Saur Mountain Range

(Source: Kelgembaeva Baykytzhan. People and land: textbook. – Oskemen: Media Alliance, 2005. – 168 p.)

When the venerable Asan Kaigy arrived in the Chiliktinskaya Valley, he said: «On one side is a mountain as smooth as a horse’s back, on the other is the Kandysu River, on the third is the Uydene hill, similar to a yurt. You have three exits. If there were a fourth door, you would become a real Paradise on earth».

And when Asan Kaigy climbed the Saur Range, he exclaimed:

«Ah, even if you were naked, like a horse’s back, you would still be an earthly Paradise! It’s just a pity that you have so few people around you. Apart from that, you don’t have a single flaw. There is such peace and grace here that even a quail could lay eggs right on sheep’s wool».

Since then, this range has been called Saur (In the Kazakh language it means «horse’s rump»).