hey guys we're in kyrgyzstan. yeah, new country for both of us so that ispretty exciting. first time in central asia so we are stokedto be here. yeah and over the next few days we are goingto be horse-trekking in song kã¶l so we're going to take you along but before we getthere we're making a little stop.
tourist cultures identity place and the traveller, first up burana tower right here. so we're going to climb to the top. are you ready? yes.
the first day of our tour was mostly a travelday, so we just enjoyed the scenery, caught up on sleep, and experienced our first kyrgyztraffic jam. we also go our first taste of kyrgyz foodwith a massive lunch featuring all types of spreads and dishes. from there, we did a short hike in the outskirtsof kochkor and then checked into our guesthouse for the night. (traditional music of kyrgyzstan) so good morning from kochkor. we did a home stay here last night which wasa lot of fun.
we got to watch a music performance and eatamazing food. so we're just going to enjoy breakfast nowand then go horse-trekking. and we're wearing our cool hats. yeah, so can't wait to do that. let's get started. yeah. alright so we just arrived at the first camp. we've had lunch and now we're going to pickout a horse and begin the trek. yeah!
okay so it is time for a little update. how are you feeling? hahaha. well, i've been getting tenderized on thathorse. like we've been riding for over three hoursnow and after i got off of it i could barely stand up. like i almost collapsed. i almost fell. obviously we are not trained at doing thisbut it has been a lot of fun.
the scenery has been awesome, the weatherhas really cooperated so this is over the halfway mark and we're really looking forwardto reaching the yurt for supper. hello! hey little guy. so we made a new friend and we've arrivedat camp. we've arrived at last. so we're at our yurt and we're going to eatdinner. we're getting ready for dinner and this guyis our entertainment for the night. woo hoo!
so it is now bedtime. the boys are in one yurt and the girls arein the other and this is what it looks like. little tour. there we go. and we have loads of blankets because it isfreezing cold tonight. brrr. good morning. i don't know about you but i slept reallywell. we were in separate tents.
yeah, it was men only and women only. and it was so cold that you know we just bundledup in these big thick blankets and i think everyone just was like out like a rock. past out right away. seriously. and we went to bed early. yeah because the horse riding took a lot outof us and we had a nice big meal and then a little bit to drink and then just it wasfantastic. so this is the start of day two.
so we're going to be riding again about fivehours today. i'm feeling pretty sore so we'll see how thatgoes. but it should be fun like the landscapes havebeen amazing all the way. and the weather has been awesome too so ithink we're going to have another really good day. mmmhmmm. let's do this. pup, want to come say hello. are you feeling shy this morning?
it's okay. we can be friends. we were introduced yesterday pup. oh. alright welcome to mtv cribs the yurt edition. yurt edition. so we're going to show you what is going onin here. alright. this is like the men's sleeping quarters lastnight so we were all sleeping here.
looks pretty messy. it is properly messy. we all just woke up. we're just getting ready for breakfast andthis was the awesome stuff we had last night. we had some vodka. you guys were drinking vodka? yep. we didn't get any. what?
we were having vodka and we were having thatspecial milk. ah, the mare's milk. yeah, that tasted a bit like alcohol. and you know what i'm noticing? it looks like three of you were cuddling overhere. you know what? the three of us shared that little area andthen there were two other guys here. so. yeah, and as you can see.
that is how it is when i'm away. and we could have fit a lot more in here too. but yeah like just check out the yurt. it is pretty cool. we have natural light coming in in the morning. and yeah, we're going to be staying in a yurtagain tonight. i know. round two coming up. okay so we're taking a little break.
time for an update. tell us about your horse today sam? okay, so we went really high today. like we went up really steep hills and myhorse was really struggling. it was like ha ha. it was panting the whole way but even moreso it was farting. the whole way up. and guess who was behind. i was.
i got to breathe it all in. you got a few whiffs that is for sure. on our second afternoon of trekking we madeit to song kol, our final destination. we arrived shortly before sunset, so afterdropping off our packs and warming up with tea, we made our way down to the water towatch the sun work its magic. hey pup. hi pup. let's be friends. so we finally made it.
we arrived. so it is day two. it is the end of our horse-trek and this issong kol. viola! and you know what is funny? they told us we should bring a bathing suitin case we wanted to take a dip. but as you can tell it is freezing cold andthere is no way i'm going in to the water but i am going to dip my finger to see youknow just how bad it is. one finger.
