Kyrgyzstan Stop #10

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Stop #10



July 25^th 2012



Gumbez of Baytik XIX century A.D.



It was a hot afternoon after a long day of running around in Bishkek trying to sort out our documents for the wedding, when Jyldyz and I decided to try and locate Baytik’s Tomb. Even though Jyldyz was born and raised in this immediate area she was unaware of his tomb, even though she knew of Baytik, who was the Khan of this area in the 19^th century.



After driving through various small villages and making numerous stops asking for its location we finally found it in the local cemetery. This was my first time in an Islamic cemetery so this would prove to be an interesting experience in itself. Once we arrived at the cemetery there was no question of which was Baytik’s Tomb because of its size and location compared with the rest, even thought it was unmarked. There was a small iron door that allowed entry into the monument that was unlocked and I immediately entered much to the dismay of a local couple sitting next to it. I was informed that I had a host of bad luck coming my way because I entered into his tomb. I came back out after taking a photo of the interior as I didn’t want to worry them further as there was a sincere look of dismay and even a touch of horror on their faces. After that the older gentlemen proceeded to give me an interesting lesson on the history of Baytik and his contribution to the local society during his time.



Following this there was a 30 minute rain shower that fell followed by a beautiful rainbow arched across the mountains and the smell of ripe grain wafting through the still evening air. For a while we simply sat in the car taking in all the beauty surrounding us, watching the local shepherds rounding up their sheep in the hills and a local farmer herding his cattle home to be milked.



As the sun was disappearing behind the towering mountains we stopped at a small local café in Voronsovka. Jyldyz was hesitant to stop there referring to them as wild people. But after some convincing I got her to agree and we ordered an order of brizol and baranina na jarovne. The waiter apparently misunderstood or else or took this as an opportunity to make extra money, but brought out two orders of each. Rather than arguing we managed to eat three and took the last one with us on the go. We finally arrived back in Archa-Beshik at about 10 PM. A relaxing and enjoyable way to spend an evening.

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