Bishkek, November 25

"Are you mad, it's the middle of the night. This place is not safe, you cannot walk around here like it is Detroit. If you walk under that bridge right there, chances are 90% you'll get mugged." I had knocked on a window and a bearded, long-heared American with a northern accent peeped out. The bloke first seemed scared, then a little annoyed ( "this is not a hotel" ). The Lonely Planet had told me the international institute sometimes has spare rooms for lost travellers though, and it was 1 AM. The normal guesthouses were long closed.

There was no place to stay in the institute, but the teachers (volunteers) helped me out anyway by walking with me to the nearest ATM and then finding a taxi that took me to a four star hotel. First night in Bishkek, and it cost me dearly - about 30 euro, but for a very luxurous room. The hot shower was very nice though, also because I caught a cold and I'm rather sneezy.

The border was almost total chaos. The Kazakh police was no problem, but the Kyrgyz guards kept my passport and let other people go through first. I stood there for a couple of hours, until I decided to start blocking the way for the others until they gave me back my passport. That did the trick. Annoyed, cause he didn't get the expected bribe, the officer let me through. And I arrived in Bishkek two hours later than planned, in the middle of the night.

That was before yesterday, when I was robbed on the streets of this city, in clear daylight. Not by "normal"thieves, but by the police again, who insisted on searching me for "drugs", until they found my wallet of course. While one kept me standing, the other guy went through my money, counting. I felt relieved when he put the notes back and handed my wallet. Later I found that 2000 som (about 35 euro) was missing.
Maybe these guys think their country is called Kleptostan instead of Kyrgyzstan. The Japanese guesthouse where I am staying, with its heavy gates, good locks, clean floors and warm beds, feels like a safe heaven. The outside lets us (there are currently 2 guests, me and a Japanese guy called Yama) know it's there though. Three times a day the local mosque provides us with a loud muezzin, which is joined by the howling of flocks of street dogs. It makes a funny goodmorning concert. The dogs may carry rabies, but the police officers scare me more!

The weather is getting better: today is almost dry. I think I'm going to the mountains next. Maybe it's better above the clouds...