Balykchy: anything to see / ruin porn?
Posted: Thu May 17, 2018 11:10 am
Got the following question via e-mail:
Just had a query regarding Balychky. I wondered if you had been there recently?
Yuri Boyanin’s feature Unearthing Kyrgyzstan’s Industrial Breakdown: Uptopia in Ruins had some great photos of Balychky and I’ve seen others of ruined boats. I was there last year and stopped briefly en route but didn’t really see the water’s edge and the old ships. I was wondering if they are still there?
I just read the feature on Lake Issyk-Kul on your website and it said that Balychky had been cleaned up and everything removed. I thought there were still a lot of ruined factories, houses etc when I was there in 2016 but want to know whether it has been cleaned up since then. I was planning a second trip to do a photo feature on Balychky.
*********my answer*******
I have to modify that article then. After getting Yuri's article in, I was expecting an apocalyptic landscape in Balychy. What I got was neat gardens. The boats are still there I presume, I don't think anyone has the money to get them out (I was also there last in 2016, they were still there). But I felt Balykchy was not doing too badly, most probably floating on money coming from Russia, but still....
But maybe my standards are different, I am an optimist and I like to portray Central Asia from the sunny side, since Western media is only interested in ruin porn/bride kidnapping/Aral Sea/dictatorstan-type reporting.
I will clarify this on the Issyk-Kul article: the boats are still there, I think I found 2 out of 4 Lenins, some other remnants from Soviet times (besides the pensioners) definitely remain if you dig deep enough.
Just had a query regarding Balychky. I wondered if you had been there recently?
Yuri Boyanin’s feature Unearthing Kyrgyzstan’s Industrial Breakdown: Uptopia in Ruins had some great photos of Balychky and I’ve seen others of ruined boats. I was there last year and stopped briefly en route but didn’t really see the water’s edge and the old ships. I was wondering if they are still there?
I just read the feature on Lake Issyk-Kul on your website and it said that Balychky had been cleaned up and everything removed. I thought there were still a lot of ruined factories, houses etc when I was there in 2016 but want to know whether it has been cleaned up since then. I was planning a second trip to do a photo feature on Balychky.
*********my answer*******
I have to modify that article then. After getting Yuri's article in, I was expecting an apocalyptic landscape in Balychy. What I got was neat gardens. The boats are still there I presume, I don't think anyone has the money to get them out (I was also there last in 2016, they were still there). But I felt Balykchy was not doing too badly, most probably floating on money coming from Russia, but still....
But maybe my standards are different, I am an optimist and I like to portray Central Asia from the sunny side, since Western media is only interested in ruin porn/bride kidnapping/Aral Sea/dictatorstan-type reporting.
I will clarify this on the Issyk-Kul article: the boats are still there, I think I found 2 out of 4 Lenins, some other remnants from Soviet times (besides the pensioners) definitely remain if you dig deep enough.