From Shashlik to Solomon's Sacred Mountain. Osh is Another City Quickly Making Kyrgyzstan One of My Favorite Countries.

Osh is an incredible cultural melting pot with over 80 different ethnic groups including Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Uyughur, Tartar, Russian, Persian and Chinese to name a few. The city has over 3000 years of history and is the second biggest city in Kyrgyzstan, after Bishkek. It lies in the Ferghana Valley region of Kyrgyzstan and was once an important city on the Silk Road. How I missed this amazing city on my first visit to Kyrgyzstan I have no idea, but I’m very glad I stopped here this time. I got here by land from Kashgar China on one of the most amazing and beautiful drives I’ve ever experienced. Pretty much as soon as we entered the city limits of Osh, which is about a four drive from the border with China, the car broke down. Luckily my driver was able to call a friend who picked us up and dropped me off at my hotel.

I stayed in this cool old hotel called Osh Nuru that still had the Soviet architectural Style from the 60’s. It was probably a 4 star hotel in its day, luckily its much more affordable now, and it’s in an excellent location. Right around the corner from the hotel is the Osh City Hall building and across the street from that is the largest statue of Vladimir Lenin that can be found in Central Asia.

This statue almost seems out of place being in what is probably the most liberal democratically speaking country of Central Asia, but I guess its just a reminder of a not too distant past. On the other side of the street next to City Hall is Petrovsky Park. This is a beautiful little park with a couple interesting monuments.

The first one is a Soviet WWII monument dedicated to the soldiers that died fighting in the Great Patriotic War. The Second is a monument to the Chernobyl Liquidators, those that volunteered to help clean up the Chernobyl meltdown.

The next place I went to was Navoi Park. I heard this was supposed to be a favorite local hangout where the elders have gone to play chess for decades and it was also close to the bazaar so win win. What I didn’t expect was a carnival to be happening in the park, apparently this is a regular thing! This was a fun way to hangout with some local folks and have a good time.

Even though the carnival was going on the elders were still lined up playing chess right in the middle of it. I watched that for while, it was cool to see an old tradition still being practiced despite everything going on around them.

Another interesting thing in Navoi Park is an old Aeroflot Yak-40 plane, a decommissioned old Soviet relic.

After exploring Navoi Park and finding the Yak-40 it was time to go see the bazaar. The Jayma Bazaar has been happening for over 2000 years and is one of Central Asia’s biggest. It has played an important role in not only bringing the rural economy to the urban economy but acted as a stage for traders on the Silk Road.

This busy bazaar had everything from clothing to electronics. It also had the awesome Kalpak hats that some of the Kyrgyz men wear. These hats are a symbol of Kyrgyz culture and tradition. So revered they have their own holiday dedicated to these hats. Ak Kalpak Day!!

The bazaar also had plenty of fruits and vegetables.

You could also get some fresh Lepyoshka bread on your way out!

The next place I went to was Sulaiman-Too or Solomon’s Throne in English. This is a mountain that seems to be looming over Osh regardless of what part of the city you happen to be in. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site and an Islamic Holy Site. Supposedly Muhammad prayed here and now it’s a place of pilgrimage. It also predates Islam, people have been worshipping here for millennia. There are many caves and crevices all over the mountain with petroglyphs that act as a historical record.

There is a beautiful and strange looking Soviet museum built into the side of the mountain that I had to check out if for no reason other than how cool it looks! The exhibits talked of the Dali Llama, but mostly of fire worshipers I’m assuming were Zoroastrians. Basically every religion has worshipped at this mountain at some point.

After exploring Sulaiman-Too it was time to head back to my hotel and get some dinner before calling it an evening. I went to the Khan Chatyry Cafe and got some of the most amazing Shashlik I’ve ever had. For those that don’t know, Shashlik is barbecued meats on a skewer. I had the beef and lamb. It was incredible.