The Mikhail Frunze museum, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan

[Ignatieff]

The museum they'd rather you didn't see....so, driving through downtown Bishkek and guide person casually says, "on the right is museum of Mikhail Frunze". "Stop the car!" shouts I. "THE Mikhail Frunze? Hero of the Bolshevik revolution, the man who defeated The White admiral Kolchak in the east, the last White Army of General Wrangel in the Crimea and these who delivered Central Asia out of the dark ages, including taking the medievally cruel desert kingdom of Bukhara (whose Emir fled to Afghanistan, and dropped of, one by one, each of his favourite dancing boys to try and slow down the Bolshevik pursuit). The greatest Bolshevik general ever who had Bishkek renamed 'Frunze' after his death in 1926 at the impossibly young age of 40 (his doctor accidentally killed him with a chloroform overdose)? That Mikhail Frunze?" says I. "The very same" says she. "We're in!" says I.....and then it all went surreal (again). There were no other visitors, and a rather starchy desk woman who reminded me of my time behind the iron curtain in the late 1980's.... But the best was yet to come. Step forward 'Ludmilla' complete with severe pointing stick and 110% unreconstructed soviet era attitude and a burning glint in her eye. Never a good sign in my experience, (female) fanatics with pointing sticks talking about long dead generals.

The museum was an astonishing record of the early years of the Bolshevik revolution with hundreds of photographs, uniforms, regimental colours, weapons, etc..."Do you mind if we take photographs?" says I. Stony silence, followed by an outburst. "This is not an art gallery! This is a historical museum and therefore NO photographs can be taken!" barks she. Rory (my son) and me then noticed her Cheka henchwomen, fat babushkas in head scarves dreaming of what was all those years ago. Who followed our guided tour suspiciously. "Plan B" whispers I to Rory, which means 'you drop back and take surreptitious shots of all the stuff we like. Six shots in he was rumbled. It felt like a moment from a John Le Carre Cold War novel. I had visions of the eldest son of my loins being hauled off to a labour camp. 'Right' thinks I. 'Were going to have some fun here questioning some deeply held orthodoxies. The killer question proved to be: "Do you think Stalin would have murdered Frunze if he has lived longer into Stalins reign of terror". If I had been allowed to film, her face looked like the women who has just lost the pram in the 1917 classic 'Battleship Potemkin'. After digesting the affront she looked really scary (by smiling) and said coyly "no". "Well he murdered all his other best generals, other than Zhukov, who he was too scared to touch" scoffed I. Queue a scream of "it was Beria (Stalins chief lackey), not Stalin who did that. Stalin wouldn't do that!" Uncle Joe, eh? Loved his family and small animals. He'd never do something like that, would he?

So, what do you get: you get two museums for the price of one. One absolutely cracking museum about a historically significant 20th century soldier. And another, even better one, that of inside the mind of unreconstructed Soviet totalitarianism. Bargain.

The one small detail that added to my some total of knowledge was that the some of the Bolo lancers (of which there were thousands of them in the pics) had small (maybe 12" max) triangular lance pennons in red(?).  Will be adding these to mine.

Anyway, if you are in the area, take a hidden camera.  It's worth it.

[Poliorketes]

Thanks for the impression!

[OSHIROmodels]

Fantastic read, right out of a Pulpy comic book 

cheers

James

[Emir of Askaristan]

Brilliant !
You'd never get a review like that on TripAdvisor!
 

[von Lucky]

Put it on TripAdvisor! Thanks for the read.

[Too Bo Coo]

When in Bishkek, eat Plof and Monti, eat much, eat often

[Ignatieff]

When in Bishkek, eat Plof and Monti, eat much, eat often

We did. I lost several kilos.  Did you know there are 96 different types of Plov in Uzbekistan???

[Yankeepedlar01]

Stan, eh? I knew he'd be trouble!
What an interesting account, could almost smell the cabbage!

[Too Bo Coo]

We did. I lost several kilos.  Did you know there are 96 different types of Plov in Uzbekistan???

My better half was born in Bishkek and I fell in love with central asian food right after falling for her! 

You can make Plov with so many different things, but my favorite is carrot, onion and lamb.  Her dad makes a really fantastic plov, pulling out the whole pieces of garlic after they've cooked, my favorite!

The monti dumplings are great too.  Also very simple, dough, lamb and onion.

