Spent the weekend in Chopol Ata, a little beach town on Lake Issy-Kul frequented mostly by Russians. The most eventful part of the weekend was picking our way around a rocky field for a few hours until we found some petroglyphs. But the town was quiet and the lake was lovely, and the guesthouse had a garden filled with roses.

Now back in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan's capital) which also has more Russians than Kyrgyz. I have to think that life is frustrating if you're a young Kyrgyz: your country's economy isn't exactly booming, and many of the best jobs are taken by the same people that occupied your country for the better part of the 20th century.

Letters of invitation are still in process (I hope) so: walking around, sitting in parks, reading, trying to avoid crooked cops.