Osh Kyrgyzstan, Silk Road

Leaving China behind, I entered Kyrgyzstan, a country in the heart of Central Asia. During the Silk Road era, the land was ruled by Turkic nomads for about seven centuries until the Mongols conquered it in the 13th century. Kyrgyzstan is a completely landlocked country and among the furthest from the nearest ocean. It borders Kazakhstan up north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan in the south, and China to the east.

The landscape here is wild and dramatic, with the towering Tianshan Mountain in the northeast and the rugged Pamir-Alay Mountain in the south. Nestled between these ranges is the lush and fertile Fergana Valley, a major agricultural hub for centuries, known for its cotton fields. While the mountains have historically isolated Kyrgyzstan, they also made it an ideal route for merchants navigating the Silk Road. 

Traveling through Kyrgyzstan inevitably led to Osh, the country's second-largest city with a history of over 3,000 years. One of Osh's most iconic features is its vibrant marketplace, which has been operating almost continuously in the same location for the past 2,000 years. Over the centuries, merchants from all over would gather in the bazaar to exchange goods, with silk, spices, and ceramics heading west while gold, glass, and woolen goods made their way east. 

Aside from trading goods, merchants and travellers would stop at bustling markets like the one in Osh to find street food or small eateries. Here, they would find a variety of foods, such as dried fruits, nuts, breads, kebabs, and flatbreads, as well as local delicacies like pilaf, dumplings, and falafel. Lagman, for instance, is a wonderfully hearty Central Asian dish believed to have originated from the Chinese "lo mein", meaning stirred noodles. Over the centuries, it has evolved and been influenced by various cultures, particularly Uyghur cuisine. Lagman consists of hand-pulled noodles in a rich, savoury broth with meat, bell peppers, tomato paste, celery, cabbage, and spices. 

In Osh, a delicious accompaniment to the broth is a type of decorated bread known as "tandyr nan", named for how it's baked in a tandoor oven or "lepyoshka". Freshly prepared each day, this bread is typically round, with a soft, fluffy interior and a crisp golden-brown crust. What makes it stand out is the decorative stamp pressed into the top of the dough before baking, often featuring geometric patterns or floral designs. These designs sometimes carry symbolic meanings related to prosperity, fertility, or blessings. They are commonly offered during celebrations like weddings or festivals.