Kyrgyzstan: A Rough Country from Another Time

In February, the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan voted to terminate the U.S. lease of Manas Air Base, and to require the U.S. forces to vacate within six months. Then, on June 23rd, U.S. personnel signed some paper and paid a lot of money, and the base closure was miraculously rescinded.

Funny how those things work!

If you were stationed in Kyrgyzstan, what might you see if you got outside the base?

The short story is that this is a country where most people travel on horses, and the culture seems to be stuck 250 years in the past.

The national sport, to give you some small idea, is centered around playing keep-away with a dead goat, with both teams fully mounted and galloping around at full tilt. How come we don't have fun sports like this in the U.S.?

In any case, The Boston Globe has put up a few pictures showing life in Kyrgyzstan, and I sample a few below. Click to make bigger and got to the link to see the full set. You will note that a fair number of pictures are of ethnic Kazakhs. Most folks in Kyrgyzstan, of course, are Kyrgyz.



Wolf-bating with a chained wolf. Action gets ...


Reaction.



Sheep herding in a land of wolves and horses.



A Kazakh hunter flies his golden eagle.


Kazakh hunters in full dress with golden eagles.
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