that is all. ah. you know what i think the air may be colderthan the water. wish you brought your bathing suit? well, no because it would be pretty brutalwhen you get out and you have to dry off but this isn't so bad. greetings from bishkek, kyrgyzstan! hello from central asia. it is our first time here and we are goingto be spending a few days here in the capital.
so we're going to take you on a little tourand show you fifteen things to do around bishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº). it should be fun. first up, we visited ala-too square (ðð»ð°-ñ‚ð¾ð¾ð°ñð½ñ‚ñ‹ - ðÿð»ð¾ñ‰ð°ð´ñœ ðð»ð°-ð¢ð¾ð¾), which is the central plaza in bishkek. while there isn’t much to do here, it’sone of the city’s major landmarks, plus they also have lots of benches and water fountainswhere you can take a quick break. from there, we crossed the street and madeour way over to the state historical museum. so unfortunately the state museum which yousee right here behind me is closed for renovations
so we won't be able to go in but i hear thereis a statue of lenin hiding out back so we're going to see if we can find that. let's go. on an unrelated note if you've never watchedthe movie goodbye lenin you should. it is in german but it is pretty good. i just remembered that because we're visitingthe lenin statue. another place you’ll want to visit in bishkekis the osh bazaar (ðžñˆ ð±ð°ð·ð°ñ€ñ‹). it may not be the biggest in central asia,but it’s a bustling maze where you could easily spend a few hours.
we had no problems at the market, but we werewarned by several locals to ignore the fake police who may ask to see documents and camerapermits. so keep that in mind if you encounter them! it is shopping time. next up we're at the osh bazaar (ðžñˆ ð±ð°ð·ð°ñ€ñ‹)and you can find everything here. we're seen fresh produce, snacks, chocolates,clothes. right behind me we have an entire aisle dedicatedto dry cheese balls. it is this really popular snack. it kind of tastes like salty goat cheese.
not my favorite but if you want to try itcome here. 150. can i get. half a kilo of dates. half a kilo of fresh dates. and i paid just 100 som which roughly is abouta dollar fifty. and like look how many dates i got guys. all for yourself. because i'm not a fan of dates either.
no. we're not dumb tourists. maybe sam is. those were sam's horrible acting skills rightthere. my goodness. we are going to visit an abandoned casinoand nightclub. but you know what? there is a lot of people hanging out hereand i feel like we're going to get kicked out because these people look like constructionworkers or security guards.
anyways let's try. first impressions? it smells bad. i think people hang out here overnight. yeah, they may hang out here and do thingsbut there is also a lot of broken things all around so i think it is going to be cool. let's go take a look. i think graffiti as well. ah yeah, nice graffiti over there.
okay so we just came across children playingin here. so if kids can get in i think we can too. if you do come here i would suggest closedshoes. it is all broken glass. hello. directly across from the abandoned casino,you’ll find victory monument which was built to commemorate the 40th anniversary of worldwar 2. the three curved arcs represent a yurt, andthe sculpture of a woman standing near the eternal flame is meant to symbolize her waitingfor her husband and sons to return from the
war. okay so this morning we are checking out erkindikpark. and i think this is sam's favorite park thatwe've found so far. i've been going jogging here everyday sometimestwice a day. so and i've kind of come at all times of dayand on weekdays and also on weekends. and this park is completely different throughoutthe week. yeah, you can catch people enjoying coffeeor having ice creams in the afternoon. and it is basically like these two littleparallel boulevards lined with trees. it is really pretty so we're going to showyou.
oh my gosh they have peanut butter. audrey they have peanut butter. peanut butter. this is sam in his happy place. ice cream and a swing. i'm here on a bit of a solo mission. out of all the things iv'e really wanted todo in bishkek this is right at the top of my list. i'm going to check out a public bath.
woah. that was refreshing. so i just spent probably one or two hoursin the public bath. and it was pretty awesome. it reminds me a lot of the korean public bathsin the sense that it is gender segregated. you basically go in, you take off your clothes,you put on some flipflops, you get naked and you go check out these basically steam rooms,there is a sauna. but what was really awesome at this placeit had these little hut like buildings over here.
