Ragnar's World: In-som-nia

"1500 Som?" I laughed. "That's not even close to the right price. I'll give you 500!" He gasped.

Every time I land somewhere, the local taxi drivers expect tourists to accept whatever price they set. Not knowing how much it should cost. And usually, people are tired after a long flight, and ready to just get to the hotel and relax.

He wrote on his cellphone and it translated "I can only go as low as 1000". A bit back and forth, I just caved. Whatever. 1000 som is like 12 dollars anyways. For a 30 minute ride. Not really something to start a fight over. Besides, I later found that it was reasonable. There is a reason I often go by the name "El Cheapo". Known and feared on all continents.

I have only been to two 'stans before. Afghanistan and Gamla Stan. Many years ago, I watched a television show called "Visiting the stan's". It was about a guy who travelled to all the old soviet states in central Asia. The "stans". Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. Ever since, I have been wanting to go there. I checked out visa requirements many years ago, but they where hard. And some countries, you could only apply for visa in the neighboring country.

Without a tv station to back me up, I gave up. But last year, I found that some visa requirements have been lifted. Noticeably for Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. So I booked tickets and hotels for a three week trip through at least two of the 'stans. Maybe later, I will go to the rest.

One of the things I had to be cautious about this time, was of course the neighbor to the north. Russia and Putin. Putin's cyber-army is always eager to hack into pc's and smart-phones. Since I usually work for clients that has sensitive data and systems, I knew I had to make extra sure I didn't bring Putin back with me in my smartphone. That would not be very smart..(pun very much intended. You may laugh now, thank you)

So I bought a crappy el cheapo smartphone for about 80$. Which I then could just reset to factory settings when back home. Or, in case that wouldn't be enough, toss it in the bin. That way, my work phone would not be infected.

One downside is of course that I cannot blog "live". So therefore, I am just writing down everything during my travel. And waiting to post them until I get home. To avoid bringing Putin back home on my laptop.

It is a new world indeed...

Anyways. These following are the scribbles from my trip.

This is the first time I have tried Pegasus. The Turkish low-cost airline. I didn't expect much, and wasn't disappointed. No service, since I didn't order any. And, as a first, no seat pocket to store my cellphone and book. I looked around. No really. I managed to squeeze it all into the pocket holding the safety instructions and the menu.

The flight to Istanbul was eventless. Luckily. I walked around the airport while waiting for my next flight to leave. Shocked by the prices of, well, everything. Even for an airport, this was insane. 10 dollars for a small Snickers bar? Neuuuu...

So I just wandered around, and found a bench where I could sit and read my book. Finally, it was time to board.

We boarded on time, but after the captain had started the engines, we sat there for a while before he announced a delay due to much traffic. I was tired, so I fell asleep. Only to wake up 1 hour later. Still on the ground. Engines still running. "We have a lot of movements tonight, so we will be delayed another 15 minutes!" I fell asleep again.

Suddenly, the engines roared into life and I woke up again. 1.5 hour late.

I tried sleeping on the flight, but since the seat backs couldn't be lowered, I collapsed forward. After a few wakeups, I was nearing whiplash. So I gave up. And tried instead to watch the sunset over Uzbekistan as we closed in on Bishkek.

After landing, I stepped out of the airplane and sniffed the air. Ahhh! Fresh cow dung! A welcome break from the usual "old car which burns more oil than fuel, with a three-day old sunbaked sheep carcass in the back"-smell I usually get when landing in some countries.

In passport control (slower than anything I have ever tried), I gave the lady behind the counter my passport. She looked at it, then at a long list on the wall. Which I assume was the list of countries that didn't need a visa. Then at my passport. Then back at the list. A looooong time. I was starting to feel the ever so slight hint of worry. Had they changed the rules? Then suddenly, she slapped the stamp on my passport and gave it to me. "NEXT!"

After I picked up my backpack, I walked towards the exit. And some guys were calling out. "Free sims!". Sure. Nothings free. But I needed a sim for my phone, so I asked what this was. One week of unlimited data for 15 dollars. Wow. Can't complain about that. I bought one. After some initial fiddling, it worked. And I could keep in touch with peep at home.

After the initial haggling with the taxi driver, the ride in to Bishkek was nice. Wide open fields of green. And a backdrop of high, snowcapped mountains to the south. But I was surprised at how long it took before I saw something reminding me of a city. Only a few minutes before we arrived at our hotel, did it resemble any city.

I was too early for the hotel, so I had to wait an hour for them to prepare my room. I fell asleep in the reception. I was finally given the all clear. I went up to my room and fell asleep on the bed.

Woke up a couple of hours later, and started exploring the city. It had the usual war monuments and statues of men I know nothing about. I dunno if they were great men, or just men who where great at taking orders from the Kremlin.

One really great experience was the history museum. It was in a giant building. With the statue of Lenin relegated to the back. Maybe symbolic? That Lenin had been relegated to the back of history? Or that he had turned his back on history? I dunno. But the museum itself was stunningly made. With tons of artifacts dating as far back as the stone age. All found in Kyrgyzstan. I love this. Unfortunately, no photo was allowed... But I did enjoy walking around and looking a all this old stuff. Imagining life back then.

Of the other things I did the first two days, was two disappointments. I checked the map of the city to see if my eyes caught something interesting. "Dolphin pool". Dolphins? Really? I walked to the building. And after some initial hesitation, I walked inside. There was indeed a pool. With the door open, so I could watch. The pool was called Dolphin. There were no actual dolphins there. Disappointed, I left.

The other disappointment was a circular part of the map. I thought it might be some old fortress from ancient times. "Sultan restaurant" was a name that brought my hopes up. But it proved to be just a part of the city where the street where in a circly, with a crossroad in the middle. So it looked like a wheel.

As I was walking there, I noticed the skies were noticeably darker in the south-west. And that the winds had picked up. I was about 5 km from the hotel. So I started walking. Faster and faster. Then the rumbling of thunder in the distance rolled in. Then a few drops. Then some more. And before I reached my hotel, it was raining. I got inside before it started pouring down.

So that's about it for the first two days of my "Stan" adventures. Looking forward to the next few weeks.