Back in Bishkek!

May 12, 2013

The first “day” of my trip spanned three dates (May 9-11) and roughly 43 hours (and for those of you who know my obsession with the number 43, not, I am not making that up). Thirty or so hours were spent in the tedious process of traveling from Orlando to New York to Istanbul to Bishkek. The trip wasn’t bad, although like any such lengthy trip, it wasn’t great either. I had a boring 5 hour layover in New York’s JFK (Terminal One of which seems to have been the design basis for Seoul’s ICN), followed by a ten hour flight in the middle seat next to a Bangladeshi fellow who was quite intent on sleeping on my shoulder. I’m not talking about the person who falls asleep and then topples over onto the person next to them whilst unconscious; this fellow actually said, “Can I sleep on you?” and then when I said no, proceeded to do it anyway. Grrrrr. I got very little sleep on the way to Istanbul as a result of this guy, but given how much I was fidgeting in my seat, I don’t think he slept much either. Hah.

In Istanbul I met up with B., and we obnoxiously cackled our way around the airport for about four hours before our flight left for Bishkek. (This included an incident in which B. became convinced that a flight departing for Mongolia with a layover in Bishkek – and which departed about 2.5 hours prior to our flight – was actually our flight. He even talked me into trying to board with him. The woman at the gate stamped his boarding pass before actually looking at it, and then telling him that this was a completely different flight and that ours left in 2.5 hours. Hah. Told you!) I was actually able to sleep on the flight to Bishkek, so I wasn’t completely dead to the world when we arrived at the Manas International Airport outside Bishkek at 5am local time on May 11th.

B with his incorrectly stamped boarding pass

I had to pay $70 (USD) for my student visa (yes, I was traveling under a student visa, even though I would actually be teaching, albeit as a volunteer) – this $70 fee was annoying as the tourist visa is free upon arrival, and since I had not been informed of this fee in advance. Luckily I had the cash I needed on me and was able to replace the “lost” $70 via an ATM in downtown Bishkek. I needed the “student” visa because I was planning to stay in Kyrgyzstan for two and a half months, and the tourist visa was only good for two months. While the initial student visa is only good for one month, it can be extended, while the tourist visa cannot be.

B and I met up with N and A who had arrived about an hour before us. We then hopped into our pre-arranged taxi (arranged through our hostel) and headed for said hostel – Sakura, located just outside the center of Bishkek, not far from the circus and the Hyatt. Check-in time at the hostel wasn’t until 11am, and we got there at 6am. Sigh. Luckily there was an incredibly adorable cat to play with. Eventually the owner awoke and let us put our bags up, although our beds were not yet ready. At that point we headed to Fatboy’s for breakfast.

B and the adorable cat
N and A at Fatboy's

On the surface, Bishkek seems nearly completely unchanged from 2008. Walking along Sovietskaya and Chuy, we felt as though we’d either never left or had stepped back in time five years. There were quite a few small, superficial changes, but overall nothing that stood out as a huge, fundamental change. Among the superficial changes we noted on our very first day back in the Motherland was the remodel of the interior of Fatboy’s. The menu was essentially the same, and the free selection of suspect reading material remained, but with the completely new remodel it was almost like being in a new (and not necessarily better) establishment. (In my opinion it was much cozier before.)

After breakfast, we strolled around the center of town. One main superficial change we noted was the replacement of the Erkendik (freedom) statue in Ala Too Square (which had been of a fantastical woman holding a tunduk – the top part of a yurt and the national symbol of Kyrgyzstan) with Manas (the legendary Kyrgyz hero), or as N put it, “trading freedom for nationalism.” The other was the addition of a new monument to the overthrow of Bakiev in the 2010 revolution. This monument is located next to the Kyrgyz White House. We also photographed Lenin (still lurking behind the State Historical Museum), then wandered over to Panfilov Park, taking pictures of creepy rides and riding the creaky ferris wheel. At that point we headed back to the hostel to check in and freshen up… then it was off to The London School.