that is actually where you do basically yourpolar plunge swimming. and that is freezing cold water. and when i was going to go in for the firsttime i was kind of like tiptoeing in with the latter and this guy came by and shovedme in. so i got the full on experience of feelingreally cold after being hot for a while. so yeah, it was a pretty cool experience. it cost 300 som. so not too expensive and if you're in bishkek(ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº) and you're up for this type of thing definitely check it out.
so we are going rollerskating in bishkek. and i don't know how to roller skate. neither do i. can't start. can't stop. i can't roller skate but sam seems to havepicked it up. there he be. it is like bambi on skates. this is so different from ice skating.
so the question is what do you prefer? roller skating, inline skating or ice skating? are you kidding me. of course inline skating and ice skating areway more familiar for me. but i have to say i'm starting to get thehang of it a little bit near towards the end. but i decided to wrap it up a bit early. those teenagers are just way too agile forme. yeah, don't want to break any bones todayhuh? ha.
we missed the start of opera and ballet seasonby just a few days, however, if you’re in the city at the right time, that’s somethingyou could consider doing. chilling like a villain. he be chilling like a villain. where are we? and what are we doing? any why are you making that face? i have no idea. we are at the q cafe.
right over there. q cafe. you can't really see it but it is there. this is a place where we met up for coffeewith friends like two or three days ago. and it is really good so we're back againand we've got some beautiful looking lattes. lattes. with art. and we're just waiting for cake and muffinsbasically. cake and muffins.
woo hoo. dessert is here. yes, so i'm going to start with this. sam's cake. it looks crumbly. i think they call it dvorak cake. yeah, i didn't get the name. mmmm. it is like a fluffy cheesecake almost.
and it is crumbly. with icing sugar on top. that is nice. um, i am a fan of your cake sam. do you remember whose cake that is? you've just had a second bite. alright since you're on like a bit of a piggyrole why don't you try your muffin. your muffin. is that pumpkin?
ooh. wow. oh wow. that is strawberry. real chunks of strawberry. that is good. with coffee. perfect midday snack. and if you’re craving a short escape frombishkek, you can always plan a day hike to
the nearby mountains with the trekking union. so two funny things. we had to sign a waiver in order to join thistrek and there were two particular points that kind of jumped out at us. first, we had to agree that we wouldn't runaway during the hike but it is like. you know how much we like to do that so. that was almost a sticking point. where are we going to run? and number two we had to promise we wouldn'tdrink alcohol.
haha. but again alcohol on a twenty five kilometerhike. i feel like that is just asking for troubleand we barely have enough water so. in other words we have to dump out the moonshinethat is in my backpack, right? ah, i got my shoe wet. now i'm going to be hiking 25 kilometers withsoggy shoes. this is not a good start. as far as food goes, there’s plenty to sampleranging from grilled meats to dumplings, and noodles to mixed rice, plus there was onedrink that really left an impression on us.
so we've decided to be a little bit adventurouswith what we're drinking and we are having kymyz (ðšñ‹ð¼ñ‹ð·). we're having kumis (ðšñ‹ð¼ñ‹ð·). do you want to tell us what that is? this is basically considered the nationaldrink here in this country. in fact, the city of bishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº)was named after the paddle used to churn this and it is basically it is mare's milk. it is fermented mare's milk. and that is all you're having?
that little sip. it has a slight amount of alcohol. sam. yeah, we're taking it easy here. let's try it. it has a very strong smell. okay. well? so imagine like the saltiest milk you've everhad that has also been slightly watered down
and tastes a little bit alcoholic. you can taste a little bit of the alcohol. so that is exactly what it tastes like. mmmmm. and we've got a liter of that just to ourselves. alright so sam tell us a little bit aboutthe food here in bishkek. so we're standing outside a restaurant calledred cow and this is one of the most popular places to have steak. and what we've found here in bishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº)is that there is some amazing international
cuisine. we've had really good japanese, we've hadreally good korean, we've also had really good traditional food here as well. so this is a city for foodies. tonight for dinner we're going to go to oneof our favorite international food places. it is called chicken star. it is a korean restaurant that specializesin korean style chicken. and i'm all ready. i've got my hanwha eagles hat on.
alright go team korea! woo. beer has arrived. this one is called zhivow. but the thing is can you say cheers in russian. that is the true test. tell me what it is. i don't know. so no.
