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Seb's Big Adventure
I have spent more than two weeks working in Osh now, and things that initially seemed strange now go on around me like the norm. I am even getting used to the toxic fumes pumping out of the ancient Russian cars which trundle around the city's decrepid dusty tracks in slow motion.
Today, on my day off before I venture into the mountains (on to 'site') I have explored the local markets in Osh. The 'Bazaar' is one of the largest in Central Asia, stretching more than 1 km along the White Camel river - a mucky mountain river that flows through the centre of town. There are no shops, as such, in Osh. If you need something, you go to the Bazaar. Whether you're looking for meat, fruit or bread, soap, clothes, toothpaste, hats, shoes, screws or televisions, market stalls organised roughly into 'sectors' sell the lot. This is how local people shop. And unlike the markets of China, this is not a tourist market - there are no souvenirs on sale here. Partly because there are no tourists here. It offers a refreshing change from the hassaling vendors, and you can pass through as if you were a local.
After the market, I met with a couple of people from the office and climbed Solomon's mountain - a strange landmark which sits in the centre of town. Literally, a mountain. About 100 metres high. It was here that King Solomon once visited and worshipped, and the mountain has been a place of Muslim pilgrimage ever since. The short walk up the mountain takes just 10 minutes, and offers great views of the city. It's from here that you see just how green and low-rise Osh really is. It's not even that big - stretching perhaps for only a few kilometres from the mountain. To the north and west stretches the flat, low lying plains of the Fergana Basin and to the south and east, the gentle hills which mark the start of the Tien Shan mountains. Whilst exploring the mountain, we went into a tiny cave, no more than half a metre high and a metre wide, which involved crawling through. This was said to have been the place where King Solomon worshipped, and so it was perhaps quite spooky when I emerged 10 minutes later from the darkness of the cave to find that my digital camera screen had completely shattered. Whether it was just squashed or not, I will not know. The camera itself still works, just without a screen.
From the top of the mountain, we watched as the sun set with a few pivas, before heading back into the town for pizza. My last taste of western food - or in fact anything other than soup - for the next two weeks.
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