Some photos from my final dip in Kyrgyzstan’s famous “warm” (but actually frigid most of the time, nippy on the best days) lake, Issyk Kul. I’m getting a bit emotional thinking about it. It wasn’t a trip I was most excited to take. It was peak season, we were going without the most solid reservations …
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taking the train to Issyk Kul
This is an experience that seems to make it around the various expat circles. Let’s take the train to Issyk Kul! My first reaction to hearing it was something like, really? You can do that? I just finished reading The Great Railway Bazaar and, influenced by the book, I imagined the train to Issyk Kul …
the weird mural in Issyk Kul
This mural has become something of a legend in my mind. My former Belgian housemate first told me about it a few years ago after he drove past it and snapped a photo. “Have you heard about the painting with the big, pink dragon attacking the White House?” Uhh, no. No, I haven’t. Can you …
going to Issyk Kul
After an uneventful weekend of lounging in my pool, baking a cake, and calling around to get the Oxus International summer intern out of custody from the Karabalta police station (what? I’ll explain below), the whole office is heading to Karakol (and nearby villages) for a few days to conduct some research and workshops. Hopefully …
Circling Issyk-Kul
A few photos from a business trip to Issyk Kul in July. (You can read more about the purpose of the trip on the Oxus website.) Unfortunately, there was no frolicking in the lake during this trip. Most of my time was spent in a car, driving the entire circumference of the lake, or quietly …
lovely Issyk-Kul
More shots from Issyk-Kul. The sand glittered, the light was soft, and I had plenty of time to play around with different lenses. Some of the edits are inspired by Marco Suarez.
First trip to Issyk-Kul
It only took nine months of living in Kyrgyzstan for me to finally get myself to Issyk-Kul, which I will assume is Kyrgyzstan’s most well-known and well-loved tourist attraction. I assume this because for the past nine months, whenever meeting a new Kyrgyz person and after the first set of typical questions (How long have …
I could live here for a long time
I won’t go so far as to say the “f” word… (Forever.) …but I think I could see us living in Ghent for a long time. Longer-than-three-years, long time. Longer-than-Kyrgyzstan, long time. Moving to Bishkek, the plan was open-ended. Well, initially we said, “Let’s stay at least a year and see where it goes from …
Bishkek tips
(Update, the blog is no longer active, but feel free to check out the archives!) You’re going to Bishkek! Oh dang, what to do? Lonely Planet is probably long outdated and you just want something to eat. Calm down, pick a point, and go get a plate of lagman, or a coffee, or some really …
Kyrgyz Music Friday
Kyrgyz Music Friday is a (now defunct) weekly feature in which I post a pop music video from an artist in Kyrgyzstan. It could be catchy, annoying, funny, insightful, brilliant, awful, or anything in between. It’s what’s playing on the radio, what all the cool kids are listening to these days. Kyrgyz Music Friday is …