gumbai. so we are at save the ales. save the ales. and i am saving an ale right here. a pale ale. yeah, an ipa. there is a really cool craft beer scene emerginghere in bishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº) and i can't wait to try this one. with our time in bishkek winding down, wemade a visit to oak park which is full of
sculptures, and then we also visited nearbypanfilov park (ðÿð°ð½ñ„ð¸ð»ð¾ð² ðºó©ñ‡ó©ñò¯ - ñƒð»ð¸ñ†ð° ðÿð°ð½ñ„ð¸ð»ð¾ð²ð°). so next up we're at panfilov park (ðÿð°ð½ñ„ð¸ð»ð¾ð²ðºó©ñ‡ó©ñò¯ - ñƒð»ð¸ñ†ð° ðÿð°ð½ñ„ð¸ð»ð¾ð²ð°) and this place if full of rides. we've just had a big lunch so we're debatingwhether or not we should get on some of these little roller coasters and other things. and that’s a wrap for our trip to bishkek(ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº). as you can probably tell from this video,this city is the kind of place that you experience as opposed to ticking off attractions, soit ended up being a fairly relaxing trip after
a few busy weeks of travel around kyrgyzstan(ðšñ‹ñ€ð³ñ‹ð·ññ‚ð°ð½ - ðšð¸ñ€ð³ð¸ð·ð¸ñ). as always, if you have any suggestions ofthings to do in bishkek, feel free to share your tips with fellow travellers in the commentssection below. see you next time! hey guys we're at the world nomad games (ð”ò¯ð¹ð½ó©ð»ò¯ðºðºó©ñ‡ð¼ó©ð½ð´ó©ñ€ ð¾ñžð½ð´ð°ñ€ñ‹) in kyrgyzstan (ðšñ‹ñ€ð³ñ‹ð·ññ‚ð°ð½) and this is basicallylike the olympics for nomadic games and culture. so we're going to show you around. we're going to be hear for several days butfirst the opening night ceremony. things kicked off with a massive celebrationat the stadium, where there was live music,
dancing, and even a special appearance bysteven seagal. the following morning we went up to the jailoo,also known as the pasture, where they had set up a folk village so visitors could wanderaround and learn about kyrgyz culture. after catching the opening dance, we set outto visit the various camps, each showcasing a different region. okay so up next we're heading into a campthat is all about kyrgyz culture so we're going to be seeing some musical instruments,tapestries, games and maybe even some of the food so let's go do that. so we're seeing lots of food preparation happeningacross the camps here.
yeah, we sure are. we have locals preparing their own stuff. i think this guy has got a lamb going in theback. and we had a really nice lunch in the foodtent. we had plov with lamb. basically it is like kind of rice with lamb. really tasty. yum. so i think that was probably the strangestcompetition we've seen so far.
tell us about it. possibly the most painful. so this guy was basically doing somersaultson broken glass. he lied down on top of it and they put likea kettle ball on his stomach and then a jackhammer came down on it. like that's gotta hurt man. that was random. okay guys this is day three of the event andthis is the one i've wanted to watch the most. this event is called kok boru.
yes, so this is a really popular game in centralasia and it is actually the national sport in afghanistan. and it is basically two teams competing onhorses kind of like polo but instead of using a ball they're using a goats carcass. and they're tugging at that carcass and wecan't wait to show you what it is all about. yes, definitely interesting. at the end of the match, the winning teamgets to eat the goat so the animal doesn’t go to waste. it was also nice to see that some of the winningteams shared their goat with their opponents.
that being said, kok-boru isn’t the onlyhorse game at the event. there are also horse races for adults andchildren alike, as well as a game that closely resembles basketball on horseback, so youcan take your pick. alright, so we're back on the pasture tellus the plan for today. back to the pasture this afternoon and itlooks like we've got some cool kind of sporting events. there is going to be something with eaglesand also archery, so we're thrilled to check those out. it is excited.
oh my it is excited. aside from all that, in the sporting complexthey had a variety of wrestling events, that were fascinating to watch. well sadly it is over. the world nomad games (ð’ñðµð¼ð¸ñ€ð½ñ‹ðµð¸ð³ñ€ñ‹ ðºð¾ñ‡ðµð²ð½ð¸ðºð¾ð²) have ended. yeah, it was quite the event though i meanwe've been covering it here for several days and it has been awesome. and now is the closing ceremony so we're goingto show you a bit of that. yeah, so there is going to be a concert happeningright over there.
