Animal Bazaar

There are no Ponies at this Animal Bazaar

The town of At-Bashy (meaning horse head or horse person), like so many towns in Kyrgyzstan, is situated at the base of a broad mountain valley. It lies on the road north from Kashgar to Naryn and on to Bishkek. As a result, it receives a great deal of Chinese truck traffic hauling goods to bazaars and warehouses in Bishkek. The traffic seems to have a minimal effect on the town. The only gas station I saw (and I traveled the main in and out of town) would have been hard pressed to pump gas for a big rig. The gas was actually pumped into a bucket and then funneled into the tank. Along the road a few trucks making on-the-road repairs were scattered here and there but otherwise the trucks passed through in huge volume but with little social or economic impact on the town.

As the name of the town portends, the economy of the town revolves around the rich animal husbandry made possible by the fertility of the broad valley’s pastureland. Though the town only contains a few thousand people (whereas Naryn has more than 50,000) it is home to the central animal market of a large region (including Naryn, some 60km to the North). The animal bazaar is easily more than twice the size of the bazaar dedicated to people’s material needs and it is impressive. Sheep, cows and horses change hands by the many dozens (horses) and hundreds (sheep). A good sheep sells for around US$ 100, a horse for around US$ 1,000 and a cow for around 500 (I could be off on the cow, the horse and sheep stuck out better in my mind). I am not sure why, but chickens and donkeys were not to be found at the bazaar.

The organization of the bazaar is fluid. Which is to say that from an outsiders perspective, there was none. Once things really got busy around 9am there was little room to bring in new animals at the animal entrance. So herders (all men and boys) tried, and invariably eventually succeeded, in forcing their animals into the selling lot. This is something of a spectacle to behold as cows and horses are accustomed to large open pastures and do like to be crowded into large chaotic places. Trucks full of animals beep and budge their way through the herds. Their owners whip them to make them go one way and occasionally someone else who wants to get through whips them to go another. I quickly learned to avoid the more crowded areas. I am just not acclimated to frightened horses pushing this way and that. The sheep are not a problem. They are scared too but more much easier to control and docile.

Despite the Chinese domination in manufacture and, to a slightly lesser extent, trade of many good both the animal bazaar and the ‘regular’ bazaar were completely filled with Kyrgyz with a Uighur or two at the animal bazaar. The trucks and trucks as well were all old Soviet models. It was quite astonishing to see so many goods literally wash right over this town without leaving much of a trace. The very goods brought through the town seemed to circulate back to it as the same unheard of Chinese brand names in electonics (Sparrow televisions anyone?) and simple cheap goods were available here that one sees everywhere else in Kyrgyzstan.

I met my driver who was to take me onto Tash-Rabat. With a sheep in the trunk and my things in the back seat we left the stress and excitement of the animal bazaar behind and headed to the highlands.