While traveling through the former Soviet Union in countries spread across the Caucasus and Central Asia, we repeatedly found ourselves in situations -- sometimes trying, often humorous -- that we couldn’t have planned even if we wished to. That's the thing about adventure travel. You never know what may happen next, especially in less touristed areas. Maintain an open mind and a sense of humor and unexpected experiences like these may just be your most memorable.
Kazakhstan -- A Room for the "Whole" Night "How long would you like the room?"
"For one night."
"The whole night? You mean until morning?" It was 11:00 PM. The woman attending the hotel's front desk seemed surprised by our response.
"Don't worry I clean the room and change the sheets after every client. Everything is clean," she assured us as she swept her arms across the landscape of a tiny little room outfitted with a day bed.
We were so exhausted from our recent experience at the border, that once she agreed to get some new sheets and towels, we took the room. Thank goodness for sleep sacks and earplugs, we thought.
"You are my first American clients," she beamed. "If you need anything, just find me. My name is Galina." First all-night clients, too, we thought.
"Do you want to watch TV? If so, I'll ask my husband to plug it in and turn it on. Some former clients ripped it out of the wall. Now he needs to install it each time."
After we checked-out the next morning, we elicited some strange looks. That's the great thing about being a traveler. You can sleep at a hotel-by-the-hour and not really care what the locals think. After all, it isn't your country and you can simply plead ignorance.
Kyrgyzstan -- A Goat Slaughtered In Your Honor
In the midst of admiring the scenery at Kyrgyzstan's Song Kul Lake (10,000 feet), we spied our horse trekking guide slitting the throat of a goat and spilling its blood into a bowl. Within minutes, the poor animal was skinned, diced and divided among several troughs. We blanched. Could this be our dinner tonight?
That evening, we entered a yurt (traditional nomadic house) full of people who had gathered for the evening meal to break their Ramadan fast. We saw fruit and tea on the table. Relieved, we thought we had escaped the goat.
Soon, however, the table was cleared and the goat made its appearance in rounds of steaming plates and bowls. Trying not to be rude and hoping to avoid having to force down mysterious goat bits, we silently passed each tray and hoped that no one would notice our empty plates. Of course, our neighbors noticed and ameliorated the situation by awarding us some prized fragments from the goat’s head, including a jaw bone and some facial fat. We silently gnawed our conferral, hoping that everyone would finish eating and we would be spared having to proceed any further with this culinary expedition.
The plates were taken away and, once again, we thought we were finished, only to find out that the main course lay ahead.
Beshbarmak (meaning five fingers) is the traditional Kyrgyz national dish. A large pot of overcooked spaghetti-like noodles was poured onto a platter, as everyone added meat from their plates, including innards and parts from the skull. To bring this culinary symphony to a climax, the whole thing is mixed by hand -- namely the hands of just about everyone around the table. The platter is then passed around as each person grabs a handful or two.
By the time the platter appeared in front of us, 12 sets of hands had already plunged their way into this final course. Out of respect, we joined the silent, slurping group. We ate with our fingers and wondered what combination of stomach remedies we might need the next day.
Although uncomfortable and not something we'd choose to repeat again if we could avoid it, this moment was one of the more memorable and representative of our experiences in Kyrgyzstan. To our surprise, we didn’t need any stomach remedies after all.
