10/15 Thursday. Kyrgyzstan. What I know.

Most people’s first question when I broach the subject of going to Kyrgyzstan is “is that really a country?!” Indeed it is. Or atleast I very much hope so as I have a flight there frighteningly soon. On a side note, one would think that if I’m trying to make a flight that only happens 3 times a week, I would get to the airport extra early, full of responsibility and calm assessment of the situation. Not so my friend. Nothing has been going my way in London and today was no different. As I was already running late in the hotel, one of the big zippers on my luggage busted and instead of catching the early train, I was stuck trying to sew the zipper back together with dental floss. Then as I was trying to get traveler’s checks at Thomas Cook – they ran out! They are in Heathrow for goodness sakes. Curse of Terminal 5 I tell you.

But I digress. Kyrgyzstan, as the trusty guidebook I bought yesterday tells me, is roughly the size of Nebraska. ‘Nuff said, right? Honestly, why do guidebook authors pick the most obscure US states to compare something to? As if I have handy knowledge of the relative sizes of South Dakota, Idaho, and Wyoming. So, think of it as Nebraska with mountains.