The postal service can be fairly haphazard … you will almost certainly arrive home well before your postcards do – unless you are literally following in the footsteps of Marco Polo.
Rates – for the standard postal service, airmail for letters and postcards, are not very expensive, by Western standards. Parcels tend to be more expensive … but if they are not sent airmail they are still very cheap– however, the parcel may take some considerable time to arrive. There is an Express Post Service (EPS), which is similar in cost and service to a courier service.
Letters and postcards – Don’t use the blue post boxes that you will see scattered around the main towns. Most of them don’t have bottoms any more, and the letters will simply fall to the ground. Go to the post office.
In Kyrgyzstan , although postcards may be posted without an envelope – it is usual for them to put in one. Stamped envelopes can be purchased in post offices.
The envelope should have your name address in the top left hand corner. The recipients name and address is then written in the main part of the envelope. (Remember to leave space for the stamps.)
Addresses on letters sent to local addresses should be in Russian (or Kyrgyz) in the format
-
Country
-
Postcode
-
City/Town/Village
-
Street address
-
Recipient
Your address goes here STAMPS Кыргызская Республика 720040 |
Some addresses may seem surprising e.g.:
г . Бишкек
6-12-21
means :
Bishkek,
Sixth Microdistrict ,
House No. 12,
Apartment 21.
If you are sending letters or postcards home then the first line of the address should be the name of the destination country written in Cyrillic. The rest can be in English, French, German, Latin, Japanese … or whatever.
Your address goes here STAMPS ШВЕЙЦАРИЯ |
Here is a list of some Country names in Cyrillic:
Country |
Cyrillic |
Australia |
АВСТАЛРЯ |
Austria |
АВСТРИЯ |
Belgium |
БЕЛЬГИЯ |
Canada |
КАНАДА |
Cyprus |
КИПР |
Denmark |
ДАНИЯ |
Finland |
ФИНЛАНДИЯ |
France |
ФРАНЦИЯ |
Germany |
ГЕРМАНИЯ |
Greece |
ГРЕЦИЯ |
Iceland |
ИСЛАНДИЯ |
Ireland |
ИРЛАНДИЯ |
Israel |
ИЗРАИЛЬ |
Italy |
ИТАЛИЯ |
Korea |
КОРЕЯ |
Lichtenstein |
ЛИХТЕНШТЕЙН |
Luxembourg |
ЛЮКСЕМБУРГ |
Malta |
МАЛЬТА |
Monaco |
МОНАКО |
Netherlands |
НИДЕРЛАНДИЯ |
New Zealand |
НОВАЯ ЗЕЛАНДИЯ |
Norway |
НОРВЕГИЯ |
Portugal |
ПОРТУГАЛЬ |
Spain |
ИСПАНИЯ |
Sweden |
ШВЕЙЦИЯ |
Switzerland |
ЩВЕЙЦАРКСИЯ |
UK |
АНГЛИЯ |
USA |
США |
Parcels – These have to be specially packed – the post office staff will do it for you for a small fee. You have to fill in a customs form and there is a charge for insurance based on the declared value.
There is an Express Postal service (EPS), which is similar to a courier service – and that similarity is reflected in the cost.
You should ask how long before the parcel is likely to arrive
Courier Services – for the urgent items, there are a number of international courier services operating on Bishkek, including DHL, Federal Express, OCS UPS.
For the bulky items … There are also a number of shipping companies – for example ARI Cargo and Lufthansa Cargo.