KyrgyzLand Read Articles about the Kyrgyzstan

Flying birds or rising pumpkins?

2006-06-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is another drawing of my friend. And there are even more causes for flight of fancy. I like this pic it is like "hello" from childhood. Looks like a fairy tale. That is why I called it "Flying birds or rising pumpkins?". To my mind this name mixes fun and serious thoughts up. And this is the main secret of our life: if you take it too seriously you look comically, but if you take life as a permanent fun and refuse to plan and think about the future it will definately show you its sad sides.

Tanya's dreams

2006-06-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

This is my friend's picture.
I am keen on them very much. I can even say that I adore them.
Some days ago she had a birthday and friends from the last place of work presented her water-colours, special paper and brushes.
We made her promise to paint something for us, so this is the first what she did. Take a look and have fun.

What Snow is in the Mountains

2006-03-10T02:13:00.000-08:00

Still talking about my best place in

Kyrgyzstan

. I try but cannot stop. Let’s take a map and find

Kyrgyzstan

then find a small white spot in the northern end of our country. Bingo!!! This is Tien-Shan and one of the biggest glacier there - Inylchek. Please be patient and find a name – Pobeda Peak. This is the highest point of Kyrgyzstan and not only. This is a place which is being visited once will attract rest of your life and will draw your mind as a magnet steel sewing needle. A lot of mountaineers come there every year and try to climb Khan-Tengri and Pobeda Peaks.

All I tried to tell you about this region loveliness was just a wish to explain why I visit this place every year. First time I visited this place in 2000 I worked in the base camp. A lot of interesting event were there I found a lot of friends but now I’d wanted to tell you about snow. Why snow? I think you will understand it soon.
It was 10th of August nice sunny day everybody worked as usual, but we had a great plan. After the dinner we were going to celebrate a birthday party. Our chief had a birthday that day. Wow, all day long we were dreaming about it. Dancing, drinking (of course), a lot of friends around!!!
Last plate was washed when first snowflake had fallen down. It won’t scare us. We started our party.
But just in two hours we understood that it was not so easy. During those two hours half of the meter of snow had fallen. Our tents were going to die under its weight. We put all our warm clothes on and started round. It took about one hour to clear all tents then some rest and again. All night long we were busy saving our tents. In the morning we were wiped out but our usual work was waiting for us. That night about one meter and a half of snow had fallen.
Even those who were there a lot of times were impressed. So much snow in one night!
That was the snowiest day of August in my life.

My best place in Kyrgyzstan

2006-01-30T04:09:00.000-08:00

I love Kyrgyzstan and there are a lot of places I really like but one of them is my best.
This is Zvezdochka glacier. :) I am afraid it tells nothing for you. But I will try to explane. First of all I will show you where it is on the map.
This region is the highest part of Kyrgyzstan that is called Muztag.
This is place of permafrost great glaciers and high peaks.
So now you know a bit about it. As for my best glacier it has very complex character. All the surface is dappled with crevices. That makes it very dangerous place for walking. But actually only crevices make this glacier so beautiful. Thanks to them Zvezdochka has a great number of valleys with blue lakes. And there is a picturesque river as dangerous as it is beautiful at the same time.
When you cross Zvezdochka you realize that all your problems and thoughts are so insignificant.
You see how it moves and changes all the time but still is alive and will live always.
Once walking along the moraine I saw a stone. Huge! It was 3 metres high, about 1 meter width and very thin. Just imagine this stone was standing!!! How? It was impossible, but it was.
The glacier being on the run itself made everything around to move also and there are no rules for them!
That is my place where I feel that life is everywhere in ice, in stones, in flowers and even in wind.
And when I am there I am not so concerned about my everyday problems.

My Thoughts

2006-01-27T03:50:00.000-08:00

The country where I live is not well known to the rest of world. Most of the people learn about it from news (it is not the best way as soon as they are not always correct).

I think you should know this feeling when somebody tells: “Oh, yeah I know this is the country where the war is!” and at this moment I want to scream: “No this is the country with high mountains and green valleys, there has never been war!”

I want to tell you an old Iranian story about one famous person. Once this man walked along the street and sprained his leg. Straight that moment a man in the street saw him and thought darkly: “Hey, he is a lame man!” from that time everybody in his town thought that he was lame man.

As you can see it is very easy to suspend somebody.

And I want to show you my country as it is. With it’s joy and sorrow. With it’s good and bad sides.

