at the lake for about a week. Apparently when he found out that his mother had only scheduled 4 days, he changed everybody's plans. Timurlan [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 12th 2009

Day 9, Trouble in Paradise Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

The Cafe Chebek

Day 9, July 3, 2009, Friday, Juma: Yesterday's excursion was less than fully successful. And the problem was the 15 year old being a teenager all morning. First he did not want to go to town, even though I tried to explain that there were things I wanted to do there. I needed to use the internet and I know that after 8 days of not having access that I would have an hour's worth of work on the net, along with some emails that would require a response or at the very least would need to be read. But Timka [View Full Entry]

By calpreece
September 11th 2009

Day 4, Kyrgystan travel to Lake Issy-Kul Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

New Mosque

Day 4, June 27, 2009, Saturday, Ishembi: Another early morning for me, awaking at a little before 5 am. I forced myself back to sleep and managed to make it to 6 a.m. I am just constitutionally become an old man and waking at the same time each morning. Also, in strange beds, I seem to always wake up and not be able to go back to sleep right away. But, it gives me time to think and read, and usually write some. This morning though, I discovered that Timka had taken the computer to his room upstairs and I did [View Full Entry]

By trabella
August 7th 2008

Lakes of the Sky Asia » Kyrgyzstan » Yssyk Kol

Sultanet

As we set off on our next adventure to Son-Kul Lake , I began to see why Kyrgyzstan has been dubbed the Switzerland of Central Asia. We drove through lush alpine mountains on hairpin roads all the way up to a pass at 3500m. By the time we reached that point, it felt like we were really disappearing into the sky and the 360 degree views were incredible. Situated at 3016m, Son-Kul Lake is frozen between November to May and in summer, the temperature of the water reaches a maximum of 16 degrees! Being one to go swimming wherever there is [View Full Entry]

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