The Pearl of Kyrgyzstan

The Pearl of Kyrgyzstan refers to the real place, Lake Issyk-Kul. It is the second largest saline lake in the world and its name in Kyrgyz means "hot lake," even though it is surrounded by snow capped peaks and the water never freezes. Silk Road traders would stop here to recover from the trek through the passes of Tian Shan, and is still considered the most popular destination in Kyrgyzstan to relax for tourists and locals.

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The Legend of Jety-Oguz Gorge

In the Legend of the Jety-Oguz Gorge, it tells the story of the formation of the red mountain gorges known as the Seven Bulls and the Broken Heart. There are unusual red rocks that appear like seven bulls lying on the ground. Their emergence has a legend told by the Kyrgyz people.

Long ago, there were two warring rulers and one of them had a beautiful wife. The second ruler wanted a beautiful woman too, so he stole him from the first ruler. A war broke out between them with the husband demanding the return of his wife, or he would destroy the second ruler.

The second ruler began to plan about what he could do to avoid yielding to the first ruler. One of his relatives proposed an evil plan, saying that a woman should be killed and her body given back to the first ruler because he didn't specify whether he wanted his wife back dead or alive. The second ruler loved this plan, so he organized a seven-day celebration, killing one bull for each day. When the seventh day arrived and the last bull was killed, the khan killed the woman.

But evil deeds did not go unpunished. When the blood of the murdered woman sprayed onto the rocks, hot streams of water poured into the valley, destroying him and his subordinates. Since then, this gorge has been called "Jety-Oguz" or the Seven Bulls, in English. The right side of the rock was called "The Broken Heart" as it had the shape of the heart with vessels on it.

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