[Ignatieff]

Put it on TripAdvisor! Thanks for the read.

Great idea.  Done!

[carlos marighela]

You should really only put something on Twit Advisor, if it doesn't exist or you own the place yourself. My favourite Twat Advisor snafu was the floating restaurant in Devon that didn't exist.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/10208910/Businessman-sets-up-fake-restaurant-to-expose-failings-of-TripAdvisor-website.html

 


Very nice report btw.

[Ignatieff]

My better half was born in Bishkek and I fell in love with central asian food right after falling for her! 

You can make Plov with so many different things, but my favorite is carrot, onion and lamb.  Her dad makes a really fantastic plov, pulling out the whole pieces of garlic after they've cooked, my favorite!

The monti dumplings are great too.  Also very simple, dough, lamb and onion.

Lovely people, lucky man!

[Von Stroheim]

Some pictures here

http://www.comtourist.com/history/bishkek-lenin-museum/

[Ignatieff]

I presume the perpetrator has not been seen since! 

[Hammers]

The museum they'd rather you didn't see....so, driving through downtown Bishkek and guide person casually says, "on the right is museum of Mikhail Frunze". "Stop the car!" shouts I. "THE Mikhail Frunze? Hero of the Bolshevik revolution, the man who defeated The White admiral Kolchak in the east, the last White Army of General Wrangel in the Crimea and these who delivered Central Asia out of the dark ages, including taking the medievally cruel desert kingdom of Bukhara (whose Emir fled to Afghanistan, and dropped of, one by one, each of his favourite dancing boys to try and slow down the Bolshevik pursuit). The greatest Bolshevik general ever who had Bishkek renamed 'Frunze' after his death in 1926 at the impossibly young age of 40 (his doctor accidentally killed him with a chloroform overdose)? That Mikhail Frunze?" says I. "The very same" says she. "We're in!" says I.....and then it all went surreal (again). There were no other visitors, and a rather starchy desk woman who reminded me of my time behind the iron curtain in the late 1980's.... But the best was yet to come. Step forward 'Ludmilla' complete with severe pointing stick and 110% unreconstructed soviet era attitude and a burning glint in her eye. Never a good sign in my experience, (female) fanatics with pointing sticks talking about long dead generals.

The museum was an astonishing record of the early years of the Bolshevik revolution with hundreds of photographs, uniforms, regimental colours, weapons, etc..."Do you mind if we take photographs?" says I. Stony silence, followed by an outburst. "This is not an art gallery! This is a historical museum and therefore NO photographs can be taken!" barks she. Rory (my son) and me then noticed her Cheka henchwomen, fat babushkas in head scarves dreaming of what was all those years ago. Who followed our guided tour suspiciously. "Plan B" whispers I to Rory, which means 'you drop back and take surreptitious shots of all the stuff we like. Six shots in he was rumbled. It felt like a moment from a John Le Carre Cold War novel. I had visions of the eldest son of my loins being hauled off to a labour camp. 'Right' thinks I. 'Were going to have some fun here questioning some deeply held orthodoxies. The killer question proved to be: "Do you think Stalin would have murdered Frunze if he has lived longer into Stalins reign of terror". If I had been allowed to film, her face looked like the women who has just lost the pram in the 1917 classic 'Battleship Potemkin'. After digesting the affront she looked really scary (by smiling) and said coyly "no". "Well he murdered all his other best generals, other than Zhukov, who he was too scared to touch" scoffed I. Queue a scream of "it was Beria (Stalins chief lackey), not Stalin who did that. Stalin wouldn't do that!" Uncle Joe, eh? Loved his family and small animals. He'd never do something like that, would he?

So, what do you get: you get two museums for the price of one. One absolutely cracking museum about a historically significant 20th century soldier. And another, even better one, that of inside the mind of unreconstructed Soviet totalitarianism. Bargain.

The one small detail that added to my some total of knowledge was that the some of the Bolo lancers (of which there were thousands of them in the pics) had small (maybe 12" max) triangular lance pennons in red(?).  Will be adding these to mine.

Anyway, if you are in the area, take a hidden camera.  It's worth it.

Since it is you, Ignatiff, I am surprised you came out of there alive. I'd expect you to be overcome by angina pectoris or at least  vapours extremis by sheer impression overload.