Love in a marshrutka

by Timothy Wittman (United States of America)

I didn't expect to find Kyrgyzstan

A friend and a friend of a friend of mine decided to take a trip together for the fall, so we made a less-than-obvious choice: Kyrgyzstan. Three Americans being driven around Lake Issyk-Kul without knowing any of the language made for quite an adventure. I knew that it would be a "trip of a lifetime" before I even got on the plane, but I could never expect to have it play out as beautifully as it did. In 2018, Kyrgyzstan hosted the World Nomad Games and we decided that we absolutely needed to make it to see the final of the kok-buru event (a.k.a. "dead goat polo") and the closing ceremonies. After a few days in the big city and seeing the sites in the countryside, we spent the next few days enjoying the games. Travelling in a group of three allowed me to venture off by myself without wrecking the group dynamic. (I have always felt that walking around randomly in a country gives me the best opportunity to appreciate and "get a feel" of the beauty each place has to offer.) I went to the Hippodrome to watch the finals of Er-Enish - the most masculine sport ever in which two shirtless guys wrestle each other while on horses. After that event, I attempted to go to Kyrchyn Jailoo where the cultural events were being held...forever changing my life. I was walking around the parking lot trying to find a shuttle bus to the other location, thinking that there would be an "official" bus. Instead, I was walking by a marshrutka and someone told me they could take me to the cultural area. I think travelers should always be weary of "unofficial" transports but it didn't seem like I had a plethora of options. I got in the vehicle and realized that there was no seat for me. I asked the person that took my money where I was supposed to sit and (unbeknownst to me) someone in the back of the bus gave up his seat for me because "I was a guest in the country." While sitting there, my seatmate was interested in asking me questions and since I spoke no Russian or Kyrgyz he struggled in English to ask "where from?" and "how old?" A beautiful woman two seats in front of me began to assist in translating these questions and eventually swapped seats with my other seatmate. I don't think I have been interviewed so thoroughly in all my life. Halfway through the trip the vast majority of my marshrutka friends lost interest in my story (I guess I am not THAT interesting) but I kept talking to the only other person that spoke English. We decided that since we were both travelling alone we should check out the cultural events together and make a day of it. It was great having someone to explain the details of the events and translate the signage. We spent the next three or four days together, going to the Kok-buru final (Kyrgyzstan won by over 20 goats!), romantic strolls on Lake Issyk-Kul and a taxi ride back to Bishkek. I tried to convince her to come with me to Kazakhstan but it was too much. A month later, I dipped into savings and met up with her in Istanbul where we spent a wonderful week together and decided to go through a complicated immigration process through a K1 "fiance" visa. On 27 December 2019 we were married. We talk all the time about how close we were to never meeting: she was going to take a taxi; I was going to get off the marshrutka if there weren't a seat for me; her friends wanted her to go back early. There are complicated concepts at play relating to destiny, fate and soulmates that neither of us actually believe in. The only real takeaway for both of us is that we both ventured out to see the world and now - years later - we are both living "happily ever after."