Ala Too Square with the new Manas statue Ala Too Square looking the other direction One of the creepy rides in Panfilov Park The new monument to the 2010 Revolution

The London School has definitely changed a LOT in the past five years, although it remained quite similar nonetheless. The biggest difference was that it is now three stories (whereas five years ago it was only a two-story building – in my opinion this cannot be a good structural decision in a place prone to shoddy construction and earthquakes!) and it now has a huge office and reception area which filled half of the courtyard. Additionally, several of the old teachers’ apartments (including mine and B’s) are now classrooms. My old classroom, in contrast, is now the TLS teachers’ lounge. Most (perhaps all?) of the teachers live in a house off-site, and the remaining bedrooms where we all used to live are rented to foreign students who have come to TLS to study Russian or Kyrgyz.

The newly expanded London School as seen from the courtyard
My old bedroom!

We were very excited to discover that the tradition of keeping not entirely illicit cats at TLS continues (the staff continues to turn a blind eye). We met one of the resident cats, and of course played with it and held it for pictures while the security guard looked on in bemusement.

B, me, and N pose with a cat in front of our old rooms

After I had signed my volunteering contract and given TLS a copy of my passport and visa (so that they could begin the visa extension process) we went over to the VEFA center for the purpose of checking out the new (since 2008 anyway) Georgian restaurant located there. It turned out to occupy the expensive spot on the rooftop which can only be reached by taking the back elevator to the fourth floor then following a convoluted route of unmarked passages. We ate khachapuri adjarski (my favorite dish) as well as various salads. It was all quite delicious, although not as good as Mimino in Kiev (or actual food in Georgia I suspect, although I have yet to make it there).

N and A with khachapuri :-)

We then strolled through the grocery store on the first floor – no longer Ramstor, it is now Plus Market, where I picked up my “traditional” Kyrgyz snacks of Twix and chechil. Then we headed down Gorkova to the CBT office to confirm our homestay reservations for Kochkor and Arslanbob. CBT stands for Community Based Tourism, and this is without a doubt my favorite organization in Kyrgyzstan. They are incredibly well organized, very helpful, offer reasonably priced services, and something like 90% of the money they charge goes directly to the community members providing the various services (homestays, horse treks, transport, etc.).

At that point, I seriously felt like I was about to pass out from exhaustion – I was literally having trouble putting one foot in front of the other. We returned to the hostel, where I showered, then crawled into bed and slept for ten straight hours.

Adventures of an International Cat Lady

November 5, 2008

Traveling from Bishkek to The Small Southern Town with four cats – while definitely worth it – was probably one of the most ridiculous things I’ve ever done. I’ve already described the whole rigmarole I had to go through in Bishkek to get permission to take my cats out of Kyrgyzstan. That was just the beginning.

B overlooks my pile of possessions

At 2:30 Sunday morning, a taxi (driven by Anatoli the Awesome) came to the school to pick up me, my various feline and non-feline possessions and B. (B came along to help me carry things and to laugh at the absurdity of what I was doing.) We got to the airport at 3am only to learn that check in for my flight wouldn’t begin for another hour. This was actually fine, as it gave me plenty of time to take the cats (or more specifically, their paperwork) to the Veterinary Control desk in order to receive even more stamped government forms from someone who didn’t so much as look at the cats.

Meanwhile, I should definitely mention that the instant we hopped out of the car we were descended upon by a dude with a cart who charged an exorbitant fee for use of said cart ($50!) but with four cats, two suitcases and a backpack it seemed worth it. He also tried to convince me that my money was also paying for him to call his brother on the other side of the security check in who would make sure that I had no problems getting the cats checked in. I didn’t believe that for an instant. Cart Guy was actually quite helpful, until he put Gee through the x-ray machine. Ooops. But that comes later.

Kitties in Manas International Airport

While waiting to check in, the cats provided entertainment to numerous children who wanted nothing more than to poke their fingers into the carriers in an attempt to pet (er, poke) my cats. The kitties were surprisingly well-behaved and tolerant of all this nonsense.

