Attempted "Escape" in Central Asia

Looking deep into the eyes of an eagle while pondering the meaning of life and begging him not to unleash his powerful wings.

I think the best time to reflect on the sights and experiences of Central Asia is on a plane heading from Istanbul to Lyon, France. It helps that I have an Exit Row seat. So here goes. I spent almost two months in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. If you want a description of what I did or what these places were like this post is not for you. Instead, I recommend that for Kyrgyzstan you check out these blog posts:

Kyrgyzstan is not for everyone, luckily: Overview of Kyrgyzstan

Carpet Cleaner will not be going on my resume: My time as a volunteer at Apple Hostel Osh

Business Class from Bishkek to Osh: Taxi ride for Bishkek to Osh

Where in the world is Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan: Sounds like the title

https://blyon18.wixsite.com/brettsbattical/blog/stoking-my-way-through-se-asia-and-unexpectedly-running-into-my-privilege

For all three but particularly Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, you take a look at what I posted to Instagram starting in early June.

Rather, this is going to be a quick and dirty recap of some of my thoughts and feelings while I was in the region, similar to my recap of SE Asia where I discuss stoke and privilege. Warning: this may contain typos. In essence, and following the “Eat, Pray, Love” theme of one word per section of the trip, for me Central Asia was a great place to attempt an “Escape.” It was really nice.

What was I escaping? Well, Donald Trump for one. I left Singapore two or three days before the Kim-Trump-Dennis Rodman circus intentionally booking my flights so that I was out of there before the clowns arrived. I was in Bishkek when the summit was in full swing and got a few hints of what was going on in the city I had just left: mostly in the form of humorous internet memes and news from friends I had visited/met in Singapore. Other Trump events that took place while I was in Central Asia included the firing of Scott Pruitt (finally), rumblings of the trade war with China and the EU, the drama filled nomination of a fellow Brett to the Supreme Court, and the whole “I trust Putin more than the CIA, oh wait no, I didn’t actually mean it” debacle. As you can tell from my knowledge of the list above I didn’t fully escape it all but I engaged when I chose to or when I had strong enough cell signal to make it worth my while.

What was most eye opening to me about all of this Trump stuff was what the reaction I got when I talked to other people, mostly other travelers not from America, about what was going on. Either they had been tuning out American news or they would say something to the effect of, “oh yeah, he’s such an idiot, how long until he’s gone?” and moved on. The major exception to this was “I just hope he doesn’t start a war with Iran.” I realized it’s much easier to brush off the Trump drama if it doesn’t directly impact the place you consider to be home. While Trump’s actions don’t really directly impact my daily life (other than the Trade War which could make it harder for me to get a job when I’m back) I feel like he’s ruining my country with his immigration policies, roll back of environmental regulations, and the fact that fewer and fewer people are taking the United States seriously anymore (see above reactions to his tomfoolery as proof of this). I have come to believe however that it will not be a bad thing for the United States to step back from being in the epicenter of global foreign affairs for awhile and let others step up. I’m not confident however that any others will do a much better job. Europe, like the United States, is too busy fighting itself and China seems mostly concerned with increasing its own wealth and power.

Regular readers of this blog will also not be surprised to hear that I was escaping my past, specifically my first marriage. The mountains of Kyrgyzstan were a great place for me to do this. They are impressive, sparsely populated, and because there is not much vegetation, it’s pretty easy to go off trail and wander with the confidence that you will not get lost. Still, I wasn’t fully able to do this either as news of my ex-mother in law’s decline and eventual passing made it to me. Read my post titled When life moves on without you for more on how this affected me. The mountains of Kyrgyzstan, the nightlife, beautiful backdrop, and pleasant outdoor cafes of Almaty, Kazakhstan, and stunningly restored Silk Road architecture of Uzbekistan were great places to process this all a bit more.

Finally, I wanted to escape was the kind of mass tourism that wore me down after two and a half months in SE Asia. I realized I had succeeded in this it as I flew out of Singapore. Thanks to the wonders of low fare airline routing, I was headed to Amritsar, a city in Punjab, India as an inexpensive way to get to Delhi. In Delhi I have a former co-worker and friend who had space in his air conditioned apartment. Amritsar is in the part of India where Sikhs are from. I sat next to two Indian men working in IT, Gaurav, living near Amritsar and Ram, living in Singapore. Their lives seemed similar to mine back home. The rest of the plane though was full of people wearing bright fabric and turbans. As one of three white people on the plane I received looks that I interpreted to contain a mixture of curiosity and suspicion. It probably didn't help that I pulled out my phone to get a photo of my surroundings.

This was very different from my flight from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Bali, two popular stops on the Banana Pancake Trail, where the plane was about half white and half Asian. For those curious, while I did see a sort of pancake with fruit compote served for breakfast at the Apple Hostel in Bishkek, the only time I encountered Banana Pancakes was when a Dutch couple who also had spent some time in SE Asia, made them for breakfast. I eyed them with envy as I ate my fruit, muesli, and yogurt.

