Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Getting Around Bishkek

I have been here almost a week now. I have finally learned the route from my flat to where I will be working. There are lots of little buses that run in between the two places. They cost 5 som each way. The exchange rate is about 37 som to the dollar. So a round trip ride is a little more than a quarter. That has got to be one of the best deals on transportation in the world.

To make it even better the Kyrgyz currency does not contain any coins. It consists solely of bills. So unlike almost every other country in the world one does not have to deal with collecting a large number of bulky and basically worthless coins. Instead you can put all the bills in your wallet. Kyrgyz money comes in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1000 som notes. Most countries would have gotten rid of the 1 note and maybe even the 5. The UK does not have a one pound or two pound note anymore. They have one pound and two pound coins. Canada likewise has one dollar and two dollar coins rather than bills.

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