Kyrgyzstan Preview

2006-01-23T23:29:00.000-08:00

Kyrgyzstan

is the country of vivid oriental culture. That's why, there are so many specimens of oriental architecture: monumentally-religious edifices concerned with Islam - minarets, mosques, mausoleums of medieval khans and military leaders, as well as fortified caravanserais. But the capital of Kyrgyzstan Bishkek city and provincial centers are the models of Soviet municipal engineering and town-planning. All the government and state facilities represent Soviet architecture of the epoch of so-called "socialistic realism".

Central Asian country, Kyrgyzstan is very warm, even hot land with sharply continental climate; but here you will also find snow-covered summits of the Tien-Shan bearing the second largest glacier in the world - Southern Enilcheck with the length of 62 km on their slopes.

Kyrgyz people have always followed religious principles received through Prophet Mohammed, and today about 70% of the population nominally consider themselves to be Moslems. But near by the Islam and sometimes mixing with it, profound traditions of pre-Islam beliefs subsist here. For instance, Kyrgyz world-outlook contains totemic conception, which is based on the idea of cognation of group of people with animals and birds. The name of one of large Kyrgyz kin - "boogoo"(deer) - is evidence of venerating deer by representatives of that kin.

As a matter of fact there is no religious fanaticism among the general body of the population. More and more progenies are being enrolled by Christianity, which is represented by every known denominations, the largest one of those is Russian Orthodox Church. Christian TV channel is broadcasted in Bishkek.>

The larger part of the country (60-65%) is occupied by mountain ranges, so the relief is remarkable for abrupt contrast of altitudes. Almost 90% of the territory lies higher than 1500 m. above sea level, and the highest point - peak "Pobedy" - is 7439. Length of the majority of the ranges fluctuates from 100 to 300 km., width - from 10 to 40. The maximal length is reached by Kokshaal ridge (582 km.) and Ala-Too ridge (454 km.).
Such significantly partitioned relief along with the presence of nonfreezing Issyk-Kul Lake makes the climate of the republic be utterly manifold - from sharply continental to close to maritime one. One more important part in the formation of climate is played by the geographical location of Kyrgyzstan. The country is situated in the center of the largest continent on Earth - Eurasia - in the vicinity of deserts and remote from seas and oceans. All the factors contribute to formation of arid climate with strongly pronounced seasons; however, southern regions are located in the zone of subtropical climate. Especially we should mark the softening influence of water surface of Issyk-Kul Lake on the climate of the central part of coastal areas. There is no exhausting heat in summer time, and in winter period it is 3-5 degrees warmer here, then on the same altitudes in the other areas of Kyrgyzstan.

Consequence of such climatic, temperature discrepancies between regions, as well as difference in annual precipitation and great differential of altitudes has caused forming of various types of vegetation. All its forms are presented in Kyrgyzstan: deserts, steppes, meadows, and forests, thickets of deciduous shrubs, bogs and mountain tundra. In tote, flora of the republic contains about 4 thousand of plants; some of them are the objects of special pride and sources of world-wide renown. For instance, there grow walnut forest in the South, which occupies 608.5 hectares. This is the largest nut-bearing forestry on our planet.

It is quite natural, that multiplicity of vegetation's and landscape's forms has exerted its influence upon populating of them by various and numerous representatives of the animal kingdom. There are about 500 species of vertebrates in Kyrgyzstan. Fauna of invertebrates has not been discovered thoroughly, attracting foreign entomologist and admirer of the so-called "ecological tourism". According to the latest data, 3171 species of insects live in the republic. Kyrgyzstan is home for 335 species of birds, some of them, like golden eagle, are unique for this country. Since the time immemorial, Kyrgyz people have been treating hunting birds - golden eagle, hawk, falcon - with great love. These birds are easy manageable. By means of them many game birds and animals are hunted for, and hunters (berkootchi) enjoy wide popularity among the local population.

Within the republic there are 49 species of fishes, 25 species of reptiles and 83 species of mammals. Unique animals are maral (Siberian deer), Marco Polo sheep and such, protected by local government, furs like lynx and snow leopard.

Consequently, ancient stock-breeder, nomadizing with his herds from one pasture to another, saw all the diversity of vegetative and animal worlds, comprehended that there were places, different from his environment, where snow never melted or scorching choppy soil vainly asked for moisture. It was filling his mind with understanding of word's versatility, making all Kyrgyz people as a whole such open to learning everything new, and, hence, such hospitable.