I was so excited to be in a place where I didn’t hear the same four western pop songs on repeat that when I first arrived in Kyrgyzstan I thought I would refrain from posting any photos of the wildness around me to Social Media. Over the course of my two weeks at the hostel in Osh however I met quite a few other bloggers/Instagrammers including @a.fabulous.world, @fred_on_discovery, @tristanbogaard, and @wanderbird_travel, I decided that I should add my solo American male flashbackpacker perspective to the chorus of Europeans, mostly couples, traveling overland and continue chronicling my travels. I enjoy the exercise of writing, - it helps me process what I’m seeing around me, posting photos helps me connect with those back home who are interested.

Helping me with this dilemma was the realization that, for now at least, the way that tourism is being developed in Kyrgyzstan is provides meaningful economic opportunity in a country without many natural resources. I didn’t totally escape stereotypical young backpackers either, encountering a handful around Karakol, the most popular jumping off point for treks in Kyrgyzstan. I figure it’s only a matter of time before hordes begin to arrive with or without me, especially since I don’t have that many followers. Similarly, the Silk Road cities I visited in Uzbekistan (Samarkand, Bukhara, and Khiva) are clearly being developed with conventional tourism in mind. Souvenir shops line the historic areas along with restaurants and guesthouses catering to tourists.

When I arrived in Central Asia I was not sure what to expect. Before coming, I remember messaging the owner of Apple Hostel in Bishkek asking if I needed to stock up on toothpaste, contact solution, and sunscreen when I got there. It turns out that was not necessary. Most modern goods can be found there perhaps with the exception of organic/natural/local foods. Still, compared with other places I have been in all of my travels Central Asia, particularly the rural parts of the region, are the most remote and untouched by modern life of anywhere I have been. Life for locals seems very difficult but for me it was a great place to Escape for a few weeks. I hope that as the With all of these factors in play, Central Asia was a great place to Escape for a few weeks. I hope that as the rest of the world inevitably discovers its charms the region is able to hold on to what I found to be charming and unique about it.

People have asked me to sum up each of the three countries in one sentence. Here’s what I would say:

Kyrgyzstan: The Wild Wild West ala Wyoming or Montana with Russian influences and nomadic flair.

Southern Kazakhstan: a more orderly, prosperous version of Kyrgyzstan, or as a Swiss guy I met at my hostel in Almaty put it: Bishkek is like Almaty only 30% more ghetto. I told the guy, who was walking from Europe to India over the course of two years that American’s don’t use the word ghetto that way anymore since it’s culturally insensitive.

Uzbekistan: Stunning, historic, Silk Road monuments, incredibly friendly people, and signs of autocratic control just beneath the surface.

Now for my list of random observations:

Design for left calf tattoo: Top of yurt, as shown on the Kyrgyz flag but without sun.

Best and Worst Food : Plov. It’s all there is. Just kidding.

Real Best Food: Georgian restaurant in Almaty, Daredzhani. I ate there twice. Fresh Bread.

Worst Food: Stale bread, overall lack of variety in cuisine.

High: Either:

Eating my packed lunch at a scenic point above the Jyrgalan Valley in Kyrgyzstan

Or

Looking down at the historic city of Khiva, Uzbekistan from the top of a tower

Low: Either:

Carpet cleaning at the hostel in Osh, Kyrgyzstan

Or

Wandering the streets of Bukhara, Uzbekistan with a digestive issue in 110 degree heat looking for a working ATM and getting $500 is crisp Benjamins instead of $75 in local currency when I finally found one.

Sleeper: Either

Drinking tap water throughout much of Kyrgyzstan

Or

Almaty, Kazakhstan. I didn’t initially plan to visit Kazakhstan but it had better low cost flight connections to other places I wanted to visit (Uzbekistan and Istanbul) than Bishkek. There I found a great hostel (“European” Backpackers), food from other parts of the world, outdoor cafes along tree-lined streets, and nightlife.

Reading List: “Restless Valley” by Philip Shishken. Covers politics and events in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the early 2000s. “A Carpet Ride to Khiva” by Christopher Aslan Alexander. A book by a British man who lived in Uzbekistan for seven years and helped start a factory for women to weave carpets. Also talks a lot about the politics and culture of the region where he lived.

Personal Soundtrack: What I listened to in SE Asia plus Dispatch, The Chainsmokers, Florence and the Machine, Childish Gambino, Big Red Machine

Public Soundtrack: Russian/Kyrgyz Pop Hits and Music Videos. Here is a sampling from Youtube:

This one is most typical: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g28KwuS4NaQ it has dancing, a love story, typical imagery, and traditional instrumentation set to a dance beat.

Great Central Asian dancing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eoggvCCV_E&list=RDHIEaSWTC2BY&index=12

Sappy ballad with great shots of some typical faces found in Kyrgyzstan. I am pretty sure it tells the story of a kid being sent to America. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsrQcRTia1A

On this flight from Istanbul to Lyon I scored an exit row!