Osh

Osh (Kyrgyz: Ош) is the second largest city in Kyrgyzstan located in the Fergana Valley in the south of the country and often referred to as the "Capital of the South". It has served as the administrative center of Osh oblast since 1939. The city has an ethnically mixed population of about 220,000 (in 2003), comprising Kyrgyz, Uzbeks, Russians, Tajiks, and other smaller ethnic groups.

The Fergana valley in the Tien Shan Mountains is the most fertile and densely populated region of Central Asia. Here, close to the Uzbek border, is the city of Osh-a modern town with a history going back at least 2,500 years. For hundreds of years it was a major intersection on the ancient trade route between China and the West, and a flourishing silk production centre.

Osh is a lively place, with the largest and most crowded outdoor market in all of Central Asia. The city's industrial base, established during the Soviet period, largely collapsed after the break-up of the Soviet Union and has started to revive only gradually.

The proximity of the Uzbek border, which artificially cuts through historically linked territories and settlements, deprives Osh of much of its former hinterland and presents a serious obstacle to trade and economic development. Daily flights link Osh - and hence the southern part of Kyrgyzstan - to Bishkek and the north, and the recent upgrading of the long and arduous road through the mountains to Bishkek has greatly improved communications.

The city centre is dominated by a 200 m (660 ft) hillock, the Takht-i-Suleyman, a 10th century Muslim shrine. At the top is a small 15th century mosque built by Baber - the founder of India's Mughul Dynasty.

The shrine is especially revered by childless women, who come here to pray for fertility, and the mountain is dotted with colourful prayer rags, tied to trees and bushes - a practice common all over the East. for the people of this region, the Takht - i - Suleyman is the holiest Muslim place after Macca and Madina.

Next to the bazaar is the Shahid Tepa - the largest mosque in Kyrgyzstan, originally built of wood in 1908. It has recently been renovated, with Saudi Arabian backing, to hold a congregation of 5,000.



And then there is the bazaar itself - the heart of Osh. The Jayma Bazaar is renowned as the largest, liveliest and most colourful open air market in the whole of Central Asia. It sells everything under the sun from spices and honey to bicycle parts and cloth.

The sight of Uzbek dealers recognizable by their tyubeteykas (traditional skullcaps) - waving wads of notes, peasant women in bold floral-print dresses picking over the vegetables, street vendors frenetically haggling and shouting, makes you forget for a moment that you are in one of the poorest places in Central Asia. This is, after all, still a city of traders.



Don't miss the Great Silk Road Museum. Statue of Kurmanjan Datka, "Queen of the South"- an incredible Kyrgyz woman who led the opposition to Russian expansion in the 19th century. Statue of lenin - one of the few remaining in Central Asia. The 16th century Rabat Abdul Khan Mosque.