Big Concrete and Bigger Nature: Central Asia 2016

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been captivated by Central Asia.  My father runs an antique rug store in the Seattle area, and since I was a wee child I’ve been surrounded by Central Asian textiles, from Uzbek suzanis to Kyrgyz shyrdaks.  For one reason or another, I’ve yet to make it to the region from whence these textiles came, but that is about to change.  David and I are heading on our second trip of the year – to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.  And I couldn’t be more excited about it.

I long thought that Central Asia wouldn’t happen for me until I was older – its remoteness proved to be a hindrance, with only expensive and lengthy flights serving the region from my relative backwater of Seattle.  However, with Momondo flight alerts set, I stumbled upon round trip tickets to Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, for under $1,000 and with only one stop (in Frankfurt, of course), for precisely the times David and I would be able to travel.  I jumped, and bought the tickets, and decided to figure the rest out as the cards fell.

Luckily enough, this was nearly a year ago.  As I’m prone to booking as far in advance as possible (I need something to do in my downtime!), I had plenty of time to research.  We have a packed agenda while we’re in the Stans, so get ready to enjoy it with me, my loyal stable of several readers.

Almaty, Kazakhstan; September 2-5:

We’ll arrive after midnight to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s former capital, and shuttle to our guesthouse.  We’ll have spent our layover in Frankfurt with the indomitable Megan Starr, one of my favorite bloggers (and people in general), before taking an additional seven hour flight to reach Kazakhstan’s major city.  The following day, we’ll take a tour with Denis Keen, the preeminent Californian of the city, to visit the city’s major concrete attractions.  After which, we’ll hit up the local banya with a friend of Megan’s who lives in the city, and wander aimlessly for a while (from concrete edifice to concrete edifice), contemplating corporate life and why we don’t travel full time.

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; September 5-7:

We’ll be taking an early morning marshrutka from Almaty to Bishkek, crossing a border I’ve only heard mildly sketchy things about, to reach the Kyrgyz capital by early afternoon.  Our days there will be spent with another of Megan’s friends, all the while trying to avoid crooked cops in the city’s main bazaar and accumulating too many pieces of Soviet kitsch.  The definition of “too many” here being, “too many to fit in my bag to take home.”

Osh and Southern Kyrgyzstan; September 7-11:

We’ll then fly to Osh, Kyrgyzstan’s second city, and one that has a sizeable Uzbek minority.  Mark Jahnke, a PCV in the area, was kind enough to guide me through the ins and outs of the city, and give tons of great tips on where to find the best examples of socialist realism art in the city.  I’m mostly hoping that my husband has things to eat here – maybe pumpkin dumplings will be in season!

From there, we’ll head on a three day trek around Turpal Kol and Pik Lenin, one of the highest peaks in the Pamirs, straddling the Kyrgyz/Tajik border.  We’ll be at nearly 12,000 feet of altitude.  I’m a bit anxious about it, but hoping my travel doc will give me some great chemical remedies to take on the road with us. 

And there won’t be real toilets, but I don’t need to get into my baggage about that here.  If you’re curious, feel free to reach out.

September 12-13; Osh – Bishkek – Almaty – Seattle

It’s going to be a doozy of a travel day (or two) for sure.  We’re waking early after being transported back to Osh by some lovely CBT folks, flying to Bishkek, then to Almaty, then to Frankfurt, and finally Seattle.  I don’t want to talk about it.  I am too old for this shit, officially, but here I am.

I’m sure I’ll be posting pictures on my Instagram as I go, so follow along there!  I assert that it will be our most memorable trip to date, even if we won’t be visiting a million orthodox churches as we go.

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