Two points in Bishkek are connected by the rather long trolleybus route number 8. Throughout the 1990s, my brother Timur and I would take this trolleybus on weekends and make the almost hour-long journey from Pishpek Station to the Eastern Bus Station. We would sit by the window, looking at passers-by, at the cars, imagining ourselves as the trolleybus driver. It so happened that most of the stops on this route were connected to the course of life, when one belief system was replaced by many other beliefs, religions and rituals.