Bishkek Diary

Insomnia: a sleep disorder characterised by difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. Can result in irritability, fatigue, memory and c...

Tonight, I was craving red meat, so I walked thirty minutes to the new burrito stand (!) in Bishkek. It's opposite a big overgrown park ...

I have just taken a sleeping pill of Russian origins, so the next obvious step is to turn to a public writing forum to see the results. They...

This blog went to pot. Did you notice? There are two reasons: 1. apathy 2. fear and loathing of my own sentences. Apathy, fear, and lo...

Like I said - can't stop listening.

Watch this. Get angry. Cry a lot. Then get a little hopeful, and maybe donate a little money. The money you spend on coffees in the course ...

In recent days, I've been feeling extremely fragile. Liable to break. Physically , with fever and sickness and tiredness. The slightes...

Kyrgyzstan is very traveller-friendly right now. It offers free tourist visas, and you should definitely take advantage of that. This is use...

The morning view -  -while deadly icicles threaten our breakfast. They posed with huge grins while their mother yelled for them a...

Back at Christmas, there was an amusing moment when I unwrapped the brown paper parcels that my mum had sent to London with my aunt. First, ...

Since moving into my new apartment in September, I've barely seen my neighbours. The are four doors clustered at the top of the stairwel...

The temperature reached three degrees today, and the snow was radiant in the sun. I squinted a bit and wore my lightest jacket. The slick ic...

Well, here is a hideous truth. The owners of my Russian gym (named 'Monroe' and replete with a Marilyn clock, her face in the tiles,...