Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek - Walking down the Southern Highway (Absamat Masaliev street)

The Southern Highway is one of the most famous streets in Bishkek. It's hard to pinpoint exactly why. First of all, it is not really a highway. And it is not a central street. It is not extremely beautiful, not by any stretch of imagination. But still it somehow managed to become one of the most beloved and well-known streets. It became one of the symbols of Bishkek. Ladies and gentlemen, today we give you the Southern Highway.

Note, that it is not uncommon in Bishkek to name not just streets, but even different segments of the same street. Today's walk covers the segment of the Southern Highway called Absamat Masaliev street.

0:00 - Start of the walk. We are standing at the corner of Dooronbek Sadyrbayev St and Absamat Masaliev St. Also, it is where Zhayyl Baatyr St turns into Absamat Masaliev St.
0:41 - A tiny bridge over aryk. There are many aryks in Bishkek. They help with irrigation and they cool the city down in summer time.
1:27 - Domino Pizza. Hmph...
1:44 - Notice the dumpsters to the right. In many ex-Soviet countries dumpsters are usually located deep in the backyards, closer to the houses. But in Kyrgyzstan they tend to put dumpsters next to the big roads, because it makes neighborhoods cleaner and garbage trucks do not have to drive inside the backyards. The downside is that dumpsters sometimes ruin the view and produce all kinds of nasty smells in the most high-traffic places.
2:40 - Water vending machine.
5:34 - Chinghiz Aitmatov mural.
6:08 - This tablet acknowledges the help from China in restoration of 38 kilometers of the road pavement a couple of years ago.
6:28 - Corner of Tynaliev St and Absamat Masaliev St. The video about Tynaliev St is here (   • Walking down Tynaliev and Imankulov s...  ).
7:41 - Some sleeping guys to the left.
8:30 - Kitty.
13:54 - Birdie.
16:19 - Doggie.
16:47 - Statue of a running man.
17:05 - One of the entrances to the territory of Kyrgyz-Turkish Manas University. We have a video on it:    • Walking through the territory of Kyrg...  .
20:37 - Ala-Archa shopping center.
21:48 - Kulikov - one of the most successful local brands. Coffee and deserts.
22:28 - A fountain. It functions sometimes, but not this time.
23:40 - Corner of Chyngyz Aytmatov Av and Absamat Masaliev St. We walked Chyngyz Aytmatov Av on a couple of occasions:    • Walking down Chyngyz Aytmatov av., fr...  ,    • Walking down Chyngyz Aytmatov av. - 2...  ,    • Walking from Asia Mall to Bishkek Par...  .
24:40 - Yntymak Park is to the left. We recorded it some time ago as well (and the next few parks, that we are about to encounter in this video):    • Walking in four parks: Ataturk, Yntym...  .
26:34 - Some deer. They really love deer statues here.
26:57 - Yntymak Park entrance, decorated with a tiger statue.
28:00 - More deer!
30:08 - Corner of Toktonaliyev St and Absamat Masaliev St. And no, we've never walked Toktonaliyev St.
31:17 - To the left we have Yntymak-2 Park.
32:04 - One of the entrances to Yntymak-2 Park.
37:16 - Corner of Abdylas Maldybaev St and Absamat Masaliev St. Never understood, how to cross here in a legit (and safe) way.
39:22 - Bridge over Ala-Archa river. With every year it becomes a little drier. We walked alongside it here:    • Walking by the Ala-Archa river and al...  .
43:50 - An interesting blue decoration on the side of the building. One of the previous buildings also has it, but on that day it was covered with an ad.
45:01 - Victory Park is at the other side. We won't go there today. We already visited it:    • Walking in Victory Park (Kyrgyzstan, ...  .
47:28 - Climbing some peculiar stairs.
48:08 - Nice red lanterns. A restaurant decoration, but decoration nonetheless.
48:59 - Another curious mural. Or is it bas relief? Not sure, but it also has a pair at the other side of the road.
49:35 - Look at the flowers.

Our journey ends here. This is a corner of Baitik Baatyr St and Absamat Masaliev St. Yes, we walked Baitik Baatyr St:    • Walking down Baitik Baatyr street (Ky...  .
Starting from this point the Southern Highway continues in the form of Aaly Tokombaev St. But it's a walk for some other time.

The walk took place on 22 October 2023.

Walker: Evgeniy.

Kazakhstan playlist:    • Kazakhstan  
Kyrgyzstan playlist:    • Kyrgyzstan  

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