Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan | 14 August, 2006 | $3.85 USD
I loved this hostel! At the time I was there is was quite new and not in any guidebooks but still full which is a testament to how nice, laid back guesthouses are needed in Central Asia. I took an minibus overnight from Osh and a friend I’d met in phase I, who I’d run into randomly in Osh, had talked to the driver about me. Apparently she told him to watch out for me because I was not allowed to leave the market on my own despite my insistence. The driver appointed an Azerbaijani guy to escort me to my hostel. I did not want a strange man knowing the exact address of where I was staying but he persisted in following me. As can be expected, this meant that over the next month the hostel owners, a Kyrgyz woman and her Japanese husband, had to keep sending the guy away when he came by asking where I was and if I would date him.
The hostel had a tiny yard and pool and even a little outdoor kitchen. It was almost perfect if it wasn’t overflowing with guests all the time. This meant that I met a lot of interesting people including Peach Corps volunteers, other travelers trying to get Uzbek visas and even a girl who had to stay in town to finish a round of rabies treatments after being bitten by a dog. I always meet more interesting, memorable and compatible people when I’m staying in out of the way towns or countries and Kyrgyzstan was no exception.
The price of the bed did not include any food but that was okay, because every morning I walked down the block to a tiny metal stand where a man with gold teeth passed me a warm bread roll which I filled with banana and nutella from the Chinese grocery nearby. I ended up spending quite a lot of time in Bishkek trying to get Uzbek and Tajik visas, searching out cold weather supplies, visiting the US embassy and healing from the car accident a few days earlier.
3 responses to “Where I Slept: Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan”
yes, there was the rabbies girl, and you were the carcrash girl. you had to go for nutella as you had lost your peanut butter in the accident. is my memory right?
i hope you are no more missing out on peanut butter 😛
big hug and best wishes from heidiland
I’m not sure what happened to the peanut butter. I think I left it behind somewhere when I ran out of room. I am not missing peanut butter anymore, in fact I have two big (American-size) jars of extra chunky in my pantry right now, yum.
Everyone asks when my next trip is, what about you, nic?
we’ll be going for a few months next year, around spring time. dont know where yet. i’ve got a baby girl now, she is 2 and half months old and …. we are thinking of going to a place and stay there and relax on our trip. with my man’s diving equipment and leeya’s baby gear hoping off/on buses request more organisation and i have to get into knowing about that 🙂 no rush….
so when is your next trip?