and that is going to be the end to the party. so it is lunchtime here in bishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº),kyrgyzstan (ðšð¸ñ€ð³ð¸ð·ð¸ñ) and today we are going to be having a feast. we are going to be sampling all of the traditionaldishes that we've been eating over the last three weeks because that is how long we'vebeen traveling in the country. so we're ordering a big spread. this is probably enough food for like fiveor six people but sam and i are going to try and eat it all and just showcase what centralasian cuisine is all about. so we hope you enjoy.
in fact, the city of bishkek was named afterthe paddle used to churn this and it is basically it is mare's milk. the strange thing is i don't know if sam managedto get some bread crumbs into the milk or if that actually belongs in there. no, that is just how it is. that is just how it is with brown chunks. it has some chunks in there. brown chunks in the mare's milk. arrghh.
bit of an acquired taste? oh man. it tastes like cheese. like salty cheese and it is fizzy. this is the one thing that we're trying forthis video that is for you guys. i mean we probably wouldn't order this onour own but it is a very important part of the culture here. an acquired taste i'd say. we'll leave it at that.
we're starting our meal with some bread. so this is like the traditional kyrgyz flatbread. and you can find this basically at every mealthat we've had here. bread is like a very important part of themeals. and especially when we were staying in theyurts we were eating this a lot. so let's just dip it in here. a bit of here. it looks like sour cream. yeah, it comes like a creamy butter actually.
it is a little bit sour but not too much. and that bread is really good. you can tell it is homemade and fresh. aside from the flatbread we also ordered samsa. so i'm just going to break that open. and our manti (ð¼ð°ð½ñ‚ñ‹) is coming. look at this. look at that. it kind of reminds of an empanada.
so you've got like a bread exterior and itis filled with meat and chopped onions. oh, it looks good. it is nice. how does it taste? it is really savory and peppery. lots of ground pepper in there. so this is actually a snack that you pickup at a truck stop. it is really popular and it is super cheapas well and really filling. you can also get vegetarian ones.
i had one that was filled with potatoes. next up we got a plate full of manti (ð¼ð°ð½ñ‚ñ‹). it is manti (ð¼ð°ð½ñ‚ñ‹) time. and of all of the kyrgyz food that basicallywe've had over the last three weeks this is one of my absolute favorites. it is basically like a steamed dumpling. if we take a look down here i'm going to dissectit here for you. so this one, we ended up getting pumpkin,so i don't know if you can see the orange in here.
oh, look at that. you can see the pumpkin puree in there. well more liked diced pumpkin. more like diced pumpkin. that is true. so you can get, of course you can get a pumpkinbut you can also get all kinds of different ones. like a lot of the ones that are most popularare actually with meat. yeah, so there is beef, lamb and you can alsoget potato.
yeah, so whatever you want to get it is available. alright, so let's try this. oh my. i'm going in for a second bite. oh, it is just delicious. such good dumplings. like, wow. we were just in korea not too long ago eatingmandu which was a korean dumplings and so this is a perfect fit for me.
transitioning from there to here. so i am now moving on to the lagman (ð»ð°ð³ð¼ð°ð½)and this is a noodle dish. sometimes you can get it as a soup but i optedfor the fried variety. i like the fried one the best. this one is really good. so it comes with chopped onions and peppersand we've got some chives and meat. it is a little bit of everything. this is one of your favorite dishes isn'tit? one of your favorite kyrgyz dishes.
yeah, and apparently it has chinese roots. chinese origins. so it kind of reminds me a little bit of astir fry. it is really good. and the beef is so tender oh my gosh. that was good. wow, it looks like there is a lot of cut upscallions (green onion) too. and the food keeps on coming. it sure does.
next up we're basically trying the fried-riceso if you look down here we have the plov (ð¿ð»ð¾ð²). plov or pilaf. pilaf (ð¿ð»ð¾ð²) too. it is called both here. and it comes typically with meat so you seesome meat here and you also see peppers. it has onions. it has carrot. it has different kinds of seasonings.
dill. it smells nice. yeah, and it is prepared in a massive castiron cauldron and what was really cool is when we were covering the world nomad games,just behind these like tent type of restaurants you could see it being prepared. and it was just like this massive cauldron. it was really cool. it is a really popular dish. we ate a lot.
