Kyrgyzstan Tourist Entertainment Guide

You can eat in street side stalls and cafes, canteens and restaurants. Restaurants are the only ones to remain open after dusk, and they are expensive. In small towns the restaurants serve grub of dubious palatability and the only place you can find good food will be in hotels or private homes.

Some restaurants in bigger cities offer Central Asian or European food, often overpriced. There are some international eateries in the capitals, offering Turkish Middle Eastern and Chinese food with meal prices ranging from US$ 5 to US$ 25. Every tourist hotel has a modestly priced and usually dull restaurant. Outside the city a hotel meal will cost about US$2. Big city hotels may have a dance floor and evening music or variety shows. Hotels in smaller towns may be the only place offering decent food; they may also be the centres of entertainment.

Teahouses or chaykana in Kyrgyzstan are inexpensive, boast a variety of snacks and besides tea also often stock beer and vodka. Local men gather at these to exchange news and views. Here foreign women are tolerated, though local women are seated at separate places or allotted a particular time. Old and young men get together to eat and drink pots of green tea. Vegetarians have a tough time in Kyrgyzstan as gravies and broths contain meat stock.

Tea or chay, choy to Uzbeks and Tajiks and shay to Kazaks is had with much ceremony to the accompaniment of several Central Asian savouries and sweets. It is a drink of hospitality offered first to every guest in a little cup with no handles.

Do not drink tap water. Bottled and boiled water is available.

Entertainment has shifted focus with the coming of cinema - now theatre, opera and ballet are losing their popularity but in cities like Bishkek and Osh, you still might be able to catch a performance. National folk dance and song troupes are still popular.

There are some western style discos and nightclubs in the cities.