My 32nd Birthday: Leaving Kyrgyzstan, Arriving Ukbekistan

On this, my 32nd birthday, I awoke in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, the capital and site of a violent coup last year. It is surrounded by the Tien-Shan mountains, which translates to " Celestial" mountains, and it's easy to see why... The peaks are snow-capped and the lush green slopes make their way to the foothills below. In essence, an amazing place to wake up on your birthday!

This morning after breakfast, we had a city tour where we went to the White House (Presidential Office) which was also the site of the 2010 coup. We saw the marker to the dead and then watched the changing of the guard. We then walked to a small museum of the applied arts (which to me was interesting because I wasn't entirely sure what unapplied art is...) and then walked to one of the few remaining statues of Lenin. Then to another square where there was a statue of Marx and Engels. Across from the statue is the American University of Central Asia, where we were lucky enough to get a campus tour and visit with one of the directors of the college. It is one of the largest and best in the region and helps to promote democracy in the region. It was founded by the Soros Foundation. Very interesting stuff!

Then we went back to the hotel for a late lunch, where a birthday cake was presented to me, and then packed up for our flight to Tashkent, Uzbekistan. We headed to the airport and the chaos began. Porters left and right piling bags high and pushing pash crowds up the escalator to the departures, past security checkpoint after security checkpoint. We eventually got checked into our flight, with some bribes of Butterfingers to help the check-in people overlook the bags that were over the weight limit. We endured the feeding frenzy that was the boarding process, and boarded our Uzbekistan Airways flight. The plane was very nice, as was the service, and the flight was only fifty minutes or so. We arrived, and then the real fun and bribery began...

We walked off the plane and had to get into a bus which made huge loops around the airport to end in the same spot, but eventually we got off at the arrivals hall. We stood in a long line at immigration to have our passports stamped, then we got our bags and sat in line for what seemed like an eternity without moving. Our local agent went to the customs officers, paid a bribe, and magically a new line opened for us to pass through. We passed through with lightning speed (especially compared to the others, where every bag, box, suitcase, etc. was being opened and examined). We eventually made it to our bus (this was an hour and forty-five minutes after we landed) and were taken to our hotel for dinner, and since it was nearing midnight at this point, to bed! A great birthday that I will never forget!


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