Kyrgyzstan was a revelation. This country is so unique and beautiful that I can only urge you to visit it yourself. If you do so, I can also wholeheartedly recommend Tilek as your driver and guide, just drop him a message on Facebook. He will make the experience of discovering Kyrgyzstan so much better.
New countries, new learning experiences. Kyrgyzstan was not different in that respect, here is what I learned in this fabulous country (for other posts click here and here):
1.) There are always small dishes of jam and sweets on the table as well as tea for guests.
2.) Fruits are eaten with the meal not after.
3.) Even though meat is eaten at every meal, vegetarians are well taken care of.
4.) Girls were a lot more open than boys. The boys were just shy.
5.) Tea is usually sweetened with jam.
6.) There are no desserts.
7.) According to Wikipedia (in the German version) most tourists here are from the former Soviet Union or young adventurers (Ha! Love it being called a young adventurer!)
8.) The yellow sun in the flag shows the smoke roof of a yurt.
9.) White-capped mountains are so beautiful it almost hurts the eyes.
10.) Producing felt is a time and muscle intense work.
11.) Always follow your trekking guide and don’t step off the road!
12.) The doors are behind walls and the ones you see don’t look like much. The windows were beautiful though.
13.) For ayran lovers it’s heaven on earth.
14.) Plastic bottles are reused and not thrown away.
15.) Herds of horses are as common as cows and sheep, they are not wild though.
16.) The Kyrgyz are the nicest people I have met so far. I’ve never felt mor welcome in a country!
I fully agree with all of it 😊 except that their ayran is rather kefir: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir
However you like to call it!