Our Story
It started with a simple question: "Why does every foreigner visiting Kazakhstan only know it from a Sacha Baron Cohen comedy?"
Kazakhstan is one of the most fascinating, underrated, and genuinely spectacular countries on Earth — the world's largest landlocked nation, birthplace of the apple, home of the world's first and largest spaceport, and a country that went from Soviet republic to modern economic powerhouse in a single generation. None of that made it into Borat's documentary.
So we built VeryNice.kz — a travel and culture guide that gives foreign visitors (and curious locals) the real story: the history, the food, the traditions, the cities, and the kind of hospitality that will genuinely make you say "Great success!" when your plane finally lands in Almaty.
Our Mission
We believe every traveller deserves accurate, engaging, and genuinely useful information about the places they visit. That belief shapes everything we do.
For tourists who arrive with only Borat-shaped expectations and leave absolutely blown away.
The nomadic heritage, the epic landscapes, the traditional dastarkhan feasts, and the warm, generous spirit of the Kazakh people.
We tell you what's great, what's tricky, and what to watch out for. No fluff, no paid-for puff pieces.
Because the more people truly understand Kazakhstan, the more Borat becomes what he always was: a fictional character, not a documentary.
Think of us as the travel companion you wished you had when you first Googled "Kazakhstan tourism" and found mostly yurt pictures and that one scene with the mankini.
The Borat Factor
Let's address the elephant — or the horse — in the yurt.
In 2006, Sacha Baron Cohen released Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan — a comedy mockumentary in which a fictional Kazakhstani journalist named Borat Sagdiyev travels to America to "study" its culture. The film was brilliantly funny and absolutely catastrophic for Kazakhstan's international image.
The Kazakh government was not amused. The people were not amused. But here's the twist the internet loves: Sacha Baron Cohen later donated $500,000 to a charity run by actual Kazakhstanis, flew to the country, and Kazakhstan eventually leaned into the joke — the Tourism Board even launched a campaign using the phrase "Very Nice".
So we did too. VeryNice.kz — the name itself is a nod to Borat's most famous phrase, reclaimed proudly. Because Kazakhstan is, genuinely, very nice.
Borat's Greatest Hits
These phrases went viral. You'll hear tourists trying them. Here's what they actually mean:
The Team
Every great project starts with people who care. Here's who built VeryNice.kz:
Azamat Baidildayev
A proud Kazakhstani and AI amateur who believes that technology, creativity, and a good sense of humour can change how the world sees his country. Azamat built this platform to give Kazakhstan the international travel guide it truly deserves — one that celebrates rather than caricatures.
When not wrestling with code at midnight, he's exploring Kazakhstan's hidden corners and wondering why the rest of the world is still sleeping on one of Central Asia's greatest travel destinations.
Aliya Askar
Aliya is the next generation of Kazakhstan's storytellers. A student at the Nazarbayev Intellectual School of Physics, Mathematics and Natural Sciences (NIS FMN) in Almaty, she brings the perspective of a young Kazakhstani who knows exactly what tourists get wrong — and exactly what they should be raving about.
Her contribution: making sure the content passes the most rigorous test of all — the "would an actual young person in Kazakhstan cringe at this?" quality check. She is Azamat's daughter, and proof that the future of Kazakh storytelling is in very capable hands.
Built With AI — Proudly
Let's be transparent: VeryNice.kz was built with significant help from AI. The content is researched, shaped, and fact-checked by humans who actually live in and love Kazakhstan — but the heavy lifting of coding, structuring, and scaling was done in partnership with modern AI tools.
We're what you might call AI amateurs — not engineers with CS degrees, not a Silicon Valley startup, just a father and daughter in Almaty who figured out that you no longer need a team of fifty developers to build something meaningful on the internet.
Why we're not hiding it
The travel and culture information on this site is curated, reviewed, and verified by real people with real knowledge of Kazakhstan. AI helped us build faster and smarter — it didn't replace the human judgment, local knowledge, or genuine passion behind every article.
We think that's the right way to use these tools: as amplifiers of human expertise, not replacements for it. And if Borat taught us anything, it's that when you don't have the full story, you end up looking very silly.
Great success! — We have the full story. Come explore Kazakhstan. 🇰🇿
Say Hello
Have a question, a correction, or just want to say "Jagshemash"? We genuinely love hearing from travellers, Kazakhstan enthusiasts, and anyone who watched Borat and then actually visited the country.
Contact Us