How Issyk-Kul became home to Andreas Wolf from Germany

13:00, 28 августа 2022, Bishkek - 24.kg news agency , Tatyana KUDRYAVTSEVA

Andreas Wolf was born in the German city of Schweinsburg. He first came to Kyrgyzstan in 2002. The visit turned out to be decisive. The republic has become home away from home to the native of Saxony. Now he constantly lives in Issyk-Kul, and visits his relatives and friends not more than once a year.

Andreas Wolf first heard about Kyrgyzstan and Issyk-Kul back in 1997, but came to the country for the first time 20 years ago.

«I was married to a woman from Bishkek, but we divorced in 2018. However, I decided to stay in Kyrgyzstan. I bought a house in Issyk-Kul, in Cholpon-Ata, where I live now with my dog and cat,» 76-year-old Andreas Wolf told.

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— What was the first impression of the country? Did it change later?

— It was a very beautiful, but poor country in 2002. Kyrgyzstan is worth visiting for tourists in 2022, because gastronomy and hotels have developed.

— What surprises you in Bishkek/ Kyrgyzstan?

— It’s becoming much more modern and more and more appropriate to Europe or America.

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— What is your favorite place in Bishkek/Kyrgyzstan?

— It is Issyk-Kul, my house. I love life at Issyk-Kul, because I’m a nature person.

— Why did you decide to live in Issyk-Kul and not in Bishkek?

-There is a good climate, good air, friends often come to me in the summer. In winter it’s enough for me to visit friends in Bishkek once a month. Come and have a coffee with me and you’ll understand. Here you will find pensioners from Bishkek living here now.

— What national dishes do you like?

— All of them. Beshbarmak, manty, lagman, shashlik, blini are my favorite dishes. I was born in 1946 and grew up in poor conditions in the country after the World War II.

— What has fascinated you in close acquaintance with the local population? What disappointed?

— Local population is very friendly.

I am disappointed by the cumbersome bureaucracy.
Andreas Wolf

— Do your children and grandchildren visit Kyrgyzstan or do you visit them?

— My son lives in USA. I have grandchildren at the age of 8 and 9 there and travel to USA once a year. My son often visited me. My daughter-in-law is too scared because of the insecure hygiene in her eyes.