In order to check in at Bishkek’s Manas Airport, first you must go through a narrow door, then through a security check. This means that as soon as check in for your flight begins, you and everyone else on that flight immediately must rush like mad for the narrow door, pushing and shoving at will. Yay, civilization. Cart Guy, Anatoli, B, and I forced our way to the front and got me and all my crap through the narrow door. That was when Cart Guy put Gee on the conveyer belt, which whisked her into the baggage x-ray machine before I could do anything to stop it. People began screaming at me (“You’re going to kill your pet!”) and I started shouting at Cart Guy while frantically pulling the other three carriers off the conveyer belt where he’d put them. Gee had already been scanned, but I had to take the other three out one at a time and carry them through the metal detector while their carriers were put through the x-ray.

Once the cats, my suitcases and I were through security, I got to explain to some very friendly customs guys why I was taking four breed-less street cats home with me. (I must’ve had at least 6 different people ask “But don’t you have street cats in America?”) The customs guys actually seemed quite impressed when I told them that the cats were my responsibility and I couldn’t just abandon them. Although perhaps they were more impressed with my ability to explain all that in Russian.

After customs examined all my cat paperwork I was finally able to check in. First I had to pay $401 in excess baggage fees, which I’d expected. Well, I’d expected $400, and while I had more with me, the smallest bill I had was a $50, and of course they didn’t have change. Luckily I had $1 worth of soms left, and they let me pay with those.

Then I was instructed to leave my three cats (the ones going in checked baggage) on the floor in front of a random-seeming elevator. I had to leave them sitting there, mewing pathetically, as Luball (the cat who came on the plane with me) and I went off in the other direction to go through yet another security check. I was quite worried that I would arrive in Atlanta 30+ hours later and Gee, Bee and Heelio would still be sitting in their carriers in front of that elevator door.

Luball was wonderful during the trip. She had to be taken out of her carrier at least six times and she never put up a fight or caused any problems. She was quite quiet during our journey, and managed to keep from peeing or pooping until we checked into a hotel room south of Atlanta. God knows how she achieved that feat; I sure didn’t!

Anyway, we arrived in Moscow 5 hours after leaving Bishkek, and we then spent seven and a half hours waiting around for our flight. So boring. I remember back when I used to think Moscow’s Sheremetevo was exotic… but after Bishkek’s Manas, Sheremetevo is boringly mundane.

Boredom in Sheremetevo

The flight to New York was 10 hours long, and we left 30 minutes late. Then, when we got to New York’s JFK, we sat on the runway for a good 45 minutes before we were able to disembark. My layover had been only two and a half hours long to begin with, and I was very worried that I wouldn’t make my connection. I ran through immigration and was one of the first people to claim their bags (both of which arrived). Then I asked where I could find my cats… and the woman in charge of baggage claim info told me the wrong place to go to! I was standing there, waiting for my cats to appear, watching my fellow passengers all leaving, fearing that Bee, Gee and Heelio were all still sitting in front of that elevator door in Manas, when I heard the distant sound of cats crying. I went in search, and found them on the other side of the room from where I’d been instructed to wait! They were overjoyed to see me, and I was thoroughly relieved to find them.

I stacked my cats and suitcases on top of a cart and wheeled them through customs – who didn’t even look at their paperwork! All that paperwork to get them out of Kyrgyzstan and to bring them in I apparently needed nothing. Weird.

I went to re-deposit my baggage on the other side of customs and was told that I’d actually have to go out to the Delta check-in counter to drop off the cats. At this point I had a mere 40 minutes. Let’s just say that there was a lot of frantic running around, and we barely made the plane.

In Atlanta, the cats were there, but only one of my suitcases. I didn’t really care; I knew the missing suitcase had made it as far as New York, and all I cared about was having the cats safe. I met my mom at baggage claim, and we drove to just south of Macon before stopping at a motel and collapsing from exhaustion. We got to The Small Southern Town Monday afternoon.

Heelio confronts Daddy Cat through the screen door

The cats seem to have had no problem adjusting to their new home, although the cats which already lived there are somewhat put out that these interlopers are snuggled up on what they consider to be *their* bed :-)

Approved!

