Maps and Plans

It is not easy to find large-scale maps of Kyrgyzstan, or plans of Bishkek. The best place to go is the State Cartographical and Geodesical Service of the Kyrgyz Republic, which has for sale a wide range of maps and plans not available elsewhere. I found particularly useful the 1:25,000 street plan of Bishkek, which includes an index of the main thoroughfares and has marked all the most important monuments, buildings and places of interest; and the Silk Road Map of Kyrgyzstan, which is double-sided, one side being a 1:1,300,000 map of the whole country showing all the main historical and archeological sites, and the other side being devoted to the route and history of the Silk Road.

Once you have located the building, it is not at all obvious that the Service is there because it only occupies one floor - I think the third (or fourth in American usage). Just go up some stairs and knock on a few doors and you should find it. Prices are very reasonable.