#kyrgyzstan
Taken on March 7, 2015Sovjet architectuur bij deze woontoren in Kirgizische Bishkek. In 1985 ontworpen door het team van B. Lebedev, I. Kombarbayev, A. Nezhurin, M. Baybekov, Ya. Grinshtein.
Photographer: Dumitru Rusu
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I’ve hit a milestone. It is somewhat obscure but very meaningful, and is an accomplishment that took lots of effort, and yet was never really striven for.
On September 8th, at the age of 21, I landed in Trinidad, and officially had been to fifty countries. The big 5-0.
I think that all of this reflection I’ve been talking about in the past couple posts was initiated largely by the realization of this accomplishment. It is strange because I don’t travel to increase my number, yet as a fact, it is still representative of many things. As I’ve written before (here), I view my passport as kind of the physical manifestation of this ‘number,’ and as a kind of table of contents to my life. The stamp, or the name of the country on the list I’m about to present, doesn’t tell you what I’ve experienced or learned in each location, but you can assume certain things.
I’m presenting the list here for a few reasons. 1. I think it would be fun for readers to ask me about certain locations I may have not yet written about. 2. In the next few days I want to put a list up of places I want to go, and it would only make sense to know where I’ve been. 3. It’s a generally accepted human desire to share accomplishments with others. Also, if you think I’ve traveled a lot- then read about the world’s most traveled men (here).
So here it is. I’ve divided it by continent (though I like to divide it by region too) and then in parentheses written the order it was chronologically. If I’ve written a post about it then a link follows.
AMERICAS- 17
USA (1)
Mexico (6)
Canada (4)
Antigua and Barbuda (20) Finding Music in Antigua
Bahamas (25)
Jamaica (23)
Nicaragua (21) Thoughts on Trip to Nicaragua
Costa Rica (22)
Argentina (9)
Uruguay (10)
Brazil (19) Africa in Brazil
Chile (11)
Bolivia (24)
El Salvador (47)
Venezuela (48) Tales of Transport
Guyana (49) From the Middle of Nowhere to Actually Nowhere
Trinidad and Tobago (50)
EUROPE - 13
Latvia (34)
Hungary (35)
Iceland (18) Romantic Weekend in Iceland
Vatican City (14)
Germany (5)
Czech Republic (12)
Italy (13)
Spain (15)
France (16)
Netherlands (17)
Belgium (38)
Norway (39) Best Country in the World?
England (40)
ASIA- 13
China (3)
Japan (2) Eating Whale in Japan
United Arab Emirates (31) Farewell
Palestine (33) Borders and Checks
Israel (32) Tale of Two Holy Cities
Kazakhstan (36) Photo Diary
Kyrgyzstan (37)
Oman (41) Oman, A Real Country
Jordan (42) Photo Diary from Jordan
Thailand (43) Stress and Stress Relief in Bangkok
Sri Lanka (44) Finding Nature in Sri Lanka
India (45) Leaving India
Nepal (46) Living Goddess: Kumari
AFRICA / OCEANIA – 7 (5/2)
Burundi (28) Relaxing Day in the World’s Poorest Country
Tanzania (27) Favorite Posts from Mangula
Kenya (30) Kibera and Mob Justice
Uganda (26) Boda Boda
Rwanda (29)
Australia (8) Chasing Kangaroos in Australia
New Zealand (7)
Honorable Mention (been in only airport on transit and thus not part of the 50)
1. Panama
2. Turkey
3. Ukraine
4. Bahrain
5. Colombia
All written out like that it still seems like it was all a dream! But I’m so proud and grateful for each and every adventure!
Kyrgyzstan - Denis Petrashov [R], swimmer
Kyrgyzstan, Song-Köl, June 2000
Some thousands of years ago the Kyrgyz, a Turkic-speaking nomadic people, migrated from North East Siberia and Mongolia, southwards towards the Tien-Shan mountain range in Central Asia. Although very few Kyrgyz live as nomads today, nomadism is still strongly anchored in the Kyrgyz culture. This is visible, among other things, in the national flag, in which the central symbol is the crown of a traditional yurt (felt tent).
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The First Teacher, 1965, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
Starring Natalia Arinbasarova and Bolot Beishenaliev
A former Russian soldier (Bolot Bejshenaliyev) instructs the Leninist doctrine to students in a remote Muslim region [in Kyrgyzstan].
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Braids of Turkic people
Hair is a sacred thing in Turkic culture like many other shamanic cultures. Hence why women braid their hair in sacred numbers such as 40, 41, 7 etc. Men having long hair is also very normal and they also braid their hair. It’s known that when Turkmens first came to Anatolia their hairstyle was seen rather strange to Anatolia’s peoples. One of the primary sources for men’s hairstyles is that gravestones that can be found in many Turkic countries.
Baatyr Kozhomkul, a Kyrgyz folk hero, carrying his horse.
Kozhomkul was a huge man, who won all the wrestling and competitions of strength that he entered. According to legend, as Kozhomkul was returning home one stormy night, his horse became mired in the deep snow in the Too-Asuu mountain pass. Kozhomkul carried the horse home on his shoulders, as depicted in the statue.
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![amazinglybeautifulphotography: Incredible turquoise lake of Kol-Tor, Kyrgyzstan at sunset [OC] [3987](https://64.media.tumblr.com/082d6f5852640e2cc26f21a2a08de4ca/ffb8e952ae0ec41f-49/s1280x1920/98351b6f7d2220fd6c6506a4947459cecb79b450.jpg "amazinglybeautifulphotography: Incredible turquoise lake of Kol-Tor, Kyrgyzstan at sunset [OC] [3987")
amazinglybeautifulphotography:
Incredible turquoise lake of Kol-Tor, Kyrgyzstan at sunset [OC] [3987 x 5981] - Author: aydin_h on reddit
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Big A-Frame. by Stefan Friessner
Via Flickr:
Ala-Archa national park, KG.
Song Kol, Kyrgyzstan
This hike was short, two days, but so nice. It was kind of a whim that I followed up on as there was time before my 9 day hike began to Khan Tengri. Stayed two nights in a yurt, ate a lot of bread and jam, and drank black tea.
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On my way to the single pass of this hike to Khan Tengri, There was a lot of grass and of course, a lot of horses. I don’t mean to post horses so often but they were at every turn in Kyrgyzstan and they were beautiful. The days weren’t too long but plenty of sun and no real trail yet. Just open wilderness. A Czech couple passed us going the other way as we were packing up this camp..they camped at the pass and saw us below the night before. They were the only other people we’d see for a few more days as it was the very beginning of the season for Khan Tengri.
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