Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan has lots to offer: An abundance of natural beauty in those un-spoilt mountain ranges, ancient and interesting semi-nomadic shepherd cultures, yurt houses/tents to welcome the weary traveler.
In addition to the popular sports of wrestling and horse-riding - the Kyrgyz excel at both! – Kyrgyzstan also offers a unique type of traditional Kyrgyz equestrian sports:
- Er Enish or Oodarysh, a kind of, no holds barred, horseback wrestling match.
- Kok-boru is a kind of goat carcass polo in which two teams of riders try to carry the carcass into the home zone of the opposing team.
Both sports have serious existential roots – they were used enhance the skills and endurance of the young shepherds to help them protect their herds from both two and four legged predators. Today every self-respecting Nowruz festival (traditional Persian New Year – usually March 21-23) will feature a Kok-boru and an Er Enish event.
In recent years Kyrgyzstan has become a getaway of choice for many travelers to Central Asia. It is a country that is worth a visit.
Information about the Album ...
Title: Kyrgyzstan Album
The Land of Mountains, Valleys and Horses
Photographer: Deniz Bensason
Width: 25 cm
Height: 30 cm
Number of Pages: 90
Cover: Hard cover.
Additional Information: Printed on high quality gloss paper.
Laminated in matt silk to maintain maximum protection for the album.
Design & Layout: Nili Glick Studio.
Kyrgyzstan with its vast Tim Shan-Pamir Mountains that surround many sites and the Naryn River (After merging with the Kara-Darya, the Naryn River becomes the Syr Darya river, known to the ancient Greeks as the Jaxartes river; the Northern border of Alexander the Great's empire.) that flows through the country with large landscapes, horses that sprint through the waters and luscious green terrains with rainbows - these extensive landscapes gave me the sensation, as a photographer, as if I was living in a dream land.
Excerpts from Kyrgyzstan Album
Kyrgyzstan Album - Hardcover
Pages 4-5: A man, his horse and a dog
Pages 6-7: Yurtas surrounded by golden steppe
Page 12: A dried up riverbed surrounded by mountains
Page 13: Horses feeding on steppe
Pages 34-35: Drying laundry between two yurtas - Colored clothing between white yurtas
Pages 36-37: Woman in red, on the way to the outhouse
Page 52: Small girl, big blue gate
Page: 53 Village woman with her horses
Page 60: Two boys one donkey
Page 61: Two boys resting on train tracks
Page 62-63: Women at harvest
Page 74: A loving couple (of horses)
Page 75: Sizing up the opposition
Pages 84-85: The joys of freedom; Galloping through the water under a rainbow