Today I finally found where to buy fresh bread near my gueshouse in Osh. The directions I was given were classic:
Take a right after walking past the garbage cans and mini market. From there look for the Kyrgyzstan Resturaunt on your right. The sign is in Russian. In-between Kyrgyzstan Resturaunt and Kyrgyzstan Cafe there’s an alley with a toilet. Walk past the toilet and you will find a hole in the wall where the bread oven is.
Sure enough, I took a right at the first sign of a toilet and there was my fresh bread. Bananas are a touch more expensive in Osh than Bishkek (20 com/ 0.52 cents) but I found a good one this morning. I sat in front of the TV watching BBC World, CNN and World Fashion while eating my chocolate banana breakfast. Everyone working at the guesthouse is fasting for Ramadan but I’m not letting that deter me from hot bread in the morning. In fact, because I am apparently a horrible person, I secretly enjoy eating in front of fasting people.
In Osh I have only seen Diet Coke in one resturaunt, never for sale on the street. There is Diet Pepsi, and I’ve given in and bought a few. The street I’m staying on is littered with outdoor cafes where mediocre Central Asian “food” is served almost 24 hours. Because of this I’ve been lazy about going to the Western places on the other side of town. I tried to find pizza the other day but when I walked in the woman looked at me and said “niet pizza!”
Now that my new visa in firmly stuck in my passport I am spending most of my time in the guesthouse working on my web site. I’ve uploaded a few new things but have a lot more I can do. Every few hours I leave my room and turn on World Fashion to bother the guys working there. It’s a fashion channel but whenever I turn it on an underwear special is on. One of the guys called it a “sex channel” which I thought was pretty funny. They thought they got rid of all the “sex channels” on their cable. They could get HBO, E! and Cartoon Network but haven’t sprung for the extra fees. Every once in a while I scroll by just to see E! pop up… it takes very little to amuse me after this many months on the road.
2 responses to “Quest for the Bread”
Song Kol 3766 and 3768 are *amazing*! 3766 with the lone horse is my all time favorite so far.
Hmmm…didn’t see the promised eyebrow picture…even under design.
Question: how do you get the candid look when taking pictures up close? Most people always seem to smile, even a little, when having their photos taken up so close…or is everyone just naturally jaded?
Stu, there’s no way the eyebrow pictures will be appearing in my gallery, not even under “design.” They’ll be in the Pamir roadtrip post. If it helps tide you over, visualize a sad clown—that’s what I look like in the photo.
Answer: You mean candids of other people? I try to be descrete, shoot around a corner etc. Once I’m found out it’s all over. It also helps to have a long zoom!