Ala-Archa: One Hour from Bishkek to the Real Tien Shan Mountains
Just an hour’s drive from Bishkek, and you find yourself surrounded by glacial rivers, snow-covered peaks, and juniper-covered slopes, where squirrels eat from your hand and, somewhere high in the mountains, the elusive snow leopard still roams.
Why Ala-Archa has long been a place of special significance for the people of Kyrgyzstan, and why this is the perfect place to begin discovering the country – I share in my new journey.
Mailuu-Suu: A Radioactive Legacy at the Gates of the Fergana Valley
In the Fergana Valley, water is not an abstract environmental issue but part of everyday life for women, children and families: drinking, food preparation, caring for the home, kitchen gardens, fields and the health of loved ones. That is why the story of Mailuu-Suu matters not only as a problem of former uranium tailings, but also as a question of water safety, food security and the future of those living downstream.
