After a breakfast at the nice little coffee bar a short distance from the hotel, we walked to the Historical Museum. The first floor was full of exhibits from the area now covered by Kyrgyzstan from prehistoric times (including a mammoth tooth and tusk) and the period up to the 18th century. They were beautifully displayed with explanations in Kyrgyz, Russian and English. The second floor had details of the internecine warfare between the clans and included a full-size yurt. There were also pictures of fighters for the pro-Bolshevik side in the Civil War of 1920-1922 against the Bazmachi. I was surprised not to see (although I might have missed it) a picture of the Soviet leader Mikhail Frunze after whom Bishkek was named until 1991. The third floor appeared to be a propaganda exercise describing what a wonderful country Kyrgyzstan has become since independence, although it would be hard to argue with that.
We then walked back to the hotel along the main road eastwards from the museum, which is opposite the city’s main square. It was thronged with people, many of them school kids of different ages in their black and white uniforms. There were many stalls selling cheap tat and games including one where you punched a punch bag and it rang up a score to show how tough you are. This big bloke with arms like tree trunks hit it and scored 529. Then a skinny wingly little bloke with spindly arms scored 728. I thought of having a go but couldn’t pluck up the courage. We finished that day with another excellent meal at the Bukhara restaurant after trying the one next door, but they only had menus in Kyrgyz.
The pic shows our hotel. I forgot to take my phone to the museum but Jennifer has promised to send me the photo of the mammoth tusk. I’ll show it later
