I’m currently in Bishkek, reconnecting with some of my bazaar contacts at Dordoi and planning a short trip to Osh and Jalalabad (and possibly Naryn and Batken) in the coming weeks. One of my informants has an uncle who wanted to open his own regional bazaar in Batken that would serve the corridor into northern Tajikistan. I want to see how that venture has developed and what more I can learn from the people involved.
At the end of October, I will transfer my base of operations to Kashgar in Northwest China and see how the Chinese export firms function to supply the bazaars of Kyrgyzstan. It’s an exciting time, and I always feel like I don’t have enough of it. Glad to be back in the field though.
