Bishkek: The Dynamic Capital of Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

After 16 wonderful days in Mongolia, it was time to leave and head to my next exciting destination: Kyrgyzstan! Whenever I had told people where I was heading next, I had been met with curiosity. Because Kyrgyzstan definitely isn’t a standard backpacker destination. I have, however, always been interested in the Central Asian countries (or “the Stan’s”, if you will), and thus chose Kyrgyzstan as my first Stan to visit because a visa is not required unlike all the other Stan’s.

Arriving in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, was an interesting experience. I boarded the full plane in Ulaanbaatar after much confusion, as the gate on my ticket had Istanbul as the destination. I found out that there would be a stopover in Bishkek, where a few of us would get off, before the rest continued on to Istanbul. I was worried about my luggage being sent all the way to Istanbul, but it turned out to not be a problem. I had never tried anything like this, but it makes sense when flying between such sparsely visited destinations. The flight was beautiful and I had great views of the Mongolian desert, the Altai Mountains, the vast steppe of Kazakhstan and finally, Kyrgyzstan. Four hours after boarding the plane, I arrived in Bishkek and met my friend Steve at the airport. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).