This week, I traveled to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Osh, Kyrgyzstan. The distance between Bishkek and Osh is approximately 310 miles. The distance between Bishkek and Almaty is approximately 145 miles.
On this journey, in addition to Osh and Almaty, I have traveled to two famous lakes in Kyrgyzstan: Song-Kul and Issyk-Kul. I have also visited the remnants of multiple Silk Road trading towns and an abandoned Soviet era mine.
For the journey to Almaty, my friends and I took the bus. For the journey to Osh, we flew on a plane. For the couple of days I was in Bishkek, I used the public bus to get around.
The most interesting place I visited this week was a rice farm and milling plant. This was in the town of Özgön, near Osh. They are famous for their rice, which is red as a result of fermentation. This mill was very interesting because it ran entirely on power generated by a water wheel!
