Walking Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan)

Post Soviet city of monuments, smog, and an anything goes entrepreneurialism

Bishkek is not a pretty city. It doesn’t have lots of history, having been built less than a hundred yeas ago by the Soviets to rule over the locals. It has very little to pull in the tourists, so the tourist don’t come. With the exception of Kyrgyzstan’s surrounded nature, a country of high plains, salt lakes, and vast mountain ranges, which does bring in a few skiers, mountain climbers, and quirky nature watchers.

On maps, and the flight into town, it is those mountains that define Bishkek. Huge craggy snowy peaks fifty miles south of town. In Bishkek though, you hardly see them. A constant and penetrating smog from coal fires and cars makes sure of that. On the rare day when the wind does clear the sky enough to see more than a mile, the view is broken by the dreary Brezhnev era apartment buildings that dominate much of the city.