the sims (no, not the game)

Once we were settled at the hotel, we went out for lunch. My first errands: change money, then get a sim card. The first few places we walked into to change we located in electronics shops. Just a small window in a sea of cell phones and accessories and motherboards mounted on the wall like displays on mannequins of the latest fashions. The change places in Bishkek, at least the small cluster around TSUM (state department store) were, by contrast, located in jewelry shops. A little insight into what kind of major purchases people make with some regularity…

To get the sim they needed a passport. Also different from Kyrgyzstan where a small vendor at the bazaar happily sold me two sim cards with no identity check. We had lots of plans to choose from, but I went for the prepay from Babilon mobile. Full service – they put the sim in for me, dialed in and did the pin. Had some trouble with the phone, asked if it was from America. No, I said, from the Netherlands (I purchased it in the Amsterdam airport on my way over since my other travel phone has been dying the last few trips). So they tried again, got it registered, called me from the shop phone to make sure it was working, then wrote down my phone number for me, and then showed me how to check my balance. A really nice start to the visit here.