My New Career Back-up Plan: Drive an Auto-Rickshaw

It’s been a long day here in Bishkek.

I’d say I woke up early, but that would imply I went to sleep at a reasonable hour and it was the wake up time that was problematic. Instead I didn’t fall asleep till past 6:30 am due to problems with mosquitoes being too fold of me for my liking. Thus at 10 am when the crew was beginning work in the office (which is in the same flat I’m staying in) I was exhausted and spacey.

After some work round the office we went out to the garage where the auto-rickshaw is being stored only to be told the key wasn’t there. So while Max and Sophie went to run errands Rosie and I painted stakes with numbers which we’ll later use to mark shots before a Kok Boru match (goat polo for those unfamiliar with the Kyrgyz game – I’ll admit I know only little more about it… ) Eventually the man in charge of the garage returned with the keys and we were able to open it up and I got to see our rickshaw for the first time. Radegund as it is apparently known… Norse for “chariots of fire” our producer later informed me. I’m not quite on that level of familiarity with the rickshaw to be calling it by it’s name – and Radegund doesn’t roll off the tongue that easily, so I’ll stick to rickshaw for now.

When Sophie and Max arrived back bringing with them counter weights for the crane I got a pseudo work out aiding them in unpacking them. But following that came the real adventure: driving lessons. While I have both my car and motorcycle licenses- an auto-rickshaw is uniquely different. With three wheels the balance is quite different, and the challenge of steering to avoid potholes is a bit more complicated than when in either a car or on a bike. To begin release the hand break and press with the left hand the starter button (the intimidating lever to the left that acts as the starter in most auto-rickshaw has been replaced by a much simpler automatic starter) while you rev the engine with the throttle on the right. The clutch and gears are controlled by the left hand, but the gears are rather sticky and the clutch is a bit jumpy which combined with the engine (think lawn mower status) sound of tuktuktuktuk makes you very aware of the road as there is a cadence accompanying the journey.

Due to the fact that I own and drive an automatic car at home and haven’t been on my motorcycle in a while (whoops for breaking my foot – that was a bad call) the clutch coordination was a little less than ideal. But the bigger worry for me was going out of the parking lot and instantly being on the streets of Bishkek. I’ve never driven in Bishkek before and I’m sure navigating would have been stressful even in my own car, but in a first time drive in an auto-rickshaw with the locals laughing, waving, taking photos and even children and dogs occasionally chasing us as I drove along…. this was definitely a new experience. Luckily for me the Kyrgyz habit of not following specific lanes and just driving where there is space makes it very easy to drive with the flow of traffic. The small size of the rickshaw combined with people being curious and slowing down around me allowed me a greater maneuverability than in a car – which proved quite advantageous.

As an added bonus, when returning I realized – I just navigated through the center of town on main roads filled with traffic, pedestrians, minibuses and cabs in the capital of Kyrgyzstan. So while I might be a little nervous about the traffic here, that is normal. Any city would do that to a first time driver in an unfamiliar vehicle. And once we set out we’ll have open roads ahead of us without the bustle of city traffic at every corner. And once we’re in gear, puttering along at speed (no clue what speed, the speedometer is broken/unplugged) it’s actually quite fun. Maybe this is just due to the novelty value of driving a red auto-rickshaw in a foreign country where they’re unaccustomed to seeing one, and maybe this is due to the actual joy of driving it – but regardless the road ahead will continue to be foreign and the nerves will wear off – and now that I’ve actually driven it, I’m looking forward to driving this rickshaw to England with the crew.

Dear Mosquitoes - please bugger off

It's near 5:20 am in Bishkek and I can't sleep. I'm exhausted and have been trying to get rest for the past few hours but I keep having mosquitoes land on me, either be about to bite (at which point I roll over to swat them) or they actually bite (at which point a fierce itchy begins and I must use all my discipline to not scratch).

The cold that initially greeted me upon my arrival here has lifted, and given that I do not want to invite further mosquitoes into the flat by opening window that lack screens, I find the air retains much of the warmth from the day. This would be rather pleasant if I wasn't wearing long pants, a long sleeved shirt and socks in my effort to cover as much skin as possible to avoid them. Even those efforts however are somewhat in vain, these mosquitoes are large and persistent and not to be discouraged by things like a mere layer of fabric or mosquito repellent. I think they welcome the challenge. I've gotten bites between my toes, on my fingers, on my face and anytime I roll up my sleeves I find their marks greeting me. As such a thick blanket is welcome as it provides enough of a barrier that I don't get bitten. It also is really warm. And as someone who usually craves feeling the cool side of the pillow, this is rather counterproductive to the other current aim of sleep. I've yet to figure out an effective balance.

Prior to tonight I was at a hotel two blocks away which magically had no mosquitoes and also because their window faced away from the mosque, the complimentary 5:30 am wake up call could be avoided. It seems out of the crew I am the favorite for the mosquitoes as they flock to bite me while they merely buzz around the others lazily. Not sure why but I'm not flattered by their attention. It is most unwelcome. Anyways, I'm going to try to sleep a little bit before the flat gets filled by the rest of the team beginning work in a few hours. Luckily during the day the mosquitoes seem a little less active than during their night time raids, so perhaps I can try napping then?

By the way - the score of Mosquitoes Urvi Has Killed versus Bites Urvi has Received started at 3:7 when I began this post. The score is now 6:7. I'm catching up. If you try to bite my face, I will kill you. I am not above smacking myself in the face to avoid scratching my face off later. Just saying.