Karakol, Kyrgyzstan, May 3rd.

April 30th. We arrived in Bishkek at 4 in the morning and were immediately aware we were in a different country. Within 20 minutes we had collected our luggage, had our passports stamped and walked through the Green "nothing to declare" customs lane and were off to our hotel.

Bishkek is about 1 million people and has just turned green for spring. We noticed a lot of cars are right hand drive Japanese 2nd hand imports although traffic drives on the right. We first visited the Frunze House museum, a 19thC thatched cottage and then walked through Oak Park, a lovely park with lots of sculptures left after a big Soviet sculpture  exhibition in about 1980. The State History and Art Museum had a lot of interesting exhibits and stunning views of the mountains from the windows. The carpets here are mostly felted. All the textiles have markedly different patterns from Uzbekistan.

We finished the day in the Osh Bazaar which is pretty lively and we were able to stock up on dates and nuts.

May 1st. Today we left Bishkek and drove first to the BuranaTower a 10thC brick structure on the site of  the more ancient Sogdian city of Balasagun. Nearby is a collection of balbals or Turkic totem-like stone markers.We drove onto Cholpon-Ata where we stayed in a resort hotel - not quite our cup of tea. Apparently rich Russians and Kazakhs come here for Lakeside holidays. Lake Issy Kul is a huge alpine lake at a height of 1800m. We were more interested in the petroglyphs some dating back to 1500 B.C. but mostly from the Zoroastrian period 6thC B.C. to 1stC A.D. There is a large field of glacial boulders and we wandered around and found a few and also some stone circles.

Sculpture in Oak Park, Bishkek

Spring has arrived in Bishkek and locals were enjoying the sunshine.

A Zoroastrian ossuary in the State museum.

Kyrgyzstan wall hanging

Patchwork!

Fetishes all featuring vicious claws.

 Mr Minute in Osh Bazaar, Bishkek

Plenty of competition between bakers.

 Like a dried yogurt ball?

A broom seller in a Kyrgyz felt hat

10thC brick Burana Tower

Petroglyphs at Cholpan Ata.

Much simpler mosques here and sometimes I need to check whether it has a crescent or a cross as the architecture is similar to local orthodox churches.

 More up market mosque.

 This mosque in Karakol belongs to the Dungan community - a Chinese Moslem people who fled China in the 19thC.

Holy Trinity cathedral, Karakol.

Not a country for vegetarians!

Balbal (Turkic totem like stone markers) from 6th - 10thC.

Leather container used by nomadic people.

Stunning mountains.