This is Tamara. She’s Korean and 64 years old. She’s a tailor. Already 40 years she makes and repairs clothes in a dusty room, no larger than six square meters on the second floor of the bazaar in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan’s capital. My pants needed some professional help.
She was impressed when she heard I was cycling alone from Belgium to Taiwan. She read my story on a note on my phone. It’s written in Russian and explains why I’m cycling those 30.000 kilometres. She silently started crying. I was really touched by seeing this and gave her a hug. She was whispering ‘Maladjèt’, over and over again. This means ‘Great! Good job! You’re the best!’.
When my pants were repaired I wanted to pay. I couldn’t. She didn’t want me to. After me insisting, I could (me glad). We said goodbye with wishing each other all the best. This followed by -again- a warm hug, refreshed by the spinning fan next to us #kyrgyzstan