September 16, 2008

The cats and I will be rocketing into Atlanta on November 2nd! Wahoo!! All I need to do is figure out how to scrounge up $1500 between now and Wednesday. Plus that extra $400 I'll need to pay at the airport. Feel free to contribute to the whole getting-me-home fund :-)

Aeroflot to Atlanta?

September 14, 2008

Ever since my one and only flight on Aeroflot in 2005 – when my suitcase vanished and was hidden from me in a giant warehouse in Moscow – I haven’t had any desire to fly via Aeroflot. After researching Turkish Air’s policies regarding pet transport, I figured I’d return to the US the reverse of the way I came: Bishkek-Istanbul-Chicago-Jacksonville via Turkish Air. I found a ticket online that would get me all the way to Jacksonville for $1600, although I wanted to actually book the flight at the Turkish Air office in order to book “reservations” for the four cats as well.

Unfortunately, when I went to the Turkish Airlines office on Monday morning, I learned that the planes servicing the Bishkek-Istanbul route do not have a cargo area for pets, and only two animals are allowed in the cabin. Assuming no one else had reserved space for their pets on the flight, I could only take two cats, plus it would cost me $320/cat. Additionally, they wanted to charge me $2300 (not including cats) for the exact same itinerary I’d found online for $1600. They said that if I wanted, I could purchase the tickets online and then come back to their office in order to reserve space for my two cats.

I left the Turkish Airlines office in a panic, and went to the nearest internet café to look up the address of the Bishkek Aeroflot office, as Aeroflot is the only other airline servicing Bishkek which allows pet transport. I got the address and set off to find it… and of course it turned out to be an address which did not exist. At that point I was feeling super stressed, and decided to go into the first travel agency I saw which offered tickets on Aeroflot. (For a country where few people travel, Bishkek is oddly full of travel agencies.) Within about thirty seconds of reaching that decision, I arrived at Chuy Prospekt 108, home of the Avia Travel Club, authorized ticket seller for Aeroflot, among others.

The staff at ATC were very helpful. They found a flight for me: Bishkek-Moscow-New York-Atlanta for $1500, and said that it should be no problem flying with four cats as long as Aeroflot and Delta (the operator of the NYC-ATL leg of the trip) approved it, and the cost would be $100/cat. They went ahead and made the reservation in my name, and submitted a request to Aeroflot and Delta for permission for the cats to travel. I was told approval for the cats might take several days, and that I wouldn’t have to pay for the tickets until then.

Then came the one problem I encountered at ATC: they don’t take credit cards! Now, obviously, on my salary, I don’t exactly have $1900 (ticket + cats) lying around anywhere. I also don’t have that much in the bank, and had been planning to pay for my ticket via credit card. I figured I could just go to the bank and use my credit card to get a cash advance for at least part of the sum. Now, the only time I’ve ever gotten a cash advance with my credit card was in 1995 (when I went to Costa Rica with Melissa and Brenda), and then I just went to the bank, they ran the card through the machine like it was a purchase, I signed the receipt, and they gave me my money. Apparently things have changed. Now one must have a PIN number, as with an ATM card. The first I knew of this was when the clerk asked me to enter my PIN number. I took a guess that it was the same PIN as my ATM card (as they were issued at the same time by the same bank), but apparently it wasn’t. After trying three different banks, I headed back to the internet café to call my bank. Well, it turns out I had never requested a PIN for my credit card, and as such didn’t have one. But, the only way they could give me a PIN over the phone was if I called from my home phone – the one registered to the account. They weren’t too phased by the “But I’m in Kyrgyzstan!” argument. They did say that they could send a PIN to my home address, which would take 3-5 days. My “home” address is actually my mom’s, so that wasn’t too big of a problem; I was waiting for approval from the airlines for my cats anyway.

By Wednesday I had yet to hear from ATC, so I walked up to their office. They told me that they had already received approval from Aeroflot for the four cats, and were just waiting to hear from Delta. Woohoo! And there was much rejoicing! (Who would’ve expected that Aeroflot would reply before Delta?)

