A snapshot of Kyrgyzstan: Bishkek

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Kyrgyzstan is for me the country of my childhood where we spent our summer holidays at Issyk-Kul Lake. Other than that I knew very little about it.
When I learned that my next business trip was to Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan, I was excited as it offered the opportunity to learn a bit more about it. And I had 3 whole days to do it.




Day 1: Bishkek
Due to working almost all day, I only had a couple of hours to get the first impressions of the city, specifically the city center.
It looks quite modern but very similar to the most city centers in former SU republics, with the presidential palace dominating the whole area.

As in most of the former SU countries the city center has also the independence monument that symbolizes the beginning of a new era.

But the changes that took place after the country’s independence became a fact weren't always positive. Most Asian countries got a dictatorship instead of a democracy that they all hoped for, with all the consequences of having it. And as under any dictatorship the riots breaking out all over the country were just a matter of time. Called revolutions by the Westerns they led to more misery and wrote several black pages in country's modern history. One of them, as recent as in 2010 and you can still see the bullet holes in the granite colonnade at the side of the Independence Square. The monument was erected to commemorate the lives of those who died that day at the square and it symbolizes getting rid of the evil in the country's future.

 

Today it looks very peaceful and there a lot of people coming here in the evening to just walk around and to listen to the national music being played along with the colorful fountain show.

 

 

The Manas monument in the middle of the square reminds about the Kyrgyzstan heritage and literally treasures.  



 

And of course the national flag that is guarded day and night by the presidential guard. By the way, when the riots broke out in 2010, the guards didn't move an inch watching the mob being slaughtered in front of them.

  

 

After I left Bishkek, the riots broke out again the next week... So to see, the country's turbulent times are not over yet...