Continuing on with Explorer's week we're heading to another 'stan' country (meaning land of) with Kyrgyzstan. Now, this says it's country 148, but it wasn't. Iceland was. Kyrgyzstan is actually #149. But somehow I screwed up, it's since been corrected. But, the next few numbers will be a bit off. I'm actually surprised I haven't screwed this up more.
We paired Kyrgyzstan with explorer Marco Polo, because what is now Kyrgyzstan was once part of the Silk Road traveled by Marco Polo, his father and his uncle. And again, were going Cliff's Notes version here, because I have stuff to do- and because you should have paid attention in 5th grade Social Studies.
So breif rundown on Marco Polo. He spent most of his life either in jail, or traveling the Silk Road to China. Both of which would be the reason he would be remembered.
His father and uncle went before him, and were gone for something like 17 years. Most people only traveled portions of the Silk Road, but these guys wanted to travel the whole thing- and did. When they get to the end of the road, they met prince Khan the leader of the Mongol Empire. The prince sent them back to get oil from a lamp in Jerusalem among other things.
On the second journey, Marco Polo was old enough to go with them. They picked up the oil, they caravaned across the Silk Road meeting up with various nomads and avoiding thieves and sometimes even death.
When they arrived back with the oil from Jerusalem , Khan was so pleased, he had Marco work for him and travel all around present day China, Vietnam and Myanmar as a spy. This went on for something like 17 years until Marco Polo was tasked with taking the princess to the middle east to be married off.
After that he headed back to Venice, Italy. But, then there was some skirmish between Venice and Genoa and Marco Polo got put in jail. It just so happened his roomie was some romance writer, and so Marco Polo told him all about his adventures, and the writer turned it into a book.
His book, called The Travels of Marco Polo, greatly described the Silk Road in China, and his adventures. The book was printed in French, Italian and Latin and read throughout Europe.
The book shed light on another world. It is a common misconception that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy—in truth, the dish had already existed in Europe for centuries—but there’s little doubt he made Westerners aware of many Chinese inventions. Among other things, Marco familiarized many of his readers with the concept of paper money, which only caught on in Europe in the years after his return.
Polo also described coal—not widely used in Europe until the 18th century—and may even have introduced eyeglasses to the West. He offered one of the history’s most detailed accounts of the Mongol post system, a complex network of checkpoints and couriers that allowed Kublai Kahn to administrate his vast empire.
Marco Polo also thoroughly documented his encounters with unfamiliar animals such as elephants, monkeys and crocodiles. He described crocodiles as giant, sharp-clawed “serpents” that could “swallow a man … at one time.” But the traveler often confused these strange faunae with creatures from myth and legend. One of the first Europeans to glimpse an Asian rhinoceros, Polo thought the horned beasts were unicorns.
So, here's the thing about all of it. One, a lot of people question the authenticity of the stories. Like, maybe Marco Polo 'borrowed' some of his adventures from people he came across in his journeys. You also have to take it with a grain of salt, since it was written by a romance writer.
But, after the fall of Khan and the Mongols, China essential got cut off from the rest of the world, and Marco Polo's book was the only information out there. So while he may not have been the first person to travel the Silk Road, if you're the first person to write about it- that's just as good.
The boys did their Facebook pages for Marco Polo. Oh, and despite what the Facebook says, nobody really knows why we play the game 'Marco' 'Polo', maybe just because he got lost so much on his journeys?
We had already done Kazakhstan and talked about the Silk Road, so for our country we headed a little further east and went with the neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
With all this talk of the Silk Road, and Marco Polo, our landmark of Osh fit right in. Osh is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan right after the capital city of Bishkek. But, it's much older than Bishkek. Osh is somewhere around 3,000 years old. Acheologists have found artifacts dating back to about the 5th century.
Many people claim Osh is 'older than Rome', and there are a few different legends about the origin of the city. Some claim it was founded by Solomon or Alexander the Great. But even if that isn't so, Osh was situated along the Silk Road, and was a major settlement along the ancient trading route.
Kyrgyzstan is a country full of natural beauty. It's a land of mountains and valleys, and then even more mountains. It's also home to the second largest salt water lake in the world, 'Hot Lake', that thanks to it's salinity, never freezes over despite it's high altitude.
There are proud nomadic traditions, still alive today. In fact, check out the Kyrgyzstan flag. It features a yurt! (The only flag with a 'tent' on it). In case you need a refresher a yurt is a circular tent of felt or skins on a collapsible framework and used by nomads.
Even the country's name is a nod to the nomads. Kyrgyzstan translates to 'Land of the 40' a nod to the 40 nomadic who were united as Kyrgyzstanis by the warrior Manas.
Manas is kind of 'the guy' for Kyrgyzstan. In fact a poem that details the struggles and battles of Manas, called 'the Epic of Manas' , is the centerpiece of the culture. It's never really been written down, so you have to memorize it- which is no small feat. In fact, the poem is the longest in the world at over 500,000 lines long. It's 20 times longer than the next longest: Homer's Iliad and Odyessy combined. (Ugh, I had to read that once, and it was MISERABLE!)
Today the nomadic lifestyle is used as part of Kyrgyzstan's community based tourism. Many people in Kyrgyzstan have been in the small tourism industry ever since the fall of the former USSR. They show off their country to tourists showing them everything from felt making to horse treks to heli-skiing. Then there's the 'glamping' industry, where you can stay in your very own yurt!
Our activity for the day was a nod to the spices traded along the Silk Road. It was a 'guess the spice' smell test. The boys put on my sleep mask and one by one had to guess what spice they were smelling.
Out of the 7 spices, Peyton correctly identified 4, Hayden got 3, and Calib had a terribly poor showing with 1. I then did it to prove I could do just as good as Calib. I guessed them all as Cinnamon to be sure to tie.
The boys made their postcards for Kyrgyzstan.
Calib's featured mountains and a yurt.
As did Peyton's postcard.
Hayden designed his more after the picture in the book.
For dinner we had a Gamburger (though we did it with a roast, not horse meat slices) topped with coleslaw and french fries, Russian Boiled Potatoes, strawberries and corn.
This dinner earned four spoons up.
Peyton, of course has it without the mayo and the ketchup, and then didn't love it. (I bet, that sounds super plain), but the rest of us really enjoyed it. There were seconds all around.
The potatoes were a hit, even with Peyton. He loves dill flavor, and these had no shortage on that. I would make the whole thing again for sure.
Kyrgyzstan got colored in a bright yellow to the west of teal China and the east of purple Kazakhstan and light brown Uzbekistan.
Officially that's 149 down, 47 to go!
Next Up: Haiti and Columbus
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