Update: Fri 20:00

At least when I arrived at Cafe Parsi last night, the local Persian outfit (where once again I managed to be the only person in -- I know when I'm not popular), the menu had pictures to illuminate the Cyrillic text. Not that learning to pronounce Cyrillic will help in anyway as I don't know what the words mean but I might stammer out a word like "shashlik" that I recognise. Unfortunately, kebabs all look the same so I was none-the-wiser and simply ordered something that wasn't too expensive. Plus a beer.

I worry that my energy intake might be heavily leaning towards being sourced in the form of alcohol... Still, what is it? Something like 80% of the world's food energy comes in the form of only three grasses: wheat, rice and maize. Amazing. What would happen if those were hit by a blight? We'd turn to alcohol, I guess, in the very short term.

Anyway, just as in insight (I did suggest I'd be stretching the insightfulness of these updates -- and it looks like there's a week to go!) when on the road I generally try an eat everything that's put in front of me as part of any included breakfast (though frankly the guest house's fried eggs are beginning to wear a little thin and then trying to eat everything when you were fast asleep only minutes ago is tough) then have nothing until din-dins somewhere between 8-10pm where, depending on how thirsty I've become during the day and whether I can read the menu I'll get a soup and then a simple main. Beer is an added advantage :-)

Here in Bishkek there's plenty of corner stores selling mostly alcohol. In fact the shiny new "Dairy Spring" (that's on the signage, I'd didn't translate) which gives the impression of selling a vast array of dairy products in fact seems to devote over half it's shelf space to expensive wines and spirits. Most corner stores have an entire wall of vodkas and a few beers. They can be quite big walls...

The point was that just before my road there's a little corner store where I popped in the first night for a refreshing beer (did I mention it's qute warm?) and there after I've felt terribly guilty about denying them the 110Som (US$2.50) I've given them on average each night which I imagine is keeping thier business afloat.

I was lounging about last night with the door to my "cottage" (ie. room not in the main building) open at around midnight letting what accounted for breeze circulate with my head in the Cyrillic section of the LP (while sporting a beer) when the 4 year old son of one of the staff ran up and shouted "Goodnight!" which gave me a hell of a shock. He then blew the most enormous raspberry and promptly ran off!

I think I attract these people (whatever their age).

Yesterday I had a lie-in (until my 8:30 breakfast) this morning I was once again roused from my slumber by the room phone at 8:10: "You want breakfast now?" Grrr! "OK"