But by far our favourite thing about being in Bishkek was just being there.Īnd while we are never in a rush to visit another city, the next time we find ourselves in Kyrgyzstan we might just find an excuse to stop off in Bishkek for a few days, or weeks, more. I think we might have even briefly considered going to the opera (but didn’t in the end because plans of doing nothing and disguising it as “working” got in the way). Sure, we went to the museum (which was pretty interesting for an hour), walked around the parks, said hello to the statue or Lenin and spent a few hours chatting to students who wanted to practice their English. For the record, the game ended in a draw at 2-2.īesides the football match, 84 cups of coffee, 26 beers, exploring an abandoned building and countless steps we took around the city, we didn’t get up to much else. Kyrgyzstan vs Tajikistan in a World Cup Qualifier match. It may have had something to do with the thousands of police and army personnel that were in the stadium and around the streets, but we’d like to think it is just because the Kyrgyz people are awesome. The crowd was loud and proud, but also respectful. We couldn’t believe our luck and joined an excited group from the Apple Hostel (best hostel in Bishkek by the way) to check out the game.Ĭost for a ticket right next to the “fan boys section”: 200 som – about $3.
One evening we managed to catch a world cup qualifier football match between the national team and Tajikistan. A 3D street artist painting up a storm outside of the Tzum department store.
We started to find our favourite places to drink coffee and take advantage of the fast wifi, and when the afternoon rolled around we would trade the piping hot brews for cheap draft beer.īishek was relaxing and unhurried – everything we want in a city. Sometimes we just walked around Chuy and Manas, the main streets in town. Marshutkas can get you to just about every corner of the city for only 10 som, and do so briskly.Įvery day we woke up with a list of things to see, but we quickly found the daylight hours escaping us as we bounced from the best cafes in Bishkek to the nicest restaurants. Youthful, good-looking students briskly walk the streets, on their way to class, cafes or whatever it is there is to do in Bishkek. The snowcapped peaks to the south loom over every rooftop, hinting at the wonders that lie just a few kilometres away. Tree lined streets and leafy parks create a nice juxtaposition with the traditional Soviet-style buildings that dominate places like the museum and university. A leafy pathway through downtown Bishkek. It quickly became clear that we could have made it a lot longer and been quite happy. Rather than rush in at the last minute, we thought we would make the most of the civilised capital and catch up on work. While moving about Kazakhstan though we knew we had to return to Bishkek for a third time in order to jump on our Dragoman tour. Both times we saw absolutely nothing, but didn’t really care.īeing on the road for this long we’re starting to feel one of the curses of long-term travel again, and not get impressed easily. When we came back to Bishkek it was simply so we could catch a bus to Kazakhstan. We first arrived in Bishkek to get our Tajikistan visa, and left pretty promptly once we acquired it. A nice little park in the middle of Bishkek.
Perhaps you could even call Bishkek sleepy. There was the mandatory National Museum, a few monuments, a leafy park here and there and a good restaurant scene. The capital of Kyrgyzstan itself didn’t seem to have a lot going on, with the main attractions being the superb mountains surrounding the city. We try to avoid them when we can, and usually only use them as brief stopovers to see a few major sights or to get visas. Because we never really make travel plans or consult guidebooks, we end up doing circles in a lot of places.Īs frustrating as it can be, strangely enough we were a bit excited as we drove into Bishkek for our third time.Ĭities are by far our least favourite part of any country. There’s definitely an art to hanging out in Kyrgyzstan, and it starts with enjoying the best cafes in Bishkek and kicking back in style.
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