In The Land Of Borat.(Special Report)(Kazakhstan)

Byline: Jaime Cunningham and Christopher Flavelle

Visitors to Kazakhstan will find beautiful scenery, great skiing, lively nightlife and even fancy hotels.

Some people learned everything they know about Kazakhstan from Borat, the buffoonish journalist played by Sacha Baron Cohen in the 2006 film "Borat." Those who've heard a bit more will think of Kazakhstan as a remote land still run by a Soviet-era strongman, who is now building a new capital as a bizarre monument to himself. So travelers who actually venture to the former Soviet republic in Central Asia may be surprised by what they find.

Since Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, its standard of living has risen dramatically, and tourists have begun to take note of its cosmopolitan cities, striking natural landscape and steadily improving Western-standard comforts. Whether you're looking for Silk Road exoticism, great steppes ecotourism or oil-wealth extravagance, Kazakhstan is slowly emerging from underneath its Soviet-era shroud to beckon the adventurous and the hedonistic alike. "The changes are gigantic," says Beth Jones, U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan from 1995 to 1998, when "there were no streetlights or curbs on the road and people were having a very difficult time making ends meet. It's a completely different country now."

That's thanks mainly to oil. The largest landlocked nation in the world, Kazakhstan sits on more than 3 percent of the world's oil reserves. It was the first nation in the Caspian region to privatize its energy industry and open up to Western businesses. Since independence, it has received more than $30 billion in direct foreign investment. "Oil money is a very important asset," says Zhanbolat Ussenov, assistant to the Kazakhstan ambassador to the United States in Washington, D.C. "It's a tool for building up the economy."

And it shows. The tourist infrastructure is beginning to bloom. In the old capital city of Almaty, BMWs and Mercedeses cruise up and down the streets, with well-dressed customers patronizing bustling cafes, bars and nightclubs. Guest accommodations have drastically improved; among the new hotels that have opened in the past few years are the InterContinental, opposite the presidential palace, and Central Asia's first five-star hotel, the Hyatt Regency Almaty, where the Regency Suite King--with two balconies, a separate dining room and a marble bath--goes for a whopping [euro]5,800 per night. Indeed, unlike other newly developed countries, Kazakhstan is not cheap; with its eye on wealthy oil executives, it has become the most expensive destination in Central Asia. Ethnic restaurants feature sophisticated Russian, Swedish and Japanese cuisine. For pampering, the Luxor Wellness Club, located in an Egyptian-style building, offers hydrotherapy and ozone therapy at its beauty spa. The traditional Central Public Baths, called Arasan Banya, also draws ...