Flight to the big city of Bishkek

Yes, another city. We aren't really doing Kyrgyzstan the justice that it deserves, however we're hoping to make up for that somewhat here in Bishkek. 

Yesterday evening, we flew from Osh to Bishkek. We would have preferred to do the drive, while stopping at several places along the way for a day or two here and there, but it's a 12 hour drive through the mountains and many accommodation places are closed up there for the season. We're simply not here at the right time of year to explore the scenery the way we want to.

But while it's a 12 hour drive, it's only a 45 minute flight. 

Our plane didn't leave until 8:00pm, and we had already seen everything we wanted to in Osh, so we just kind of wasted the day away. 

After breakfast, we spent part of the morning talking to a Russian girl from Moscow who we met at the hostel. Her English was pretty much perfect, and she actually teaches Russian online.

We actually like staying at hostels, provided we have our own private room and bathroom. You have more chance of meeting some interesting people. Although, having your own private apartment is nice as well. We're glad that we're both very flexible in this regard because it gives you so much more choice.

We had to be out of the room by noon, so we got them to store our bags while we went out and wasted some time.

A park with some statues.

This one was interesting.

An oversize Kyrgyzstan hat.

We have seen quite a few men wearing the national hat. It is said to symbolize the snow capped peaks of Kyrgyzstan. I hadn't had the opportunity to photograph one yet, but there is a photo below that I managed to snap.

A fall day in the park.

A karaoke bar built into a bridge.

Very odd!

We went to a restaurant and had something to eat. It wasn't busy mid afternoon, so we asked if we could just sit and waste some time on the internet.

By 4:00pm, we wandered back to the hostel and picked up our bags and ordered a Yandex taxi to the airport for 260 KGS ($4 CAD, $2.90 USD).

We then had a while to sit around the airport. 

I managed to zoom in on this fellow wearing the traditional Kyrgyzstan hat.

Because of the 12 hour driving distance between the two major cities of Kyrgyzstan, there are a lot of daily flights between them. We flew with TezJet. The plane was about 15 minutes late leaving.

Boarding our TezJet Boeing MD83.

A Boeing MD83? Never heard of it! Turns out it was originally produced by McDonnell Douglas as the MD80 between 1979 and 1997 until the McDonnell Douglas/Boeing merger in 1997 when it was discontinued.

Five seats across, two on one side of the aisle, and three on the other. We were in row 8, so fairly close to the front and the engines are way in the back. probably the quietest takeoff we've ever experienced.

Our flight route from Osh to Bishkek.

Our flights cost 3,950 KGS ($61 CAD, $44 USD) each.

Bishkek Airport is located quite far from the city. And, our chosen hostel is on the opposite side of the city from the airport. So we had a 37 km (23 mile) taxi ride that took about 40 minutes. we could have used the airport bus to the center and then a taxi, but it only would have saved us about $4, and it was already late. We chose a taxi the whole way at a cost of 850 KGS ($13 CAD, $9.50 USD).

We are staying in a brand new section of the hostel that has only been open for three days.

Definitely one of the better hostels that we have stayed at. And priced well too, at 2,150 KGS ($33 CAD, $24 USD) per night for our double bed with private bathroom.

Raining when we woke up this morning, but supposed to be clearing by 11am or so. 

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