We have a special treat for this month’s Urban Excursions, with guest columnist George Hammond of Hammond Associates taking us around Central Asia. George is the Director of Hammond Associates, (Strategic Project Managers). Hammond Associates share some office space with Urban Economics.

“Kyrgyzstan?” we said, “where’s that?”  We had known for some time that our friends had been thinking about volunteering to teach overseas – but had expected it to be in one of the more usual parts of the world – somewhere in Africa or Asia perhaps.  “Well, “they replied, “it is in Asia – Central Asia.” And that’s how, a few years later, we came to be on a trolley bus in Bishkek. It was turning left at a busy city centre junction and came to an abrupt halt half way through the turn. The driver got out, went round to the back, manoeuvred the spring loaded trolley poles back onto the overhead wires, got back into the cab and tried to continue the journey. No luck. We came to an immediate dead stop again. Suddenly the doors opened and people started streaming out into the middle of the road. “Ah well,” we thought, “obviously the bus has broken down and we’re all going to get off and catch the next one.” Not so. The passengers helped the driver push the bus through the junction onto a straight part of the road, where he was able to reconnect the trolley poles properly, climbed back on board and we continued the journey. Would that have happened in Brisbane, we wondered? Maybe in the 1950’s perhaps – but today – hard to say.

We always said we would visit our friends once they were established and when we discovered that Kyrgyzstan was in that group of countries just north of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and also bordering China we thought we should extend the trip to include other parts of Central Asia. So we arranged a trip along the Cities of the Silk Road in Uzbekistan, following on from Bishkek and starting in Tashkent. Just getting to Kyrgyzstan is in itself a challenge – it’s not on the standard Flight Centre database and requires some research. We ended up going via Bangkok and Almaty in Kazakhstan – so that became our third Central Asian experience.

All three countries – Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – share a very similar heritage. Originally home to nomadic tribes with their herds of horses, goats and sheep taking their “yurts” with them (the large circular “tents” with a dome type framework covered with felt and amazingly decorated and homely inside) as they followed the seasons, they were all subject to a long series of conquests from Attila the Hun in the 5th Century, through the Arab invasion, the Turks, Genghis Khan in the early 1200’s to Tamerlane and his dynasty in the 14th and 15th Centuries and eventually the annexation by Russia in the 1860’s.

Then of course from 1920 onwards they were subject to the Soviet regime which followed the Russian revolution. The nomadic life was largely replaced by urbanisation and collective farms in the rural areas. Eventually they had independence thrust on them in the early 1990’s and now they seem to have much in common – but also quite sharp differences.

The Soviet influence inevitably remains. Tamerlane is quoted as saying “If you doubt our power, just look at our buildings” The Soviets continued the trend – demolished almost everything and created  post revolution cities with wide boulevards and parks in the central reservations between the carriageways, other large parks with statues (Lenin now frequently replaced with local folk heroes!), huge squares with equally large and prominent public buildings such as Museums, Art Galleries, Opera and Ballet Theatres and the purpose built circular Circus Buildings. Everywhere you see the huge concrete apartment blocks built in the 1960’s as public housing, but now mostly in individual ownership - still with the huge district heating and hot water systems that pipe steam around the city from a massive central power plant and generally looking very tired and in need of considerable maintenance.  And in contrast the traditional bazaars – giant markets selling everything you need in the same way as they have for centuries – food, clothes, furniture – and now of course  mobile phones!

Unless you spend time on serious research before you leave on an overseas trip to new destinations – which we didn’t – the impressions you get are based on what you see and experience and talking to people where you can. The differences between the three countries seemed to us to depend mainly on politics and economics – particularly the availability of natural resources and international investment.  Kazakhstan is a huge country with plenty of oil and gas, and given its geographical size has a relatively manageable population of 15.8 million. In Almaty, until recently the capital city, the oil and gas wealth is evident. As you drive from the airport the road is lined with Lexus, Mercedes, BMW and all the other car dealerships. Lots of young people are dressed in the latest fashion – a wedding reception at our hotel was like a fashion parade. But naturally in the rural areas it is a different story.

Uzbekistan is not quite in the same category. Tashkent is a busy modern city and the regional areas have tourism and a major cotton industry (overdeveloped by the Russians and a major contributor to the demise of the Aral Sea) but no oil or gas. With a population of 27.5 million – about twice Kazakhstan – they seem to be focussing on encouraging international investment where they can. We saw a large new industrial park sponsored by South Korea for example – looking somewhat incongruous alongside cotton fields full of families picking the cotton in the time honoured fashion, entirely by hand.

Kyrgyzstan is definitely the poor relation. Bishkek is the capital and more or less everywhere there are the signs of poor maintenance of assets – roads, buildings, transport. Although the aging fleet of Russian buses are being replaced with newer second hand buses from China.

It’s a mountainous country with little in the way of natural resources and a population of only about 5 million. Their main export is the power they generate from massive hydro electric schemes - but that is a two edged sword.  Just after we left it was announced that the first power cuts of winter were being introduced because of the low levels of water in the reservoirs behind the dams up in the mountains. Climate change is evident in different ways – here it’s not enough snow or rain – so the power is limited and overseas contracts take priority over home consumption.

The Silk Road is the age old route from China to Europe – and in Uzbekistan we saw amazing buildings. Mosques, madrassahs and mausoleums originally built from 11th Century up to 17th Century – the vast majority very professionally restored; some during the Soviet period and many using UNESCO funds from 1990 onwards, but all with amazing colourful tiles and mosaics. When you’ve been used to the condition of Roman and Greek ruins in other parts of the world it was a bit strange at first to see the old buildings in prime condition – but they are a beautiful tribute to craftsmanship past and present. 

What else sticks in our memories apart from those buildings? In Uzbekistan, the young people who wanted to speak English whenever they could – different in Kyrgyzstan because it seems they rely on Russian in the schools rather than teaching English. The contrast between the cities and the rural areas – where there is no Russian infrastructure and the scale of life is totally different – particularly in Kyrgyzstan where the mountains and valleys are spectacular. The curious reminders of the Cold War in the Russian style military uniforms with their high caps – not just the army but immigration and customs staff too.

And the food!  Almost everywhere we went the menu was the same. First course:  bread and bottled water. Second course: soup - vegetable, chicken or noodle – but all with large lumps of fatty meat and chunks of vegetable in a watery base. Third course: kebabs on a skewer and salad. A choice of beef or chicken, occasionally lamb but all interesting fatty cuts and basically undercooked over a charcoal grill. But the service was generally very friendly so maybe they were just keen to serve us as soon as possible and didn’t want to wait for it to cook through properly.

It was great to experience a different part of the world. In terms of standard of living, we were reminded yet again that we are among the privileged minority. But also that maybe in our lifestyle we need to recover the amazingly friendly welcoming spirit that transcended language barriers almost wherever we went. 

~George Hammond, Hammond and Associates