WHAT IT’S LIKE TO STAY IN A FORMER URANIUM MINING TOWN IN KYRGYZSTAN.

Min Kush’s only B&B owners are hoping tourism is the key to changing the town’s ailing fortunes.

There was no signpost, but my driver Azamat knew to turn off the main highway and to take the winding narrow road through the Tien-Shan mountains. Our destination for the night was Min Kush, a former Soviet uranium mining town, which my guide book described as the end of the road in every way.

During Soviet times, uranium was mined here for Russia’s nuclear programme. It was regarded as so important that the Kyrgyz town was ruled directly by Moscow and attracted highly skilled labour from all over the Soviet Union; wages were double the national average and employees were given special privileges and holidays. So secretive was Min Kush during Soviet times that it didn’t appear on any maps and you needed a permit to enter. 

The uranium mine was shut down in 1968 and new industries were created, notably a felt tip pen factory. But since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the town has become a shadow of its former self; factories and apartments stand in ruins and the population has fallen from 20,000 to around 3,000.  

By Jo Kearney.

Full story at Independent.