Kyrgyzstan

We have now entered Kyrgyzstan. Not much to say yet since I have only been here one day so far, but if the rest of the stay will resemble the warm welcome we got on the border(we became such good friends with the English-speaking customs officer that he declared a forever bond of friendship between Norway and Kyrgyzstan), our two weeks in this country will be a very nice stay. Now I am enjoying a kaffe latte in the capital Bishkek... apparantly you can get this everywhere now.

Cecilie

Open for comments!

I just realised that it's been impossible to post comments. I have now fixed this, so please do! It has been so silent...

The glorious nation of Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan could somewhat resemble a big ocean; a big, endless ocean of yellow corn-fields and straight roads leading us into nothingness. We have been driving on these endless roads for a couple of days now before ending up in the capital Astana where we are admiring Nazarbayev 'good' architectual taste.

It is so far a country full of contrast, even more than Russia I guess. Physically it is situated on the border between Asia and Europe: it is the ninth largest country in the world (approximately seven times bigger than Norway), but it has a population density of less than 6 people per square kilomtre which explains the endless fields of corn. It is also on the border between something that could look like democracy, but has bvecome more and more something smelling of dictatorship - the president Nazarbayev has just changed the constituion which makes it possible for him to stay president for life. It is a country that is trying to find its roots and a national history after the split up with the Soviet Union - a split up that was not that welcomened and threw the country into an econimically turmoil; a country of Russians, Ukrains, Germans, Koreans and of course Kazakhs, living side by side in an area with strong nomadic traditions. It is a land of contrast here I wander around in the streets of Astana trying to figure it all out. But I have more days to figure it all out, maybe a week before we drive into Kyrgyzstan.

All I can say is that I am happy to tell you all that it is not the land of Borat for sure...

Cecilie; having problems with my right hand, making it hard to write and also makes the blog being updated even less... The juicy stories from Kazakhstan will be written later.