Would love to go to Kyrgyzstan one day. Sounds like life for them isn't that different from Armenia, but without a regional war. Having worked with Czech wages, however, what is cheap for us does tend to be pricey for locals in these countries. I reckon that if the Kyrgyz are saying it's expensive for them, it probably is. But some cultures do like to exaggerate.
This essay reminds me of Robert Byron's "Road to Oxiana". It was part of my first purchase from Amazon (in 2000) but only finally read it last year. It's a fun travelogue in Persia and Afghanistan between the World Wars.
I hope you take this as a compliment (as it is meant to be). Both you hand Byron have a similar tone. There is an inescapable chauvinism when someone from the world's superpower wanders a developing nation, but your essay and his book tries hard to avoid the worst of such prejudice but without patronizing the locals. It's a delicate, delectable balancing act when done well.
Would love to go to Kyrgyzstan one day. Sounds like life for them isn't that different from Armenia, but without a regional war. Having worked with Czech wages, however, what is cheap for us does tend to be pricey for locals in these countries. I reckon that if the Kyrgyz are saying it's expensive for them, it probably is. But some cultures do like to exaggerate.
This essay reminds me of Robert Byron's "Road to Oxiana". It was part of my first purchase from Amazon (in 2000) but only finally read it last year. It's a fun travelogue in Persia and Afghanistan between the World Wars.
I hope you take this as a compliment (as it is meant to be). Both you hand Byron have a similar tone. There is an inescapable chauvinism when someone from the world's superpower wanders a developing nation, but your essay and his book tries hard to avoid the worst of such prejudice but without patronizing the locals. It's a delicate, delectable balancing act when done well.