I got an e-mail newsletter (which means that I can't link to it) that had some interesting information, including a word I hadn't known about: khanate. Here is part of what it said:
Kyrgyzstan (pronounced "Kier-gee-stan") is a more familiar name for a Central Asian nation whose official name is the Kyrgyz Republic.
The Kyrgyz, a traditionally nomadic people...show up in Chinese chronicles that date to around 200 BC. Back then, they lived in what is now northern Mongolia, though they later moved to Siberia before migrating to the land that now bears their name. Kyrgyz raiders were probably among the marauders who prompted the Chinese to build the original Great Wall in the 3rd century BC.
By the 9th century AD, the Kyrgyz had begun to build a khanate that at length included parts of modern Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Siberia, and China. That khanate came crashing down in the 13th century, with the spread of Mongol armies under Genghis Khan and his descendents.

It did give a link to some stunning pictures:
http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/Kyrgyzstan/page1.htm

great pictures. thanks, Jackie.

Lake of Clouds on page 1 and Cloud Cradle on page 2 are stunning.

Mm--I loved Lake of the Clouds in particular, too. These pics almost...almost...make me think that someday I might actually think about visiting a culture that is so foreign to me. Unlike many of you, who have not only traveled but lived all over the world, I am not a person who jumps headlong into the unknown. I feel a need for a pretty strong degree of familiarity; just the way I am.

jackie, that is the way you are because you haven't jumped head first into a different culture!

Humans are very addaptable.. and very quickly a 'foriegn culture' isn't foriegn, its just everyday.(everyday!)

and there is a cultural 'reacclimation' period when you return home.

Every culture has some great ideas that are either mis understood, or generally rejected by others.. when you live in the culture, learn them, see them in use.. you wonder why in the world doesn't everyone do this! when you come home, you want to keep the good ideas...

(like wise every culture has some horrid ideas and you wonder how they were ever adoped..

same is true for foods.. hunger (real hunger, not just the ususally (mostly satisfied quickly in america ) desire to eat, make foods that you think you'd never eat, taste good.
and besides, everyone else is eating them with relish.. and soon you too dig into ...

in japan, i ate food that i didn't recognize, and my b-i-l had no english name for.. (he lived here 10 years) and he said --'i never say this word in english' --so obviously its not something commonly eaten here. it wasn't bad (we had take a long walk along the beach on a very cold and windy day.. and taken turns carrying my neice.. (18months old at the time) we had skipped lunch (and just had a pack of peanuts as a mid day snack.. by 8pm when we had dinner, i was willing to eat anything! and did! even stuff that i didn't know what it was that i was eating!
(it was sort of vaguely stringy.. but more like the constistantcy of overcook spaghetti in egg whites (only it was pinks and grey..)

Squid, maybe?

nah, i've eaten raw squid (not twice mind you, but..)

it looked sort of like a jelly fish.. it had less substance than a squid. (it was way to gelly like for me.. i don't like gelitan, or okra, or other gelatinous foods much--(they are a particular favorite of the japanese.. they have dish of fermented soy beans that smell like it has gone bad, and the beans are slimy. they serve them with raw egg.. and they gobble them up.. yuck! i like my pasta al dente cause its too gross when over cooked--raw eggs are okay if they are whipped (into meregue)and okay semi solid (soft boiled) but i don't much like any foods that are slimy or gelatious--(i love chinese food, but dislike the classic cantonese dish of shrimp with lobster sause cause the sause is too...yuck!) but my chinese friends were surprise i didn't mind congelled blood..(chinese style black pudding) but, hey, black pudding is food.. whynot?

> make foods that you think you'd never eat, taste good.

Are you referring to McDogburgers?

> and besides, everyone else is eating them with relish..

oh, yeah, you are - but sometimes it's mayonnaise!

If it was like jello strings with a crunch it probably was jellyfish. Although it is translucent whitish at my local Sechuan restaurant. (Cold with a vinagar sauce and pork. Weird I know but so am I - I love it.)

watch out! There's a sting in the tail.