Author: Eirene Busa

What to Eat in Bishkek: Trying Out the Local Cuisine on a Student Budget

One of the best ways to jump into a new culture is through the local food. The sheer act of sharing food experiences also gives you instant conversation starter material with locals. Central Asian cuisine, having developed largely from nomadic cultures, is often heavy on grains, pasta, dairy, and meat. We are sure that you […]

The Best Asian Food in Bishkek

Bishkek has seen a wave of investment from many countries – many of them Asian. For this reason, it is not so odd to find international visitors and cuisines in Bishkek. From Indian and Chinese to Japanese and Korean, Asian food is not hard to find in the Kyrgyzstan’s capital. Below are several that students […]

Weekend Trips from Bishkek

Kyrgyzstan is a small country that abounds in natural beauty – many great locations are just a short drive away and can be experienced on a surprisingly small budget. Many of these independent student experiences were arranged through a company called Community Based Tourism, which seeks to use local guides and local resources to make […]

Day Trips from Bishkek

Kyrgyzstan is a small country that abounds in natural beauty – many great locations are just a short drive away and can be experienced on a surprisingly small budget. Here are several that students on our study abroad programs in Bishkek recommend! Issyk-Ata Hot Pools 1 Hour Outside Bishkek; ~$20 budget Review by Mikaela Peters […]

Buying Eyeglasses in Bishkek

Ossé Optical Shop Address: Toktogula 86 (corner of Toktogula and Sovietskaya) Phone: +996-312-662-763 Today I have become four-eyed. I bought eyeglasses in Bishkek. It was on my list of things to do before heading home to Washington in 48 hours, along with buying a kazan (a cast-iron pot) to make plov, and kalpaks (Kyrgyz felt […]

Long and Winding Road from Bishkek to Osh, Kyrgyzstan

This past weekend, I visited Osh, the “southern capital” of Kyrgyzstan. I’ve always wanted to go because I heard the 620-kilometer Bishkek-Osh Highway, the only main road connecting Russia with the south of Central Asia, was gorgeous. I also wanted to see “the south.” People always talk about Kyrgyzstan’s cultural, linguistic, and political “north-south divide,” […]

Who are You in Kyrgyzstan

The latest online video to have gone viral is “What Kind of Asian Are You?”, a comedy sketch co-directed by David Neptune and Ken Tanaka for YouTube’s Comedy Week extravaganza, a program that features live performances and video debuts from some of the top names in comedy.  In the video, a Korean-American woman is asked […]