Kyrgyzstan is a mountainous county in Central Asia. It is sandwiched between Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south and China's Xinjiang province to the east. Kyrgyzstan has a population of around six million souls and its capital is Bishkek with a population of just under one million.
The forty-rayed yellow sun in the centre of the nation's flag represent the forty tribes that once made up the entirety of Kyrgyz people before the intervention of Russia during the rise of the Soviet Union. The lines inside the sun represent the crown or tündük of a yurt, a symbol replicated in many facets of Kyrgyz architecture. The red portion of the flag represents peace and openness.
Kyrgyzstan is a poor country but gradually things are improving. Economically, its main sources of revenue are minerals, metal processing and agriculture.
The country lies on the famous silk road that linked China with Europe. Warring horsemen from Kyrgyzstan's mountains were frequently among those who raided China prior to the construction of The Great Wall. The horse has always played a vital role in Kyrgyz society and even today horse milk or "kumis" remains the national drink.
It would be possible to devote a month of blogposts to Kyrgyzstan but I am going to stop here as I realise that a number of blog visitors have the attention span of a goldfish. Perhaps this post has whetted your appetite to learn more about Kyrgyzstan.
Should the Kyrgyzstan authorities be monitoring this blog, I will be happy to visit Kyrgyzstan on your behalf and feed back later with associated photographs thereby encouraging an increase in tourism to your fascinating and very beautiful country. You only have to say the word and reserve my flights and accommodation - but no horse milk thank you very much!
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| A view of Bishkek |
Who you calling a goldfish?
ReplyDeleteOf course you are not included in "a number of blog visitors" Sue as you have an attention span wider than The Wye Valley.
DeleteWow! You are most complimentary to your readers, Yorkie. Obviously, you don't care who you offend...including the innocent goldfish.
ReplyDeleteYou are also not included in the goldfish category Lee. In terms of attention span (not weight or appearance!) you are more like an elephant.
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DeleteAny part of the Silk Road would be fascinating to visit, I think. I'd even be happy to stay in a yurt.
ReplyDeleteDid you say something uncomplimentary about readers and goldfish? Nah, didn't think so
Ha-ha! I see what you are doing with your last remark Kylie... as air bubbles rise to the surface of the aquarium.
DeleteGoldfish? Any fish people in this house would be some sort of Cichlid. African variety at the moment.
ReplyDeleteWe will have to get Gregg to feed all these goldfish and clean out their tank.
DeleteGreat post.
ReplyDeleteThank you Regine. It's nice to know about obscure countries like Kyrgyzstan isn't it?
DeleteWhy am I unable to pronounce Kyrgyzstan?!
ReplyDeleteAs long as you don't call me a fishwives, a goldfish is fine with me.
Greetings Maria x
Pesce rosso are very beautiful creatures Maria.
DeleteYou've done some research and passed on some interesting information. I think you'll wait a long time for those flight tickets.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't ask, you don't get Senor Red.
DeleteI always believed that goldfish had a three-second memory. However I then discovered that the goldfish in my pond learned when and where they would be fed and also recognised my voice or other stimulants. It occurred to me that memory must be involved. I did some research and discovered that fish are now thought to have memories which will cope with things for up to 7 months.
ReplyDeleteYears ago I met someone with connections with (may even have been from) Kyrgyzstan and she taught me how to pronounce it (which is actually pretty easy). Unfortunately it's something I have never needed.
Never needed?...Until you read this post of course!
DeleteOf course!
DeleteGoldfish? more like an angel fish. lol
ReplyDeleteBriony
x
Down at Brighton? A lemon sole!
DeleteWhat made you decide on this topic just now, if I might ask? Are you planning a trip? Well done and interesting. I actually know what a yurt is! Modernized versions are being used at parks and other places where visitors like to camp. Even in Canada :) Here is one such park in New Brunswick, the province next door to us.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nb/fundy/activ/camping/yourtes-yurts ... We have camped at this park but it was long ago and pre-yurts. I wouldn't mind going back and trying this accommodation.
I decided on this topic - basically because my knowledge of Kyrgyzstan was zero.
DeleteI'm just getting caught up on recent posts. Comments are with each one!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy learning new things and I just did, so thank you! I'm sure the Kyrgyzstan Tourism Association could benefit from your help.
ReplyDeleteI could help them to design a theme park - Kyrgyzland!
DeleteVery interesting post, Yorkie, but that is not at all unusual. Here’s something unusual: In Albanian, which along with Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages in the world (neither one branches off from any other source on the chart of Indo-European languages but goes straight back into antiquity), the word for milk is qumesht. From this fact I surmise that the language spoken in Kyrgyzstan is also a very, very old one.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine it is Bob. Perhaps you should also do some research on Kyrgyzstan - such a little known country for westerners like ourselves.
DeleteA former colleague of mine was from Kyrgystan (Kirgisien, as she called it). She had a very bright head on her shoulders but people tended to overlook that because she was what could be called a bombshell, looks-wise.
ReplyDeleteIs a bombshell good to look at or bad?
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