First Postcard from the Fergana Valley

We arrived in the Fergana Valley (Kyrgyzstan) from China and were in for a huge change in culture. It is amazing what crossing some mountains can do. We went from a rice and noodles culture to a bread and cheese culture.

One of the most amazing things about the area is how much it feels like the mid-western part of the US. Wide clean streets, houses with yards, much larger personal space and blond haired blue eyed people walking around. In fact, this is the first place on our travels where we can be mistaken as locals until we open our mouths. Theres is lots of farm land, cows walking around and cotton everywhere.

Communication is remarkably easier too. Not only can we read the Cyrillic writing with a little practice (we never got very far in Chinese), but when we try and pronounce the local words, people mostly understand. If they don't we can pantomime and usually be understood. In China we would try and say the words in Chinese, pantomime and try every trick in the book only to realize that the person had absolutely no idea what we were trying to communicate.

I'll post more about the Fergana Valley including pictures after we cross back through the area and camp there for a while. On a side note, we cut out Tajikistan from the trip plans as it was going to take too long. Instead we will just be camping in the Fergana Valley.