really popular dish. we really have. yeah, that is really good. it is savory but it is also a little bit juicywith the different peppers. so, a really nice taste. we had nearly forgotten about the shashlik(ñˆð°ñˆð»ñ‹ìðº) with all of the food at the table but is has finally arrived. and that is kind of embarrassing because reallythis is the star of the meal. this is what i've been looking forward tothe most.
so this is your classic skewered meat. this is like super popular in kyrgyzstan. you can find actually restaurants that specializein it. and you're classic shashlyk (ñˆð°ñˆð»ñ‹ìðº)restaurant you're going to find like a small little restaurant outside and you'll see aguy out on a grill just whipping up a whole bunch of these. yeah, like it also a popular street snack. you can buy it on the street. and typically it is lamb but we have orderedbeef.
we decided to mix it up and go with beef butthe lamb one is delicious. we tried the lamb last time and it was. i'd probably recommend going with that one. so here is the beef one anyways. are you getting those smoky flavors? so smokey. it has got a lot of flavors, a lot of salt. it is a really juicy meat. and it reminds me a lot of anticuchos in peru.
so if you've tried that in peru then you havean idea of what this tastes like. well, except anticuchos are organs and thisis actually a really nice cut of meat. but the taste both of them is awesome. and we also got a pot of tea since we weren'thuge fans of the mare's milk. we figured we needed something to wash allof the food down. um but yeah typically at the table the youngestperson is in charge or pouring tea for everyone. so if you're having like a big family mealor you're out with friends that responsibility could fall on you depending on your age. and also while we were doing the yurt stayswe realized that tea plays a huge role in
hospitality here. so when you're a guest one of the first thingsthey do is like offer you tea and they keep filling up your cup until you are about toburst. it is literally the first thing and the secondyou're done your cup. like they are ready to refill, right away. the host is on top of it. on top of it. your teacup is filled up. so how is the tea?
it is good. it is green tea. so typically you get black tea when you'rein a yurt but we went for green. so we're almost done the meal. any particular favorites? so stuffed. um, the shashlik (ñˆð°ñˆð»ñ‹ìðº) was amazing. that was so so good. it was so juicy and they don't really puta lot of spices on the beef but it just has
like that natural flavor so that was reallynice. it was smokey, tender flavor. love that. it was good. and also the rice. i'm usually not a very big fan of rice butit was really good. it was like wild brown rice so that was reallytasty. yeah, those are two of my favorites as well. and i'm going to add that i really like themanti (ð¼ð°ð½ñ‚ñ‹).
the pumpkin dumplings. of course. dumplings. so that wraps up our feast of feasts. it was an amazing like traditional kyrgyzmeal. we ordered so much food that we're actuallytaking a lot of it home. this is probably enough either for three orfour people and in terms of the price it came to one thousand two hundred som which rightnow is seventeen us dollars. so that was incredible value.
i mean we got three different kinds of drinks,we got tea, we got a liter of pepsi, we got a liter of mare's milk plus all of that foodthat we showed you including the bread, the dumplings, the meat, the rice, the noodles. so you can come here and have an epic feastand it is not going to cost you a fortune. good morning from kyrgyzstan (ðšñ‹ñ€ð³ñ‹ð·ññ‚ð°ð½). it is time for a day trip because we've beenspending a lot of time at the world nomad games and it is time to get out and get toknow the country a little bit. so we're taking a day trip to karakol (ðšð°ñ€ð°ðºð¾ð»). we're going to be doing some hiking, visitingwaterfalls.
yeah, it is going to be really cool. i mean we've seen quite a bit of the countrybut we haven't been to that area yet so we're really excited about it. okay, so we have been driving for about twohours and we've almost made it to karakol (ðšð°ñ€ð°ðºð¾ð»). right now we're in the outskirts and we'restopping at the nikolay mikhailovich przhevalsky museum and basically this was a guy who wantedto be a traveler. so i can relate to him. um, he was from russia but at the time russiandidn't have the permission to just you know
go off and wander around on their own. so this guy decided to join the military andhe proposed to be the first person to explore central asia and reach tibet and his proposalwas approved so he was funded by russia and today there is a museum dedicated to his work. after a short visit to the museum, we thencontinued on our drive towards karakol (ðšð°ñ€ð°ðºð¾ð»), where our first stop was the dungan mosque. so in order to visit the mosque you don'tjust wear a scarf. you need a full cloak. this will be interesting.
