Bishkek is one of the yongest city in the central asia surrounded by the tian-shan mountain in the height of 800 meter and the capital of the country Kyrgisthan . The weather here are very nice and the pollution is very less . The Earlier history of settlement in this area was in the year 1825 by the Khanate of Kokand . After that for a certain period this city was called pishpek and in the soviet russian era it was called Bishkek. In the year 1926 it become the capital of the soviet Kyrgisthan and after collapse of soviet russia it is still the capital of this country. Some of the tourist attractions in bishkek are ala to square , osh Bazar , state Historical Museum , panfilov park , victory square and many more . Some of the tourist Attractions in the outskirts of bishkek are ala archa national Park , Burana Tower , Chunkurchuk Gorge .
How to reach Bishkek ?
You can reach there by air , road and train . Road and train transport mainly go through the Almaty city of Kazakisthan . Mainly entry to the city of Kyrgisthan is through Kazakisthan because though there is border between the Uzbekisthan and Kyrgisthan in nearby area but it is mainly covered with high altitute mountains . so even though you travel from taskent to Bishkek first you enter to Kazakisthan then by road you goes all the way to the east and then cross border to Kyrgisthan . Rather than this long journey some people rest in Almaty and then take almaty to bishkek bus to reach there .
This is our bus from Tashkent to Bishkek .
The train runs from bishkek to almaty and then this train goes to different city of Russia . In the soviet era this Rail lines are build and there are rail connection from every capital of a central asian countries to russian cities .
Nearest Airport is 25 km in distance and named Manas International Airport .
All around the city you can see some snow capped tian-shan mountains . The main city is situated in the valley of this mountains. .The bus station looks very old and the plactforms are not like the neighbouring countries . Mostly kyrgisthan is filled with nomadic tribal people so in the people of this city you get a glimpse of it . This people’s are little aggressive and you can see lots of drunk people may be anytime of the day . So don’t go in the night after 8 pm alone . they may ask money or create problem with you .
Globus is the biggest supermarket chains in bishkek . Here in the supermarket there is no people to paste the QR code tag on your vegetable packet . so , mostly when you buy some vegetables you have to generate the code from a machine and put scanable sticker in the packet of your vegetables . For every vegetable there has been a code written beside it . You put the items as much as you want into a packet and put the code of that item into the machine and a bar code will come out from it and paste into the packet . Now just go to the cashier and pay money . He/she will scan the code and billed your items . It gives me a feeling that people trust each other and stealing and cheating might be less in this country .
Some of the milk based products which you can only found in central asian countries are Kymac and cymatana . Kymac is more tasty and more costlier and cymatana is relatively cheap . you can eat it with bread . Mulberry and stroberry are cheaper in this areas . Which might be 5-6 times higher price in my country india . In bigger malls you can find a food section where different cooked dishes with and freshly made breads or rices you can buy . Just go to your Hotel or hostel and heat it and eat it . In some malls you also have dine in option .
Transport in bishkek :
Taxi is available in all the cities so there is nothing to describe about it . With the big public bus there is also Mashrutka(mini van) and trolly bus as modes of public transport . In the whole city there is proper shaded bus stand where people waits and buses stop there . But this big buses are less frequent but Mashrutka is more frequent as this are small so it fills up quickly and are more frequent . This minivans has one door in the front and from this door you have to enter and exit . The roof of the mashrutka is very low so when you are standing care your head . Masrutka are faster than big bus .
Another interesting transport in all central asian countries including bishkek is the trolly bus . It has a pantoon like train by which the bus gets it’s power from the overhead electric line . the overhead pantoons are fixed such that bus can go little left or right but not too much as trams only go through the proper line . sometimes you see that the bus loose it’s connection as the pantoon lost it’s perfect position . At that time driver comes out and made it perfect and once again it starts running . The speed of this bus is little slow . mostly it does not go beyond 60 km/hr . but the bus ride is really smooth and no sound like normal bus .
tourist attractions in bishkek :
Inside bishkek city there are some tourist attraction which tells it’s preoccupation in soviet union . Outside of the city is filled with the mountains of beautiful tian shan . Lot’s of people come in bishkek for just nearby trekking routes .
renovation work in ala too square
ala too square is a very important square siuated in the heart of the city bishkek which was build in 1984 for celebrating of the 60 th anniversary of the kyrgiz – soviet socialist republic . It is a important square where the National day and some political movement is going on . I went there in 2024 and seen that they want to rebuilding square once again .
Osh Bazaar :
osh bazar
osh bazaar is opened in 1980 and it is famous for the spice market of this region . There were lots of vendors in this bazaar who sells different spices , nuts , meats , cheese , breads and many more . This is a fully shaded bazar . Outside of the bazaar you can see lots of people selling different items . Most of the sellers in this market are ladies . You can also see different drinks being sold here .
State History Museum :
This museum is situated near to the ala too square(which is the main square in this city ) . In this museum you can see the pre historical items to prove that this area has been inhabited for long time . We can also see some traditional items used by the kyrgiz people in daily life it might be traditional kyrgiz caps , dresses of kyrgiz men and woman and jewellerys used by them . You can also see different types of pots , jars used in their culture .
You can also see small replica of different monuments inside the state of Kyrgisthan .
Central mosque :
Practically , I see it from a little distance . This central mosque of bishkek is also called the Mosque of Imam Sarakhsi . This mosque was build in the year 2018 by the fund of turkey . At a time 30000 people can pray in this mosque .
This mosque is similar to the Ankara’s Kocatepe Mosque . The minerates and multiple domes of this mosque looks very beautiful .
Panfilov Park :
Panfilov park is an another historical park where the old monuments of the soviet heroes has been preserved . It was established in the year 1924 and later in 1942 it was renamed as Panfilov park .
There is a giant rollercoaster and childrens park in this park .The big trees will give you shade to protect from the sunlight . People relaxed here and enjoy the park atmosphere.
Rather than this , in the outskirt of the city there are certain points for the tourists like Burana Tower (situated 80 km from the Bishkek city ), Ala-Archa national Park (35 km from the bishkek city ) , Belogorka waterfall (May be you have to trek a littlebit to reach the waterfall ) .
Burana tower is a UNESCO World Heritage site . It was build by the arakhanid Khanate in between the 9 th to 11 th century . It was a 45 meter tall tower used as Islamic minerate to ask people for Namaz.
Summary :
Bishkek is the capital and the biggest city in Kyrgisthan . It is sarrounded by the high tian shan mountains . Inside the city you can visit the panfilov park , ala too square , state museum or the osh Bazaar . Outskirt of the bishkek city you can enjoy the trek in the nearby mountains in different trails and can also visit the ala archa national park or the burana tower (this tower has been builds in between 9th – 10th century ). The city is very new among the capitals of the central asian countries . people are good but don’t go unknown place after night 8 pm as public transport start to close slowly from 8 -9 pm and there is lot’s of alcholic people who may create problem with you . Enjoy this city and the beautiful scenary from that city .
