As soon as we arrived in Osh on Monday April 15th, we went to the bus company to buy our ticket for the twice weekly bus to Kashgar on that Thursday. We were told "there is no bus this Thursday". SO we spent the whole Tuesday investigating how to get into China, and it rained the whole day. We ended up leaving on Wednesday, so there was not much sightseeing.
Osh is the second largest in Kyrgyzstan, supposedly one of the oldest cities in Central Asia, and once a major center on the Silk Road, though there is not much to show for it today. In the last few hundred years Uzbeks and Kyrgyz fought over the region, mediated by Qing China, until the Soviet Union took over. Today there are almost as many Uzbeks as Kyrgyz, and violent ethnic clashes took place as recently as 2010.
Early Wednesday morning, the sun finally came out. We took a quick spin around the bazaar, purportedly one of the largest in Central Asia.
Non Markazi (Bread Market) as seen from our shared taxi en route from Kokand to the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border. Our foodie shared taxi mate, bought bread for us at a similar place (2nd below with white shirt and headphones).
We get behind one of the ubiquitous white Chevrolets as we near Andijan.
The shared taxi dropped us off at the Andijon Bus Station where we caught the waiting bus #496 to the border (granitsa).
Arriving in Osh.
Architecture.
Soviet Mural
The impressive Kyrgyz Telecom Building was adjacent to the KICB Building, our choice for ATM withdrawals in Kyrgyzstan.
Sunset from the Pekin Hotel
Chinese noodles and stir-fry cauliflower for dinner.
Some early morning photos in and around the Osh Bazaar; and one of the bazaar from our room at the Pekin Hotel.
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