My last few days in Kyrgyzstan focused around visiting the Burana Tower and really not much else. I had done a lot in Central Asia so far, albeit not nearly as much as I had planned, but for the limited ease of access and somewhat terrible weather, I felt like I had deserved a bit of a break. So I spent lavishly on tea at a local teahouse called “Coffee Shop”, continued to lap up lagman at the little wooden house next to the stadium, and got really sick a couple of times.
I also did make it to the Burana Tower. Why anyone built this this is completely beyond me but I am so glad they did because I visited it on the most beautiful day and had a full view of the valley. It makes no sense why anyone would build such a tower in the middle of the valley. It’s not even that tall. In fact I feel like it was a huge waste of resources and effort, but I was really happy I got to see it. It was actually my favourite thing in Kyrgyzstan I realized, as I sat on a mound of dirt looking at the tower and the mighty Tian Shan in the distance on a crisp and sunny November morning. There was also a a pair of youths bombing around the rough terrain on a motorcycle with a sidecar and I eyed them suspiciously and with envy. One day.
It was a nice way to spend the day before my departure from Bishkek, a city that slowly grew less and less enchanting for me. But this has always been the case with me - I have a natural bias towards Dushanbe and the Tajiks and for some reason no amount of social conditioning can fix this. This is me, and the first step is coming to terms with it.
Trying to the find the airport was less of a nightmare this time around because I had already practiced on my trip to Osh, so I feel like these instructions and pictures will help others in the future stand on the shoulders of giants, as it were. Actually there’s not a tonne of value I can provide here. You just go to the central boulevard thing and look for the sign (pictured). Asking people probably won’t help much, and if I’m honest they have probably changed the whole process since I was there.
Upon arrival at the airport I spent the last of my Kyrgyz currency on some tea and a beer and then boarding my Aeroflot flight back towards Moscow and ultimately the still warm and ever-lovely Budapest.
No comments:
Post a Comment