As I walk through the streets of Naryn these last days of December I see brightly-colored lights shining in the windows of homes and businesses. There’s a large evergreen tree decorated with lights and ornaments in the city square. And nearby, a jolly old elf with a white beard dressed in a red suit takes photos with children. So it must be Christmas, right? Wrong.
Kyrgyzstan is a predominantly Muslim country, so most people don’t celebrate Christmas. However, Janga Jul—New Years—is a big holiday here, and the lights, decorated trees, and red-suited gentleman are all harbingers of the new year. Here’s a good story from National Public Radio on the history of holiday trees in this part of the world. The guy in the red suit is Ayaz Ata—Father Frost—not St. Nicholas. There is even a Kyrgyz version of “Jingle Bells:”
Жанга жыл, Жанга жыл,
Келде Жанга жыл.
Аяз Ата, Аяз Кыз,
Келде Жанга жыл.
(New Years Day, New Years Day,
New Years Day is near.
Father Frost, Daughter Frost,
New Years Day is near.)
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!
Geezer Adventures 
Hi Shaun. Kind of interesting how we shouldn’t take what we see at face value . A good friend of mine is from Kazakhstan and she Russian Orthodox I believe. She coaches here now but they still have their main celebration over New Years . Always great to read your blog!!
I love it. The decorated pine tree can mean whatever you want it to mean. Look for my Bastille Day tree next July.
I enjoyed the helicopter flight over and the mule ride up & down, but what I’m really looking forward to is doing it on foot like you did, with an overnight at Phantom Ranch. I’m considering an early October ti1a.remefRm1; Andrea