We're German, German 3

A Coffee And A Bish-kek

Carmen walked with me to the local bus stop.

Local cycle posse.

The train station at Schorndorf, where I took the train to the city of Stuttgart, and then the local Ubahn to the airport.

 I was lucky enough to have a window seat out of Stuttgart.

German fields

The busy port of Istanbul

Metropolis.

It was a pretty uneventful second leg, from Istanbul back to Kyrgyzstan, but I didn't sleep much, as I had an aisle seat down the back near the toilets, and pretty much every single person that needed to do their business accidentally knocked some body part of mine as they passed.

I arrived early in the morn, and took a marshrutka, a shared van, to the bazaar. It cost me the huge amount of 50c.

Ah, big out breath. I can live within my flimsy budget once again, for awhile.

As soon as I got out and started walking through the bustling streets to the bazaar I suddenly got a really nice feeling of being home. Wow. I hadn't expected that.

I sorta know this city a little now, I know how people are, I know what and where to eat and drink, and where to shop, and I know some people.

I know exactly where to get a really good coffee and a bish-kek.

After a few weeks of being with friends and family, which was amazing, I'm suddenly travelling alone again, and doing it all my own way.

It feels good.

I wandered around the bazaar, and found myself in the meat department.

Axe murderers

Don't ask me what all the bits are.

Ah yes, that reminds me! My guitar's waiting for me back at the hostel!

Fruit kompot, basically puréed fruit or juice.

I hung out in this locals eating house for ages, as it was too early to check in to the hostel.

Pizza and kompot. Mmmmmm. So great to be back.

On Yer Bike

It was so good to get back to the hostel, to hang out with Naveed, Ayganesha, Aydana, Insan, Pavil and the rest of the crew again.

Of course, there's always new people too, and this time I also got to hang with Jeremy from California, and Ev and Rex from Kuala Lumpur.

Jeremy's a really sweet dude man, he's warm and gentle, super relaxed, has a great sense of humour, and loves bugs and really depressing songs, of all things. He's spent a year in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, including nine months in Budapest, and is on his way home.

We've been jamming, as he's a really good guitarist and singer, and sings many songs (about suicide and depression) very well. He's not a depressed sorta guy though, he has a great sense of humour and is quite cheery  - well, he was when I was with him. He even lets me call him Jizza, but won't allow Jiss.

Ev and Rex are on a short holiday, they're super cool people, Ev does the best Australian accent ever, in fact I swear she's lived in Australia for years, but she denies it. She acts so much like a super switched-on Gen Zedder that pretty much all of us fell off our seats when she told us she was actually 33.

She keeps her age tucked in extremely well.

Naveed had the great idea of riding around Bishkek on hired bikes for a day, so, after a little encouragement, they all agreed to join in.

It was a great day. Hot and dry.

We all had the local drinks, maksym, chalap and kvas. I've had them all before, kvas is my fave, I have it all the time. Sorta cola-esque, but a bit soury too. 25c a cup.

The day was basically one big photo shoot.

Ev with her real smile

Really? Another one?

Watching the local chess masters.

The city looks rather grand in the summer.

The old art deco circus building, which is being renovated, so we couldn't go inside.

I remember these things from when I was a kid. What not to do. They worked.

We had a few errands to run, and eventually went to a Buffet place to eat. Buffet is a great place to eat in Bishkek, it's a restaurant chain, you can get loads of good cheap local food. Unsurprisingly, it's buffet style.

We also went for bubble tea.

Makin' eyes

Ev + attitude

Lovers come here and hang their wishes up on the board, and they always come true, as long as they buy a few expensive bubble teas.

We went to the bazaar, I looked after the bikes while they explored. The bazaar is a dodgy place to leave expensive things, even the cops wouldn't let us leave our bikes right by their copshop because they didn't want to be responsible for them.

Doesn't inspire a lot of confidence does it.

Pizza dinner.

Ala-Archa National Park

The next day we all went for a hike in this beautiful park close to the city. Well, almost all of us went. Naveed wanted to sleep.

We shared a Yandex to the park entrance, about 30 clicks from the city.

Everyone's happy. That apricot yoghurt drink's the bomb, btw.

Yay, the mountains again!

We saw 0% of these critters. Well, maybe a vulture or two, but that was it.

A Kyrgyz man doing a squirrel impersonation. See the cute little fella at the back?

These massive birds live for up to 30 years, and have a wingspan of up to 3 metres. That's over one and a half times my height. And they're spread all over the mountain ranges of Asia.

Glorious river

Yeah it was pretty much another all-day photo shoot.

I came up with the idea of building a drone that follows you when you're hiking or walking around or just doing your thing, and takes pics of you from all angles using AI technology, so you don't even have to think about it. It'd know what sort of pics you like, which side is your best profile, and would always find the best light and the best angles, and spruce you up right at the end, during its little AI post-production process.

I suggested the idea to Ev, she said that drones like that already exists.

Yeah, of course they bloody do.

We had a lovely picnic, but it was scorching hot and there was absolutely no shade whatsoever.

Ev and Rex made the announcement that this is the first time in their lives that they've ever had a picnic in nature like this, on the ground, not within a manicured park or on a picnic table somewhere.

Well there ya go.

The lives people lead!

I guess growing up in hygiene-conscious built-up Kuala Lumpur, you just don't do this sort of thing much.

We walked upstream. The track and the river were sort of the same thing for awhile.

Wild, wild horses.

Every now and then Jeremy would bug-ger off

It really was a sweet day.

Ev and Rex couldn't get their heads around the fact that Jeremy and I were drinking straight from the river, despite me explaining that the water is coming directly from a glacier way up in the mountains.

Eventually time got away from us, and we headed back, and had to hustle to get a lift back to Bishkek, paying a lot more than we did on the way there, because the drivers have a little cartel goin' on, and they've got ya by the balls, don't they.

http://buymeacoffee.com/krolesh9

Go to Part 4