Photographing Balykchy - Jo Kearney ARPS
Balykchy - Portrait of a Former Soviet Industrial City
Balykchy was once one of Kyrgyzstan’s industrial powerhouses, situated on the banks of a giant alpine lake. Today, more than a quarter of a century after the break-up of the USSR, it is a Soviet ghost town. It now represents a symbol of communist decay. Hulls of ships and cranes rust at the port and factories lie in ruins; parks that were once the pride of the city are filled with weeds and statues of Lenin crumble. Balykchy, meaning fisherman in the Kyrgyz language, derives its name from the city’s fishing and boatbuilding heritage. It was devastated by the break-up of the Soviet Union which brought an end to trade links and financial backing from Moscow. As factories dwindled to a halt people lost their jobs and the town eventually went from full employment to almost nothing. Today there are a few private restaurants and shops serving tourists travelling to the resorts that lie further east along Lake Issyk-Kul, the world’s second biggest alpine lake. People set up stalls selling fruit and dried fish to motorists, but the fish comes from China and not the lake. There’s also a brisk trade to be done at the town market selling goods imported from China. Many young people are forced to leave their country and find work in Russia and Kazakhstan, often leaving their children with their ageing parents. These pensioners continue to cling to communist ideals and dream of Soviet times when food and housing was cheap and they could afford to travel to Moscow and Kiev. They struggle to survive on meagre pensions and are forced to take over the full-time care of their grandchildren.
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