Taxi and take off from Manas Airport, Bishkek. What a rush!

I was recently on a flight from Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan to Istanbul, Turkey and I recorded the take off and put it on YouTube.  To date, it's my most popular video!  The first thing you notice when you take off or land at Manas Airport is the rough condition of the runway.  It's really brutal!  If you tried rolling a marble over the runway at Manas, you might get it to go a couple of feet before if was obstructed by all of the ruts.  In general, the airport is very slow.  Most of the activity is from the US Military, with big transport and cargo planes parked.  You can see a few in the video.

I flew into Bishkek on Turkish Airlines, and I know BMI and Aeroflot go there as well.  As far as I know, the service is not very frequent, maybe a couple of times per week.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a Star Alliance Gold lounge at Manas (associated with BMI) and the airport facilities are nice but certainly not extravagant.  That's it for now, please enjoy my taxi and takeoff video from Manas Airport, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan!