Djety Oguz

Djety Oguz, the extraordinary 'Valley of Seven Bulls', is famous for its unusually bright, red sandstone rock formations. Some of the valley's most celebrated landmarks include the 'broken heart' (a crimson, heart-shaped precipice), the 'dragon's lair' (an spectacular, deep sandy canyon) and, of course, the 'seven bulls' themselves (a row of crags dominating the Djety Oguz Valley). Centuries of snow and wind have eroded the rock face and multiplied the bulls from seven to nine, but Djety Oguz remains no less impressive. These remarkable cliffs and their surrounding plateaux and valleys make a popular day trip from Karakol.
   Numerous legends tell of how the valley and its curious rock formations were created. The Russian writer and explorer, Ivan Sokolov-Mikitov recounted the most famous local story.
   Besides numerous walks and photo opportunities, Djety Oguz has a small, clean late-Soviet sanatorium -another chance to rest your travel-weary limbs in natural hot springs or mud baths.
   Djety Oguz is situated 35km from Karakol and can be easily visited as a day or half day trip. Turkestan is able to arrange guided walks, horse riding, picnics, eagle hunting displays, horseback sports and concerts of traditional folklore music in the Djety Oguz Valley.
  
Synopsis.
   "Once upon a time, long, long ago in the Kyrgyz mountains, lived two powerful khans. Each ruled over a large and wealthy tribe. One day, the first khan, who was greedy and evil, kidnapped his neighbour's beautiful wife. From this day onwards the two tribes became sworn enemies and went to war against each other.
   The evil khan's courtiers gave him this advice: 'Your enemy demands that you return his wife' they said. 'There is a way in which you can comply with his demands without giving in. Kill the woman and return her corpse. In this way you can do what he asks, but your heart will be calm as he will not be able to rule the woman that you return'.
   The courtiers' advice greatly pleased the greedy khan. In order to carry out his evil plan, he prepared an enormous funeral banquet in the mountains.
   Everybody from his tribe came to the feast and seven red bulls were killed to provide food for all the guests. When the seventh red bull had been killed, the evil khan himself took a knife and plunged it into the heart of the unfortunate woman. Hot blood spilled from the wound and stained the mountains red -that is why, to this day, the cliffs at Jety-Oguz remain blood-red.
   Along with the blood, boiling water poured from her wound and hot liquids filled the mountainous valley. All of the murderous khan's relatives and banquet guests were killed in the boiling water. Waves of liquid washed the carcasses of the bulls that had been killed for the feast far away. It is still possible to see them, as the mysterious fluid transformed the seven red bulls into seven red crags.
   This is why, even today, the valley continues to be called Jety Oguz, since in Kyrgyz it means the 'Valley of Seven Bulls'..."