We stocked up on cheese and bread and fruit at a local bazaar, then headed south and east to the famous Yeti-Oguz (Seven Bulls) area, with its red sandstone cliffs. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, the sun had fled behind some clouds. We climbed a nearby hilltop near the road and tried to imagine what the view would be like in summer weather, when the pastures were green and filled with flowers, and the red rocks stand out against the blue sky. According to legend, the seven red rock mountains were formed from the blood of a young queen, murdered by her king-husband because she had been stolen by another local warlord. Despite the brisk temperature and the tales of blood and gore, we enjoyed a short picnic alongside a clear stream before we continued back to the main road on the south side of the lake.

Just a few kilometers down the main road is the small town of Jele Debe, where we asked directions to the house of Tenti Djamanakov, a famous berkhutchi, or eagle hunter, who lives in this village. It didn't take long for our driver to locate the house; the town is small enough, and Tenti is famous enough, that everyone knows where he lives. The door was answered by Tenti's daughter, who speaks excellent English and helped translate for us. Tenti was more than willing to show us his berkhut (tame golden eagle) for a fee. While he collected her from her cage, I watched his wife clip the wool from a disgruntled ram who didn't seem to appreciate having an audience.

Tenti's berkhut is huge her wingspan is nearly 2 meters and her talons seem as large as my admittedly small hands. Tenti told us that he would soon be taking her on a hunting trip - winter is the best hunting season - and then proudly explained how she had once killed a wolf. More than seven centuries ago, Marco Polo, the medieval European traveler along the Silk Road, wrote about the trained eagles of Kublai Khan, son of Genghis Khan: "He has also a great multitude of eagles which are very well trained to hunt; for they take wolves and foxes and buck and roe deer, hares and other small animals."

It seemed I wasn't the only one who was wary of Tenti's berkhut. Soon after we had heard the story of the wolf episode, the family dog slinked by the wagon where the eagle was perched, making to keep out of range. I noticed that the berkhut watched the dog intently as it passed. She seemed eager to hunt; at least that was my interpretation of her loud chirping cries and the intense way she stared at all the living animals in the courtyard. Her penetrating gaze helped me understand why Kyrgyz people once believed that evil spirits were afraid of the eyes of an eagle. Because they thought that problems with childbirth were caused by evil spirits, they would bring a berkhut to the bedside of a pregnant woman who was having difficult labor to frighten away the spirits. The eagle was also considered to be the ancestor of their shamans, the priest-doctors who acted as liaisons between the visible and spirit worlds and who used their powers to heal the sick and predict the future. Kyrgyz shamans were believed to be the first hunters; as a result, all hunters were given a special status. Tenti's berkhut did not leave a doubt in our minds, that there may be something to that.