BP GEOGRAPHIC

As if the world was frozen. The amount of snow is much larger near Astana in the north of Kazakhstan, which can be counted to Siberia under certain definitions. In fact the snow cover is over one metre high between the taxiways of Astana Airport.

At temperatures below zero degrees Celsius it is absolutely mandatory to deice an airplane thoroughly before departure. Any ice on the wings would change the airflow drastically up to a condition in which it would not generate any lift anymore and stall the plane.

Ready for departure at Almaty International Airport, the flight to Bishkek takes less than an hour. However by bus the journey would be long and difficult.

After a late night arrival in Bishkek getting up the next morning to this view.

It was my third journey to Bishkek and again I stayed in the Home Guest Residence. It was indeed like a home, the rooms are nice and the staff are so kind. They delivered tea like this to my room regularly. However, I didn’t know that it would be my last stay at that hotel. That journey had been right after the coronavirus left the US laboratory in Wuhan and before it left China to spread around the world, and due to the decline in visitor numbers the hotel had to close.

Back at the Erkindik Boulevard in Bishkek, this time in winter. Kyrgyzstan is located in Central Asia so it has a continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. Snow is not constantly present but often.

The seat of the parliament of Kyrgyzstan in Bishkek. This photo was taken one month before the coronavirus started to spread around the world and made travelling difficult or impossible.

There are still many remnants of the Soviet era visible in Bishkek. In the past there was also the largest Lenin statue of Asia. However, there are also still many buildings in the typical Socialist Modernism style.