From what I've read, Kyrgyzstan sounds like a pretty cool place. I'm pretty interested in this "Epic of Manas" I've read about. It sounds pretty cool.
Is it a religious story, or is it just a tale of a hero similar to other epics?
Yes, "Epic of Manas" is just a tale of a Kyrgyz hero like Homer's "Iliyada" and "Odiseya" (sorry, if i write wrong in english). And this epic has two sequels - "Semetei" (son of Manas) and "Seitek" (son of Semetei). I'll try to find electronic version this books in enghish.
Unfortunately, I badly know all history of Kyrgyzstan and kyrgyz's culture in spite of the fact that I live in this country. But if you have a questions, I'll try to give an answer.