Crossing the street

Osh Bazaar is a huge, bustling bazaar that stretches for several kilometers along both sides of the river that winds through the city. To get there was one obstacle: crossing a busy street filled with horn honking taxis, mini-buses, and motorbikes. Tim made it across, but after several false starts, I began to despair ever getting to the other side. Then an old lady took my arm, and speaking rapidly to me in Russian, Kirghiz, or Uzbek, she began to slowly lead me across the street. Now, instead of the squeal of horns as the automobiles whizzed by, I heard the squeal of brakes as they screeched to a stop and smiling, waved us slowly by.

A butcher at Osh Bazaar



A colorful vender in the Osh Bazaar