On Friday I called ATC, and learned that “my” agent was off until “после завтра” (the day after tomorrow), which one would assume to be Sunday, except that I just called them and didn’t get any answer. Not that any of this is surprising or anything… I am in Kyrgyzstan, after all. I’m hoping that everything will coordinate such that by the time my mom receives (and emails me) my PIN number, ATC will have confirmation that the four furballs and I will be flying into ATL on November 2nd.

And just today I learned that an Aeroflot flight crashed in Russia, killing all aboard. NO PHYSICAL HARM. Sigh.

The Journey, Part 2: Istanbul to Bishkek

January 1, 2008

Istanbul was fabulous, even though I only had enough time to explore the neighborhood where my hotel was located. I awoke, well rested, and went downstairs for my free breakfast. Now, I’m not normally a breakfast person, but the breakfast buffet at the Gunes Hotel was excellent: pastries, breads, eggs cooked every which way, fruits, veggies, and a huge selection of cheeses. I consumed an enormous amount, especially for me. Which turned out to be a good thing, as I didn’t get another meal until over 24 hours later. Thank goodness I had packed triscuits and peanut butter cups!

After breakfast, I called Turkish Airlines, and received some very good news. My backpack had been located – still in Chicago – and they promised to have it delivered to The London School in Bishkek by Friday. Fingers crossed that it shows up!

I packed my things and checked out of my hotel room... and still had three hours before the bus would arrive to take me to the airport. I left my bags with the concierge and set out to do some exploring. I wish I’d known I was going to have free time in Istanbul; I would’ve come prepared with a list of things to see and do. Instead, without any maps or knowledge of the city, I simply started walking. It turned out that my hotel was located in a residential/shopping area, and not within walking distance of anything historic and/or touristy. Nonetheless, it was an excellent walk. The weather was the perfect temperature for wandering about in just a sweater and scarf, the sky was a brilliant blue and the sun was gleaming. I felt perfectly safe, and everyone I encountered was quite friendly. I *definitely* want to come back to Istanbul at some point in the future. Below are some random photographs from Istanbul, mainly of mosques. Never having seen a mosque in real life before, I felt the need to photograph the ones I found.

Istanbul from an overpass near my hotel

At 2:00pm, the shuttle bus came and took me to the airport. In contrast to the previous day’s shenanigans, checking in was simple. Even though I had time to snag something to eat in the airport, I was not yet hungry after my enormous breakfast, so I simply loaded up on water. I assumed that on a five hour flight, we would have some sort of food service. But alas, no. Whoops. Other than lack of food, the flight was pretty nice. It wasn’t crowded at all, and I had enough space to stretch out across three seats and sleep comfortably. We arrived in Bishkek an hour early, although someone from the school was there to meet me. He drove me to my apartment and dropped me off.

My apartment is HUGE. Rather barren, but huge. Here are some pictures:

This is the first thing you see when you walk in the door.

The first door to the left leads to the bedroom

At the end of the long hall is the bathroom

To the left of the bathroom is the living room / kitchen.

Another view of the living room / kitchen

The view from my window.

I also have CATS. Three cats, to be exact. I’ll have photos of them and the school and stuff later. Right now, I think I need to go take a nap.

The Journey, Part 1: Jacksonville to Istanbul

December 31, 2007

I should know better than to fly American Airlines. I don’t normally, however, as AA and Turkish Airlines are international partners, and as I was flying Chicago-Istanbul-Bishkek on Turkish Air, flying Jacksonville to Chicago on AA seemed the thing to do. Ever since my very first international flight (to Ireland, back when I was 12), I have had problems with AA every single time I’ve used them. How is it they’ve managed to stay in business? I should also add that I’m feeling more than a little peeved with Orbitz right about now. Surely they should’ve updated me about... well, you’ll see.

The problems started when the check-in clerk in Jacksonville couldn’t provide me with boarding passes all the way to Bishkek, nor could she check my bags any farther than Istanbul. She seemed quite confident in her explanations of *why* she couldn’t, and how I’d just have to re-check my bags and get my next boarding pass in Istanbul, and how it wouldn’t be a problem. In hindsight, I suspect she may have been talking out her ass.

