THERE WERE 17 — COUNT ‘EM, 17 — TODDLERS on the flight back from Osh, seventeen chubby faces peeking out between woolen hats and puffy parkas. I guess things are looking up in Kyrgyzstan, bright enough for young couples to start families, something that can’t be said about much of the world.
One little, two little ...
We are back at the Ambassador in Bishkek, cooling our heels waiting for visas for Uzbekistan. Zamira told us to get in the queue at the consulate even though we didn’t yet have our elusive letter of introduction. She said she would book us an appointment and have her colleague (foreigners just love that word) hand deliver the LOI once she received it.
Well, we were admitted just before the noon closing and the visa lady reluctantly processed our papers. She isn’t exactly a people person and admonished us not to return again without a proper appointment. We rushed back to Advantours, stopping for a double hit at the ATM, paid for the trip and booked round-trip tickets to Tashkent and further ones to Tajikistan for April Fools Day. Fitting, no?
