Kyrgyzstan

We're planning a trip to Kyrgyzstan next July, and I've found this guide the single best book for trip planning. The Lonely Planet combines Kyrgyzstan with the other Stans into a "Central Asia" volume, and thus dilutes its coverage of Kyrgyzstan. The Cadogan guide is severely dated, all the way back to the immediate post Communist period. Mitchell's guide, on the other hand, has useful, no nonsense advice. We've found this guide useful in building our itinerary, because there's enough detail to help you decide where you want to go and what you want to see, without having to flip past lists of every last youth hostel that you never intend to stay in anyway.