Incursions in Central Asia

Very rarely on the road from an international airport to a capital city do you have to wait for an irate shepherd and his flock to pass. But then Bishkek is no ordinary capital. It's the Big Smoke of Kyrgyzstan—a country that makes up in character what it lacks in vowels.

If the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia were in a beauty contest, Kyrgyzstan would win. This becomes obvious as you rumble down 30 kilometers of tarmac into Bishkek. The snow-capped Tien Shan mountains rear up like a tsunami. But unlike Nepal or other lauded upland...