Posts Tagged "Issyk–Kul"
Norbek: Kyrgyz Yurt Maker
ISSYK–KUL: Norbek produces yurts from scratch with his brother and father in their courtyard near Issyk-Kul lake. His family has been producing yurts for about 90 years and he is now the fourth generation engaged in this. His family produces from five to 10 yurts a year, but they can produce one within a month if they hurry. Each piece of wood needs to be treated with steam and then bent into the right shape. Their yurts sell for at least $5,000. Norbek, already 29, isn’t married, relatively late for a Kyrgyz man. He said he expected to find someone and marry within a year. ‘’You need a month to get to know a girl well,’’ he said.
Kyrgyz Farmer, Last of USSR Conscripts
ISSYK–KUL: He was one of the last conscript soldiers of the USSR, serving in Moscow up to November 1991. I asked what happened and he said rather undramatically: "They said we could go home. Tajiks to Tajikistan, Uzbeks to Uzbekistan, Kyrgyz to Kyrgyzstan. I took the train home with a group of 30 Kyrgyz." Now 44, he works part-time in construction while tending his field near the mountains. His sons said they like to play games on their phone and I asked if they also use a computer to surf Internet at home. "I don't have money for a computer. I have to feed and cloth them. Construction work isn't steady," said their father.
