Despite a pretty late night last night, we were up bright and early this morning.
Today was a pure travel day with a bus ride back to Bishkek, a few hours in town, and then a ridiculously early morning flight.
So, let’s start with getting out of town…
Marshrutka to Bishkek
It was definitely shorts weather as gone were the overcast clouds replaced with sunshine and 17c weather outside.
After another nice breakfast back at the sushi/everything else restaurant we’ve frequented a few times, we walked over to the nearby bus station.
Naturally we were immediately approached by guys trying to fill up their cars but we were holding firm on hopping on a marshrutka instead.
Marshrutkas are 17 seat minivans that are used in pretty much every city both here and in the other countries we’ll be visiting this trip.
You pay the driver a fee, he waits til the bus is full, and then he leaves for your destination.
The fee from Cholpon Ata to Bishkek was 700som ($12) which is pretty reasonable considering the drive is over 250km and takes 3 1/2 hours to get there.
It didn’t take long for our marshrutka to fill as I imagine alot of people would be leaving the town today since the Nomad Games were now over.
At just after 11am we were on our way back to Bishkek.
Back in Bishkek
Three and a half hours later we had arrived and it felt like we were home again.
It’s always a strange feeling when you revisit a city you’re previously visited – like you where you’re going and what to do.
The 17c temperatures we had this morning had now been replaced by 32c and that’s pretty much what the temperature range is going to be for the rest of the trip.
No more pants. No more jacket. And, hopefully, no more umbrella.
After a combo of city bus and taxi ride, we reached the same hostel we stayed at last week around 4pm.
We wouldn’t be there for long though…
Lunch buffet
First, after dropping off a quick load of laundry, we headed straight back out into town.
Breakfast seemed like ages ago and we were pretty hungry.
We decided to just walk down the main street and see what restaurants would appear.
Eventually we stopped in a restaurant serving cafeteria buffet style food very reminiscent of the buffet restaurants we visited a couple of weeks ago in Almaty.
Lunch for me today was a plate of potatoes with what I think was hot dog meat and a side of coleslaw.
I was no longer hungry.
Off to our next stop…
The hunt for Soviet souvenirs
Before I left for this trip, someone on Reddit had mentioned that they had visited a shop selling Soviet souvenirs at the Central Bazaar in the center of town.
I had tried to visit the place last week when we were here but, with all the ceremonies and conferences taking place, the mall was closed.
So, today, I had one and only one mission – get some Soviet souvenirs.
Now, I’ll admit, with everything that’s happened here in Kyrgyzstan, I was fully prepared to not find the place and face yet some more disappointment.
We went up to the third floor and after perusing a couple of shops we came upon the little shop in the corner.
Oh my God! So many souvenirs from the former Soviet Union!
After my little haul I also stopped by another stand to snag some additional souvenirs for the four people watching my cats while I’m away.
After a successful mission there wasn’t really anything left for me here in Bishkek.
An early night
We got back to the hostel at just before 7pm but, like I said earlier, we wouldn’t be here long.
Our flight tomorrow into Uzbekistan was departing at 5am which meant we had to get up at the ungodly hour of 1:30am.
Yeah, it was gonna be a short sleep if any at all.
We both went to bed around 8pm but, honestly, sleep was just a pipe dream at that hour.
I maybe managed an hour’s sleep before it was time to get ourselves out of bed, packed, and on our way.
As for that saga, well, that’s all happening in tomorrow’s blog…
