In Bishkek you can sense the smell of the sea in the city

Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyz Republic, is situated only 230 km away from Almaty, the biggest city in Kazakhstan, the city where I live. I have a lot of friends in Bishkek and there also is a mountain area popular among mountaineers. That’s why I regularly go to Bishkek about 3-4 times a year.

Bishkek and Almaty are quite similar. These are two fast-growing cities. And I like to observe changes, notice tendencies and compare situations.

The last trip to the city opened “another” Bishkek to me. Before I used to pass by many street stalls selling traditional drinks, used to walk around the central square under a giant national flag, in parks and pass by soviet modernism buildings with Arab-style arches. But this time it all came together and Bishkek tuned out to be limitless, original, green, interesting, alive and inspiring. People are sleeping on the grass in parks, kissing in ruined galleries, sitting in the fountains as if they are in a jacuzzi. I guess there is nothing more to improve in Bishkek. The city is nearly perfect (except the lack of traffic lights for pedestrians). But many locals keep on discussing over illegal rubbish dumps, low-quality constructing, unnecessary roads, reduction of green spaces, revival of garden-city image, air pollution and respiratory diseases growth… Everything is like in a mirror, like in Almaty. It is especially strange to talk about air pollution when every evening you can sense the smell of the sea in the city…