Karaoke in Kyrgyzstan

Outdoor, kiosk style karaoke booths. Osh won me over the moment I laid eyes on these little gems. Strewn about the central park, these pint sized star-factories let you belt out all the hits to your adoring fans – those on the one wooden bench sitting in front of you or the poor helpless passers-by simply trying to enjoy a stroll in the park. I immediately fell in love. Alas, it was not to be as they had not a single English song. I asked, “do you have Madonna?” No. “Do you have Michael Jackson?” Laughter....No. “Fine, fine, do you have Celine Dion?” No. Though heart broken, I walked away reinvigorated to let the world hear my voice....

 

Trying to find a song I could sing, notice the karaoke booth on the right

Shortly there after...

Osh was an alright city in itself, but we hung around mainly to recover from the ravenous effects Tajikistan had on our bodies. This is however, where we met our first “walker.” Apparently he is not alone – though that is how he travels, alone. He started in Italy and has walked all the way to Kyrgyzstan; WALKED. Staggering in he said he might be suffering from over-exertion, as he struggled to open the walnuts that were his planned dinner. Another girl in the hostel noticed his knife was a bit cockeyed and asked about it. He said yes it was in fact broken.

**Side Note: Kyrgyzstan is home to the “vodka window” where for 5 somoni (equal to about 20 cents) you are served up a shot of vodka – chaser included – right out of a window on the sidewalk.**

I was a bit inebriated when this fine gentlemen told us of his knife plight, so naturally I jumped into action. Unsheathing my multipurpose-all-in-one leather-man style knife, holding it above for all to revel in its glory as the bright hostel light shone upon it.

What probably really happened was that I pulled it out of nowhere and shoved it in this poor man's face.

No matter the circumstances, we traded. So now I have – what the hostel owner informed me- a prison made Uzbek switch blade.  This is what I now use to cut fruit while on long train rides and offer sliced cheese to kind families, straight off the blade. 

Knife in tow, we began to make our way north stopping at the world's largest walnut forest. Being harvest season, the hills were a streak of orange, yellow and a blood-red so bright I had never seen before. We stayed with a family in their home and rented horses the next day to explore the forest and surrounding area. The people of Arslanbob are probably the greatest tree-climbers in the world as we wouldn't have noticed them high above us, save for the walnuts raining down. During the harvest they set up temporary homes out in the forest where generation after generation has collected from their families' plots. Dumbfounded we passed along, far underneath the canopy of trees and tree-climbers above.

 Our horses for the day, and their owner for the rest of the days of the year

Hiking around Arslanbob

Continuing north, we made our way to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. The day we arrived a friend we had traveled with in Uzbekistan contacted us, saying he too was in Bishkek. So off we went to meet Fillip our Belgian friend for a night out in the big city. On our way to meet him however we were stopped by another couple we had met in Uzbekistan as well! So all together we attended the city-sponsored “pop and lock/break dancing” competition. Let me tell you, it was warmly embraced by us as we watched mesmerized by this urban expression, especially after traveling from village to village for so, incredibly long.

Travel family - minus a few members

At the end of the night, our traveling friends' couchsurfing host invited us to stay at his house as well – as we had had trouble finding a host and were staying in a hostel. So the next morning we made the switch, solidifying what Katie and I have now begun referring to as our “travel family.” Putting the total at 6 guests, with our only sleeping option a hardwood floor. Still it was greatly appreciated. We had all intentions of leaving on the overnight bus when suddenly the clouds parted and my dreams were allowed to shine through. Everyone in the “family” wanted to go to this Karaoke bar I had found called “Michael!” after the late king himself. I'm not sure if I should be proud or not but I was the last to leave and the last one singing – Ace of Base none-the-less..... Don't worry we had pulled the crowd in first with some Billy Idol, Tom Jones and Garth Brookes. In fact, we had wowed the crowd so much that a different table bought ours a bottle of champagne. Of course the fact that it was also the birthday of someone at our table made no difference.

The next day we caught a ride out to Karakol to stay with some PCV's and get out for some hiking. Hiking which was abruptly brought to a hault as it began to snow. We made it for one solid day, the next however was canceled and with our Kazak visa looming ahead of us off we went to begin the journey into Kazakhstan – but of course staying one more night along the beautiful Lake Issy-Kol where at another PCV's house we made sushi and took – of course – some shots of vodka. I'm not sure if its the same all over the world, but apparently no matter where you go in the, what was our region called?? Eastern European Mediterranean Stan group? – Albania, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, whatever – if you stay with PCVs, you will drink vodka.

 Hiking the Karakol area

The camel we stumbled upon in the middle of nowhere - and which McNabb was afraid of, squealing like a little girl

The men we found at the bottom of our hike that serenaded and fed us shots of vodka, one of them even played "My Heart Will Go On."

It is hard to wrap Kyrgyzstan up in a few paragraphs, but it has been the country that I most want to return to. I feel the time of year, bitter bitter cold, as well as the visa-time constraints really put a damper on what could/would have been the greatest stop along our pan-asia tour. Katie may have a different opinion, but I'll do it. I'll go out on that limb and say – Kyrgyz PCV's were the GREATEST! We weren't only warmly welcomed, they quite literally gave us their houses at some points – they weren't even there and gave us their homes! haha. No, but really. You guys deserve a huge shout out and virtual hug. Do not hesitate, let me know when I can return the favor.