let's put this on. fancy. it is like velvet. i'm ready. wow, cute. the mosque gets its name from the dungan peoplewho are muslim, but of chinese origin. the building is quite unique because you cansee the two cultures colliding; it contains elements of a traditional mosque, but at firstglance it looks more like a buddhist temple. so now we're visiting an orthodox church andthat was really close to the mosque so let's
go check it out. we then went to the holy trinity cathedral,which is in the centre of karakol (ðšð°ñ€ð°ðºð¾ð»). just remember, girls need to wear a head coveringand boys must take off their hats in order to go inside. from there we continued to the karakol marketin search of food. if there’s one dish the town is known forit’s ashlyan fu, a cold noodle soup with spices and jellies. there’s a whole alley in the market thatspecializes in this dish; so be sure to try it.
alright so we've had a pretty busy morningof sightseeing. now it is time for food. yeah, we've worked up a pretty big appetiteand the coolest thing is we're going to go eat inside of yurt. a yurt. for lunch we had dumlyama: a dish with potatoes,cabbage, onions, peppers, and meat. we also had boorsok: which are little piecesof fried dough that go really nice with jam. so we've stopped off at this kind of coolscenic area that is called jeti-ã–gã¼z and nearby there is apparently some fantastichiking.
yeah, and the name translates to seven bullsso i don't know do you see any bulls over there? you know i see in the rock formations. i think i see more than seven things. we had really been looking forward to hikingalong here, but unfortunately, this is the part of the tour where we ran out of time. this also means we didn’t get to see thewaterfalls we had heard about, so if you do decide to visit karakol (ù‚ø§ø±ø§ù‚ùˆù„),don’t do it as a quick day trip like we did!
alright, so we are back in our hotel and thatwas a pretty busy day i have to admit. um, the distances are quite long so we spenta lot of time in the car and we did get to see some cool places but we didn't spend asmuch time as we would have liked. yeah, i think it is the kind of place whereyou want to give it a few days so you can see the surrounding areas and also that townis really known for hiking so if you're in to outdoorsy stuff go there and explore itproperly. yeah, maybe spend like two or three days inkarakol (ðšð°ñ€ð°ðºð¾ð») see the surroundings, hike, trek and yeah really explore it. that would be our suggestion.
tata. well good morning. it is saturday here in bishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºã©ðº)and it is our last day in the city so we figured why not get out of the city get close to nature. so we're going to be doing some hiking. yeah, it is basically a day trip. we're joining like a hiking group. yeah, the trekking union. yeah, they go every week and we're just goingto be doing like i think it is a pretty leisurely
hike but it is going to be really scenic. i really hope so. fingers crossed. so ending off here in kyrgyzstan (ðšñ‹ñ€ð³ñ‹ð·ññ‚ð°ð½)on a high note hopefully. it is go time. we have arrived at the starting point. today we're hiking issyk-ata gorge. and now get this. we signed up for what we thought was a thirteenkilometer hike.
they've just told us it is twenty five andwe're going to be out all day. so i feel like this is a bit extreme. we're not that fit. we're not that prepared so it'll be interestingthat is for sure. i hope we have enough water. status update. we've been hiking for like twenty minutesand it is getting really steep and we've lost our group because we're too slow apparently. time for a status update.
so we've been hiking for a while and the weatherreally changed on us quickly. it started raining, the winds started comingand this is a really fast hiking group so we've really had to pick up the pace so wehaven't had many updates but we're taking a little break here and the group is way aheadof us but we don't care at this point. so as far as hiking in kyrgyzstan is concernedit is amazing. it is like world class. you have all of this rugged scenery and thereis not a lot of people hiking here so it is an amazing opportunity for anyone who is lookingfor kind of an off-the-beaten-path type of destination.
so we're actually going to start heading backnow for two reasons. first of all the weather is changing rapidlyand it looks like it is going to start raining. yeah, and we've also lost our group. yeah, they disappeared. we were a little bit slow-pokey because wewere taking photos and we just got left behind and now it is time for us i think we needto head back so yeah there is a few other straddlers. like four of us who are slowly making ourway back to the van trying to retrace our steps.
