On this aerial {photograph} taken on January 22, 2025, individuals stand subsequent to a 15-metre duplicate of the Eiffel Tower within the settlement on 152 km of the Bishkek-Osh highway, unofficially referred to as Paris. Agence France-Presse
PARIS, Kyrgyzstan — To succeed in Paris’s Eiffel Tower, Nurzhigit Abrahman needed to zig-zag via treacherous mountain passes and keep away from an avalanche earlier than getting a foggy glimpse of the 15-meter (50-foot) monument in a mountain hamlet in Kyrgyzstan.
The settlement is without doubt one of the few spots of civilization on the one highway that hyperlinks the north and south of the Central Asian nation, a bustling route amid surging commerce with Russia and China.
Round 100 “Parisians” reside within the makeshift village, which acquired its title from the truckers drawn to the glow of its roadside cafes, and someway the thought of the Metropolis of Gentle caught.
READ: Kyrgyzstan begins constructing railway linking China, Uzbekistan
“I finished in Paris as a result of the roads are closed, there’s an excessive amount of snow. Whereas they grit the roads, I’m going to eat and relaxation,” Abrahman, 22, advised AFP from the within of his truck cab.
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“There’s a small restore store right here, we are able to change a tire,” stated Abrahman, who’s ferrying cargo from the capital Bishkek to the southern metropolis of Osh — a drive of round 700 kilometers (430 miles) and no less than 15 hours away.
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The route winds via landlocked Kyrgyzstan’s Suusamyr Valley, which posted a record-low temperature of -47 levels Celsius (-53 Fahrenheit) in 2023.
READ: ‘Disappeared fully’: melting glaciers fear Central Asia
The highway additionally has the grim distinction of essentially the most highway fatalities of any within the nation.
In the course of the winter storm, visibility is nearly zero and uncovered faces are stung by the ice crystals being whipped up by a blizzard.
Kilometer 152
Paris has grow to be a well-liked stopover for the rising numbers of automobiles navigating one of many world’s most mountainous nations.
In honor of the title, final summer season the village was gifted its personal model of the famed tower.
“Our village is named Paris, and in Paris there’s an Eiffel Tower,” stated Nurzhan Kubatbekov, Kyrgyzstan’s reply to Gustave Eiffel, who paid $14,000 for the duplicate.
Two vehicles drive previous a statue of Kyrgyz hero Manas on the Bishkek-Osh highway within the Susamyr Valley on January 22, 2025. Agence France-Presse
Though 20 occasions smaller than the actual factor, it nonetheless lights up at evening, identical to the unique.
However that’s the place the comparisons with the French capital finish.
The place one Paris has Notre Dame cathedral, the opposite boasts a brand new little mosque. As a substitute of pigeons gathered on open squares or rats scurrying via metro stations, a battered steady for mountain-hardened horses and cows.
However to authorities officers, this Paris doesn’t exist — it’s simply kilometer 152 of the Bishkek-Osh freeway.
‘Legalize us or raze it’
The village popped as much as meet the rising calls for of long-distance drivers, however has by no means been formally integrated.
“Earlier than, there was nothing right here, then containers appeared, and a village shaped,” stated Tamara Kachkynbayeva, a 55-year-old who runs a restaurant serving conventional meat dishes.
“We began feeding and warming drivers between the mountain passes. There’s even an infirmary for first support,” she added.
Locals at the moment are pushing to get recognition for the village and its French-inspired title.
Individuals eat in a restaurant within the settlement on 152 km of the Bishkek-Osh highway, unofficially referred to as Paris, on January 22, 2025. Agence France-Presse
“The inhabitants is asking to legalize the state of affairs and make the title Paris official,” Kachkynbayeva stated.
Urmat Nusubaliyev, one of many first to settle in Paris 27 years in the past, is ready for a solution by spring.
“Nobody has any paperwork for this land. The village technically belongs to 2 totally different districts,” the 47-year-old stated. “Both they legalise us or they raze it.”
However the way forward for Paris is unsure.
To cope with rising cargo volumes, authorities are planning to open an alternate route between Bishkek and Osh, bypassing the village, later this 12 months.
It might be sooner, however seemingly simply as dangerous.
After Paris, truckers need to navigate a number of passes at altitudes of greater than 3,000 meters together with a harmful spot generally known as Camel’s Cross, the place rocks are coated in cellphone numbers for emergency breakdown providers.
Stranded automobiles can rapidly grow to be buried underneath intense snowfall.
Eldiyar Dulatov, 26, was one of many unfortunate drivers AFP journalists met on the highway throughout the stormy January day.
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“I’ve acquired no sign and 7 individuals within the automotive,” he lamented. “A pipe has burst and the gas is leaking.”