Meet My Friends, Ashim

An interview to a friend I met during my trip in Kyrgyzstan.

Welcome to Meet My Friends, a series of interviews with people I met during my trips, special people who became my friends. I enjoy meeting new people while travelling, which is why I often volunteer during my trips. I think it is important to meet local people to know more about the culture of the place you visit, and sometimes you meet people with fascinating stories. In these interviews, I want you to know a bit about my friends and their countries, their stories and why they are special to me.

This interview is with Ashim, he and his family hosted me for 3 months in their home in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. He helped me to settle in the city, and with everything I needed while I was there, for example, to buy a new lens for my camera, or a heavy jacket for hiking in Ala Archa. We spent a lot of time sitting in the kitchen in front of a tea sharing our culture, traditions, and travel experiences.

Please meet my friend Ashim, I hope you enjoy this interview.

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Please introduce yourself, where you are from, where are you right now, what you do, and how your typical day is.

My name is Ashim Kulcharov, I am an entrepreneur from Kyrgyzstan. I have several business projects in Education and SportTech industries.

What does travelling mean to you?

Travelling means a lot to me, back in 2007 I had my first long-term travel to the USA for 3 months, and since that time I realized the importance of travelling for changing your mindset and broadening your horizons. Moreover, you can travel even if you stay at home, at the moment I have opened the doors of my house to international travellers, so now I am travelling through hosting people from different countries and continents. I get to know people and their cultures; this is a good way to communicate with people and better understand their perspectives.

What is your favourite destination? Why?

I don’t have any favourite destinations, any country is worth travelling to because you learn a lot from people.

I lived with your amazing family for 3 months, how did you start hosting travellers? Why do you do it?

As I explained above, at the moment we have small kids and it’s difficult for us to travel, thus we decided to host people at home and we are travelling through hosting. It sounds weird, but it really works.

What would you say to someone to convince them to travel to central Asia?

Central Asia has a lot to offer. In Kyrgyzstan, you will find a unique heritage, ancient traditions and a real nomadic culture.

Hiking place that you can't miss while travelling in Kyrgyzstan?

We have a lot of interesting hiking experiences, depending on your level and preferences. Dozens of gorges and lakes, some of which are very remote and dangerous. We have three mountain peaks above 7000 meters: Lenin Peak, Victory Peak and Peak Khan Tengri.

One or two Kyrgyz dishes that you or your family love, and one or two internationals.

My best Kyrgyz dishes are Manty and Lagman. Manty is a traditional Kyrgyz dumpling. While Lagman is noodles with meat and vegetables, usually fried in a wok-style pan.

What do you usually say to the tourists that you host to let them know where they are?

I say that Kyrgyzstan is a truly unique place, that combines nomadic culture, Soviet heritage and modern/western influence.

Something common to do somewhere else but weird to do in Kyrgyzstan

I don’t know anything like this.

If your next trip is already paid, where would you like to go?

I would like to go around the world.

If you could be a character in a movie what would you be and why?

Very interesting question… Probably I would like to be a superhero and help people around the world.

Thank you to Ashim for participating in Meet My Friends, please, give a check to his Instagram account and follow him, it will help him with his work. If you enjoyed it, please consider subscribing, updating to a paid subscription or buying me a coffee. Also, you can share it with people you think might like this content.