Used to live there for a couple of years when I was a child (bairn for the Scotts), having been born in Uzbekistan. Visited both in 2018, as an adult. Although my first inclination is to say it’s a bit of a shithole, it does have its ups and downs.

Most of the country is significantly underdeveloped, there are some cities that are somewhat developed but there’s an endemic problem of corruption and nepotism ingrained within the culture. I highly recommend Almaty, it’s a beautiful city that used to be the capital. There are mountains and it’s surrounded by nature, but the absolute state of infrastructure (most of which is still from the soviet days). Hospitality is great, food is a bit heavy on the meat & dough, but the dishes are very homely.

They’ve had a massive credit rollout, followed swiftly by a default as people who couldn’t afford credit, passed the DD.

They’re very much not happy with Borat, even though it’s meant to be satire.