so i think that is it for today's outing. overall, a really good day of hiking. so it is time for another apartment tour. right now we're in bishkek, kyrgyzstan. we've been traveling around the country forthree weeks and we've spent ten of those days here in the capital. yes, and this happens to be our favorite spotout of the two or three different places we've stayed in the city.
so getting in here is like going into fortknox. so much security but we feel really safe evenwith all of these keys and special magnets. beep. key sounds. but before we give you the apartment tourwe need to have breakfast and they make a delicious breakfast over here. yeah, we've been having basically a feastevery morning. uh-huh. and today they switched it up a little bitwhich is cool.
we've been having omelets previously and kindof rolled up crepes with jam but if you take a look down here you can see we've got friedeggs, it looks like we have some ham, tomatoes, cucumber and then we have a different styleof pancake here and it looks like little dollops of jam. we have toast, we have orange juice. juice. and coffee. is it coffee or tea? it is coffee.
oh, it is coffee. again they switched it up. oooh. but yeah that is a lot of food for two people. look at the table. and the cool thing about this type of placeis that you kind of you get comforts of an apartment but we're getting a little bit ofthe service of a hotel. like having breakfast prepared for us in themorning. the best of both worlds.
it really is. alright, let's dig in. okay, grabbing some egg and a bit of ham. it is tasty. so now that we've had our breakfast it istime for the grand tour so we're going to show you around our one bedroom apartment. so come in. this is like i guess our little lobby area. do you have a lobby area in an apartment.
it is probably called something else. the cloakroom area. so this is where the shoes are kept. shoes, umbrellas and you can hang up yourcoats over here. and then it kind of goes straight into thekitchen and we actually have a pretty nice modern kitchen. i really like it. and we've got a washing machine. we do.
that is like. when we decide to rent an apartments as opposedto staying in a hotel that is like the number one feature. it is one of the best things aside from havingour own fridge of course too. so we have an electric range so we can cook. we have a kettle, no microwave but we haven'treally needed that. we've mostly been eating out. oh, guess what? we do have one.
we haven't needed it though in all fairnessbecause we have been eating out a lot and we've been having our breakfast served tous as well. so yeah, this is our little breakfast nook. this is where we have breakfast every morning. yeah, as you can see the dirty dishes. okay, next we'll show you the bathroom sinceit is right across from the kitchen. so here we go. tada. so we kind of have like this walk in shower.
this shower, i have to say is like. open it up for us. it is almost like a 5 star shower. like the quality is incredible. the water pressure. like check out that thing. it is huge. so yeah, that is our bathroom and then i'lltake you into the bedroom. this is just a one bedroom apartment so itis pretty small.
come in. so yeah, i guess you could call this likethe bedroom slash living area. so we have a double bed but we also have somecouches over here where we can work do our thing on the computer. um, so yeah i mean it is enough space fortwo people. it is really all you need and we have a bitof storage as well. we haven't really unpacked our stuff sinceit is a short stay. and the weather has been really nice so wehaven't had to unpack much of our cold weather gear.
we've got storage, a tv and we have a littlebalcony. i'll show you that. so i'll just move these away. this is actually where i put the laundry outto dry because it is pretty hot out there. and i'll show you the view. you basically look out over the courtyardwhich is cool. yeah, there is like a little playground forkids and then way off in the distance here. the zoom will take a little while you cansee it is kind of either an unfinished or an abandoned building.
and that is kind of a major landmark becausewe stayed two blocks from there at a hotel before. so totally recognize that building. so that is a wrap for our little bishkek apartmenttour. yeah, so basically it was really cool stayinghere because i felt like we got to a little bit of window into the culture. the soviet era complex apartment buildings. like these massive buildings. we're getting to stay in here and even thoughwe're like on the first or second level.
first level. we're not near the top it is still reallycool and it is just like whenever you can stay in apartments as opposed to a hotel itis always like so much better because you feel a little bit like you're at home, youhave more space you have more amenities, you have kitchen where you can wash your clothes. so whenever we have that opportunity we tendto take it. yes, oh and another important thing it ischeaper than the hotel too. so now if you're thinking of traveling tobishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº) or perhaps moving here now you have a better idea of what the apartmentslook like.
yeah, exactly. so i hope you enjoyed this tour and if you'vebeen to bishkek (ð‘ð¸ñˆðºðµðº) before let us know what your apartment experience orhotel experience was like. bye.
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