Jeti-Ögüz rocks

Nice walk around this great sandstone formation just southwest of Karakol


The name means “seven bulls”, which comes from the legend, that the rocks look like seven bulls.


Legend says: A Kyrgyz khan stole the wife of another khan. This khan then went to seek the advice of a wise man about how he could get revenge. The wise man was reluctant to give advice, but in the end relented, telling the khan that he should kill the wife and give her body to his rival, saying “Let him own a dead wife, not a living one.” The khan made his plans, and at a funeral feast, he arranged to sit next to his stolen wife. As the last of seven bulls were being slaughtered for a ritual, the khan took out his knife and stabbed his wife. Blood gushed from her heart, which carried away the bulls down the valley, and when they came to rest, they became these red rocks.


The Jeti-Ögüz is a geological protected area, established in 1975 with a purpose of conservation of a unique geological formation – sheer cliffs composed of Tertiary red conglomerates.





Dragon’s gorge