I think it's got a lot of Russian influence. She was an artist who moved away so probably not typical Kyrgiz to be honest.Well it's Central Asia. It's mountainous. It's further than any other country from the sea. It's got a long history. Nomadic. Pastoral. Traversed by the old Silk Road. Borders China to the east. Outstandingly beautiful. Majority Muslim.
What happened? I missed it.Been there twice (for work), though only to Bishkek. Staggeringly beautiful in the midst of the Tien Shan mountains, and I was lucky enough to stay at a 4/5 star hotel so the view was unbelievable. Some of the best food I've ever had, though admittedly the very best was at an Uzbek restaurant - in particular, kebabs and grilled meats way better than anything I've had, but also fantastic salads. Generally great if you're not a political dissident or of Uzbek origin, or indeed of other minorities, or LGBTI.
Majority Muslim yep, but according to the people I knew there, the practice of Islamic values has changed radically over the past few years, with a more conservative strain becoming dominant only fairly recently.
People are by and large friendly, vibe in the capital is (much) more European than in countries to the south, mostly for obvious historical reasons. Lots of architectural detritus from Soviet times. Many, many tree-lined avenues too - I'm not sure if that's typical for ex-Soviet republics or not.
I regret not visiting Tajikistan on one of those visits, but the political climate was a little bit hair raising at the time (though not as hair raising as what happened in one of their prisons over the past week)
We were hiking around Karakol, in the East, so Jeti Oguz, Karakol Valley and Altyn Arashyn. We also stopped at the World Nomad Games on the way back, which is obviously a massive tourist spectacle but fairly mad with it. Parts of that were held in Kyrchyn Gorge which is also a bit of a scenic wowser.Which jailoos did you go to , Slothrop - were they towards Osh or towards the east? Looking at the pics online, it all looks spectacular; might have to take a trip back there sometime.
I have a kind of fascination with that east meets west/Europe meets Asia bit - Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and I guess Turkey too. Not that I have really done anything to act on it yet. I just love the vistas and feel and the music you get in Paradjanov films and anything else that reminds me of them.I've sort of got a bee in my bonnet about that bit of the world atm