The plane out of Jacksonville was seriously delayed, which meant I had to run full steam across the Chicago airport in order to catch my flight. I was the very last person to board the plane, and was already having doubts about whether my bags would make it. Then, after all my airport sprinting, we sat on the tarmac for over two hours before takeoff. Of course, as I was mainly relieved to have made my plane, I wasn’t too bothered by this. The flight was quite pleasant, and as it wasn’t full, I had plenty of room to stretch out once we were airborne.

We landed in Istanbul two hours late – which didn’t bother me, as I knew I still had a three hour layover even with the delay. International transfer passengers (of which I was one) were instructed to go to the transit desk upon deplaning. I figured I’d get my boarding pass for Bishkek and instructions on what to do about getting my luggage checked all the way through. What I didn’t expect was to be told that THERE WAS NO SUCH FLIGHT TO BISHKEK on December 31st! I was told I needed to purchase an entry visa for Turkey ($20), go through customs, pick up my luggage, then go to the ticket counter for more information.

So I did all that. Except for the part about picking up my luggage, because only one of my bags was there. I guess this is why you don’t buy nice luggage; yes, my brand new, red, awesome, and very expensive backpack that I had bought in South Korea didn’t make it. While this was pretty stressful in and of itself, I’ve lost luggage numerous times before, so I know the procedure pretty well. (And the Turkish Air lost luggage people were way more friendly and helpful than the bitchy old man in Moscow’s Sheremetevo.) I filled out all the necessary paperwork, and got the numbers I’m supposed to call to check and see if they’ve found it yet. They even claim that they will send it to my home in Bishkek; far better service than Aeroflot and their suitcase warehouse.

After dealing with all the lost luggage rigmarole, I stood in line at the ticket counter. While up until then, everyone with whom I’d dealt on the entire trip had been quite pleasant, this woman was, unfortunately, rather bitchy. She seemed to think that I was simply insane for assuming that I had a flight to Bishkek on December 31st, and was somewhat confrontational about the whole thing. Finally, she did a search for passengers with my name. She said that I was booked on the January 1st flight to Bishkek, but there was a problem with my ticket, and I’d have to go to the ticket sales office. What kind of problem? “Some kind of e-ticket problem.” She either could not or would not be any clearer than that.

I was having stressful fantasies about being forced to purchase a new ticket at the ticket sales office in order to actually make it to Bishkek. Luckily, the woman at the ticket sales office was very nice. She explained that the December 31st flight to Bishkek had been canceled, and that my ticket had been transferred to the January 1st flight. She also said that Turkish Airlines would pay to put me up in a hotel overnight. Yay! She gave me a new e-ticket receipt, and said that I could use it to check in the next day.

Turkish Airlines set me up with a room in the Gunes Hotel, and the staff there were excellent. And by excellent, I mean super friendly, attractive young men. The room was pretty nice as well, although I swear the bathroom was bigger than the bedroom! So there I was in Istanbul for 24 hours, on New Year’s Eve of all days. I actually thought about going out and finding something to do with my evening... but I made it as far as the nearest grocery store and back before collapsing into my bed, sound asleep. I awoke a good hour after Istanbul had rung in 2008, watched CNN for a bit, then slept straight through until morning.

The hotel toilet had this scary device which, if turned on, blasts a violently strong stream of water sluicing between one's ass cheeks. While I did check to see if water really came out of that strange tube, I didn't do it while sitting on the toilet - I was frightened!

Look - Turkey sells kefir! Oh, how I’ve missed kefir!

This time tomorrow I'll be traveling!

December 30, 2007

Tomorrow morning I set out on the next stage of the grand adventure that is my life. I'll be leaving the Small Southern Town where I've been living for the past four months mid-morning, and heading down to Jacksonville, FL to catch my first flight. Assuming all goes as planned, I'll be flying Jacksonville-Chicago-Istanbul-Bishkek, and I'll be arriving in Bishkek at 2am (Kyrgyzstan time) on January 1st. The temperature will be roughly 9F when I get there! I won't have internet access in my apartment (sigh), so chances are I won't be able to update every day... but, since you all know how addicted I am to the internet, I promise I'll be updating as often as I can. In case you've forgotten, I'll be working at The London School.