Bishkek, like most urban centers in Central Asia, is a city of many bazaars. While Osh Bazaar is the most famous of them, Dordoi Bazaar is by far the largest. Located a few kilometers northeast of the city center, this bazaar is built from thousands of old shipping containers. Dordoi is the largest bazaar in Central Asia, and one of the top ten largest on earth.
Inside Dordoi Bazaar you can find literally anything you need. There are dozens of sections for different goods: shoes, clothes, fur hats, military surplus, traditional clothing, toys, and of course a bunch of places to have snacks when you get exhausted from all the shopping. I spent about 3 hours just in those few sections mentioned, which probably only comprise a third or less of the whole complex. There are countless other sections of products I never saw because the bazaar is too large to see in a single day.
Clothes are far cheaper here than in Osh Bazaar or neighboring Kazakhstan, and high quality Chinese fakes can run for a 10th of the original cost. For example, I bought two Under Armour shirts for hiking for less than $5 a piece, and I couldn’t see any difference from the original thing. Souvenirs aren’t so prevalent here, unless you want some Russian military attire, in which case you have lots to choose from (the stereotypical fluffy black fur hats will set you back about $10).
Getting to the bazaar is fairly straightforward, with many buses and marshrutkas going there from the city center (look for Дордой on the signs). I went by marshrutka with one of the employees at my hostel, who showed me around for a bit before she had to leave. Be sure to visit in the morning, as everything starts shutting down around 12:30-1 o’clock. It’s an incredible place to visit, even if just to see the magnitude of the place and the amount shops clustered together in this huge area.
bioarchnomad 