valerie

August 12, 2025 - from a couple of days ago. Last morning run in my village

One small tree on the left. Field. Small mountains behind the field, closer mountains on the right, and farther ones in the middle

August 11, 2025 - amusement park in Bosteri, Issyk-Kul. I went on the Ferris wheel with my host sister and her friend 🙂

roller coaster and Ferris wheel

August 10, 2025 - Lake Issyk-Kul. Balykchy, Kyrgyzstan

People and umbrellas along a lake beach. Mountains in the background

August 9, 2025 - it’s my birthday! My host mom and sister bought the cake and we took it to a cafe to eat with our lunch. Each candle indicates one decade of life

Small chocolate cake with three red candles

August 8, 2025 - Lake Song-Kol from a distance

Looking down at a descending valley leading to a lake. Mountains in the background

August 7, 2025 - Lake Song-Kol!

blue lake water with mountains in the background on the right

August 6, 2025 - the Kochkor animal bazaar used to be here. Recently, it moved to a different location, and now this place looks abandoned
Never noticed the arch until I took the picture. It says “Tendik Bazaar”. (This is actually Tendik village, not Kochkor, but it’s right next to Kochkor)

Old rectangular metal arch with Cyrillic letters spelling "Tendik Bazaar" over the middle

August 5, 2025 - monument at the edge of Kochkor near two gas stations. I find it ironic that there are benches here to sit on, but besides people at the gas stations, who is going to come here to sit? It’s a bit of a walk from the center of Kochkor, at least 30 minutes

monument in a small 'square', between two roads

August 4, 2025 - car for students learning how to drive. I see very few of these in Kyrgyzstan, especially on the road
in Kochkor

white car with blue Russian text, denoting that it is a student driver car

August 3, 2025 - friend’s host family’s house in Jalal-Abad with a compound-style layout of several buildings around an open courtyard (which you can’t see here, the courtyard is behind where I stood). Outside the gate, the building in the distance is her school - 2 min walk to work for her!

two buildings joined by one roof, but separated by a tall car gate in the middle. building in the distance past a small field

August 2, 2025 - walking to the plane from the terminal when I left Jalal-Abad back to Bishkek

plane with ladders at the front and back for boarding

August 1, 2025 - bowling alley in Jalal-Abad! when we arrived, my friend and I were the only people there, so the worker let us connect a phone to their Bluetooth and play our own music 😁

small bowling alley with six lanes

July 31, 2025 - Ferris wheel at the amusement park in Arslanbob. My friend and I wanted to ride it, but it wasn’t on :( we were able to do bumper cars and another ride, though

Ferris wheel at night

July 30, 2025 - view of Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan, from the Jalal-Abad sign (not pictured here, but I posted it a few days ago)

city with trees. a brown small mountain/large hill in the background

July 29, 2025 - Arslanbob is basically a village on a giant hill, which makes it a little tiring to walk around. There are a lot of cars like this there that people use to get around more easily. My friend and I rode one once from our guesthouse to the center before we left

truck with open and covered back, and benches on the left and right sides for passengers to sit on

July 28, 2025 - Arslanbob has a big waterfall and a small waterfall that tourists can visit. This is the small waterfall, which is closer to the village center, and easier for tourists without vehicles to get to

waterfall

July 27, 2025 - Arslanbob, Kyrgyzstan. Famous for its large walnut forest, and the village’s primary industry

green forest

July 26, 2025 - Arslanbob, Kyrgyzstan. A tourist village with mostly Uzbek residents

view of mountains with trees in front

July 25, 2025 - Jalal-Abad sign in Jalal-Abad, Kyrgyzstan

tall Cyrillic letters spelling out Jalal-Abad

July 24, 2025 - near Ala-Too Square with relatively new fountains at night

fountains at a square lit-up with purple lights at night

July 23, 2025 - taken at the end of May, at dawn

sunrise behind mountains

July 22, 2025 - small field in the central Kochkor park that is turned into an ice rink in winter

grassy field bordered by tall trees with green leaves. small, closed abandoned-looking building on the right that is used for skate rentals in the winter

July 21, 2025 - from last month when I walked to another village

small canal running through a green field; mountains in the background

July 20, 2025 - I’m glad BiLi is loved
Kochkor, Kyrgyzstan

brown wooden bench with 'I love BiLi' written on the backrest

July 19, 2025 - for sale! This “child’s partner” could be yours! but I don’t remember the price..
maybe the actual doll looks better, but this box art creeps me out

box with a close-up picture of a baby doll's face