Back in Bishkek

Friday night I departed Osh and could not wait to spend the weekend in Bishkek.  I had exhausted all the sight-seeing that Osh had to offer and really couldn't take anymore Russian dubbed TV and radio Sputnik (though the latter was interestingly progressive).  A couple of my coworkers are also in Bishkek helping with the same project.  We met up for dinner Friday night and Saturday two of us enjoying the Spring like weather and went souvenir shopping.  We met up at the big square (not sure of what) with 24 hour guards who change on the hour.

Holiday Wanderings

Tuesday was a national holiday so I had the entire day to fill.  After a run in the park and some midday work on the computer.  I ventured out with two destination goals.  The first was the history museum which a colleague had recommended and the second was the bazaar which guide books say has been in the same location for 2,000 years (Osh has apparently been inhabited for 3,000 years and was a major stop on the Silk Road).  It was a lot of walking.  I found the museum which is a the base of Sulaiman Too mountain.  I paid the "foreigner" entrance fee and then discovered that 90% of the exhibit lacked English explanation.  Only Russian and Kyrgyz.  So that made for a quick tour.  Interestingly, there was a newer photo exhibit that was apparently highlighting the violence of 1990 between the Kyrgyz and Uzbeks.

Then it was on to the bazaar.  Being a holiday, it was fairly crowded. I don't think I discovered the heart of it, but did walk through an area that sold clothes, shoes, phone cases, toys etc, and then moved on to an area that sold produce, meat and bread - lots and lots of bread.  After that, it was the long, long walk back to the hotel.  I think now I have seen everything there is to see in Osh.

Sulaiman Too from the northeast

Part of the coal fueled city heating system that runs everywhere

All the cow innards and hooves you could want

Kyrgyz bread

My temporary home - Sun Rise Hotel

Men's Day

Since around 1920, countries that were formerly part of the USSR celebrate a national holiday that is now called Men's Day.  Originally it was to honor men in the navy, and then men in all military service.  Now it's simply Men's Day.  Two weeks later is Women's Day.  So at least there is equity.  My first day in the office, the staff held a luncheon to celebrate the men.  It was the traditional plov, side salads and bread along with some fried dough goodies.  Tuesday is the actual day off...and so after one day of work, I have a whole day flying solo.

Back to Osh

Exactly one year later I am back in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. Blame global warming but it is about 20-30 degrees warmer then last time.  Since I arrived pre-dawn on a Sunday, I had most of the day to play tourist before I passed out from travel sleep deprivation.  The main thing to see here is Sulaiman Too - steep hill jutting out from the middle of the city.  I have still not figured out all the symbolic history of the site but it is considered Little Mecca by some of the faithful.

I climbed the steep path straight up through an old graveyard.  To one side of the mountain is a view point and old "house" which is now a place of worship.  To the other side are caves and a soviet-era museum that was blasted/built into one of the caves.  I skipped the museum.  At the base of this hill is a large mosque.  I then made my way back to the hotel, passing a huge statue of Lenin along the way.

Sulaiman-Too: historic house and view point upper right

Cave to right and museum to the left (graveyard in foreground)

Great mosque

Ever present Lenin

Tourist for a day

On our second day in Axum, prior to catching our flight back to Addis, we toured some of the UNESCO heritage site.  I'd like to say it was impressive but actually not so much. The city is the site of an ancient kingdom which had its height in 4th AD.  Tall stelae (ancient tombs stones), empty tombs and palace ruins, a stone slab with writing in Greek and two ancient languages (think Rosetta Stone).  I opted to not go into the church where the Ark of the Covenant is supposedly kept.  They parade around a replica before mass and only one person is allowed into the inner sanctum where the real one is said to be kept.

A highlight from both days was having lunch at a local restaurant of good Ethiopian food finished off by the customary coffee ceremony.  They roast the beans, grind them, heat the water and brew it in front of you a few demitasses at a time.  The Ethiopian coffee is good but it is strong.  A couple ounces is all you need.  I had a glass in Addis at 4p and didn't fall asleep until 2a - I blame the coffee not jet lag.

Field visits in Tigray

Without incident but enduring a middle seat on a 13 hour flight, I landed in Addis.  I hadn't received instruction on being picked-up and didn't see anyone standing with my name on a sign.  Turns out, due to security, they no longer allow drivers and taxi touts to approach the arrival hall.  It makes for a very calm introduction to the country.  A legitimate looking lady walked me to the taxi stand, was familiar with my destination and told me how much is would cost.  And 15 minutes later I arrived safe and sound.

Before dawn the next morning, my team convened to head back to the airport to board our short flight up north to Axum.  We drove out to a small rural village about an hour outside of town.  It is a very dry landscape with giant aloe type plants, and a variety of cacti.  There is a rainy season, but it is not now, so all the creek beds were dry.

We visited a household compound consisting of three huts, chickens and livestock.  We were there to learn about poultry keeping of the small holder farmer.  The women control the care and maintenance of the birds including marketing and spending the money how they wish - at least in this village.  We also met with a make-shift focus group to ask them question about poultry production, gender norms, and chicken and egg consumption.

Making Bail (aka paying the hotel bill)

Tuesday night late, I was to check out of my hotel (which by the way is a "dry" hotel stemming from its Lutheran religious affiliation), and lo and behold, the credit card machine would not connect. My only other card was Amex, which they did not take. After numerous tries and failures, the hotel clerk suggested I withdraw the money from an ATM and pay in cash.  A $560 hotel bill comes to over 1.1 million Tanzanian shillings.  With the help of the driver I'd hired to take me to the airport, I drove around to multiple ATMs only to have the first set down for maintenance, the next having a limit of 400,000 shillings and thereafter, my bank would not allow me to withdraw any more.  I went back to the hotel with my stack of cash (10,000 seems to be the largest denomination), and after some back and forth, the clerk remembered that there was a hotel that takes Amex cards.  So away we went to that hotel which fortunately has a 24 hr business center.  They were able to withdraw the other 700,000 shillings I needed (at a horrible exchange rate), and with my even bigger stack of cash, I went back to the hotel.  1.1 million plus a handful of extra shilling I had left over, plus some US dollars, and my bill was paid.  Imagine paying your US hotel bill in $5 bills and you can picture how ridiculous this looked.

A couple hours later I was departing Kilimanjaro airport on my way to DC via a quick stop in Mombasa to pick up passengers, and a change of planes in Istanbul.  It feels good to be home.