I have visited Bishkek 4 times in the past 5 years, which sounds crazy once I actually put those words on the screen. The truth is that Bishkek is a fairly modern and comfortable capital city in the middle of a country that is anything but.
Bishkek fountain moment.
You may have noticed the comments made on my initial post about my return visit in November 2011 that I couldn’t quite grasp how much the city had changed, grown, and evolved in the span of 3 years. Where a coffee shop was once hard to find, I now have several options (Foyer, Vanilla Sky, Coffee Time, etc.). Where American style barbecue was once a dream, I can now sit and enjoy pulled pork on any night of the week (Smokies). If you’re lucky, you just might be served up with an English menu, too!
Bishkek is a changed place, and I’m happy for it to be doing well.
But that doesn’t mean that trying to live there won’t leave a person desperately pining for certain luxuries and normalcies. It doesn’t mean that things make sense.
The Kashgar Old Town streets.
After our visit back in May, Pat and I took the Torugart Pass through the mountains to China. Our final destination: Kashgar.
When we arrived in Kashgar, it was weird and busy and exciting to our senses. Instead of arriving in China, I felt that we had magically got spun around on our all-day adventure and went west to Uzbekistan. Kashgar was Muslim, and Uyghur — a far cry from what one might consider to be China!
Shopping in Kashgar.
The streets near our hostel were overrun with locals — locals on silent electric motorbikes grazing past too close for comfort, locals selling produce and market goods, or just walking on their merry way. The language barrier hit us like a brick wall as we didn’t know either Uyghur or Chinese, and the only meat on the menu at many locations was mutton. Let’s not forget about the day we stepped back in time at the Sunday animal market.
Stepping back in time at Kashgar’s Sunday Animal Market.
When we left several restaurants feeling defeated and got into too many awkward situations involving taxis, we found solace in the one place that made a little sense to us: our accommodation, the Kashgar Old Town Youth Hostel.
Our hostel with the awesome chill-out courtyard.
I never once considered Bishkek to be a Western city, but after a couple of days in Kashgar, yes… yes it is.
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My stay at the Kashgar Old Town Youth Hostel was provided free of charge through a partnership with Hostelworld. More to come about the hostel itself.
American girl left to travel the world in 2007. Studied languages, slept in a yurt, taught English, met Aussie guy and fell in love. Moved to Australia. Calls Sydney home. Wants a puppy. Still loves to travel. Read more 
BBQ whhaaaaaaaat? I’ll be looking for this tomorrow!
Also, if you get back, check out Sierra Cafe on Manas just south of Chuy. Good coffee, but more importantly they roast their own beans!
Yeah, we went the day after 4th of July and it was dead there, but… the food wasn’t bad. Hope it’s not like that all the time. Get the hush puppies, too!
Wow, It really seems like a fascinating area! I will have to look further into visiting this area in the future.
I hope you make it there someday, and be sure to report back!
Such an interesting part of the world – definitely need to make time to explore. I bet you didn’t bump into to many travellers there?