I decided to jump start spring by going south for my school's March recess. My friend Erica was nice enough to put me up in Osh city where she teaches at a university. It was a great time to be in Osh since this more religious part of the country goes all out for the Nooruz holiday (the Muslim new year). We climbed Mt. Sulaymon, the holy mountain in the middle of Osh, luckily just before the wave of Nooruz tourists hit. 
view of Mt. Sulaymon
wandering through the bread stalls at Osh Bazaar
Then we met up with our friend Lauren and she took us to her village in Jalalabad. The fruit trees were all in bloom and the Naryn River glowed a brilliant teal.
"downtown" with Erica and Lauren
An 8 hour taxi ride got us back to the capital city of Bishkek where the temperature felt more like March. I'm wearing a coat again, but think I might appreciate living in the north this summer if Jalalabad was already in the 80s!
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