In this vlog, Izzy Kiver (kyver.org) shares his enthusiastic endorsement of Kazakhstan, focusing on its exceptional food scene in Almaty, striking Soviet‑era architecture blended with high‑end modern interior design in Almaty and Astana, and the country’s diverse climates—from beaches to year‑round ski slopes. He highlights the high emotional intelligence and sensitivity of Kazakh people, noting that while most interactions are warm and welcoming, taxi drivers can be problematic. Kiver cautions that Kazakhstan is socially conservative, especially for LGBT visitors, but emphasizes its openness to remote workers and entrepreneurs: he points to major co‑working hubs like SmartPoint and Astana Hub, easy five‑year visas, and a thriving startup ecosystem with substantial revenue. He recommends short‑term visits for Russian‑speaking travelers, suggests staying in hostels, hotels, or Airbnbs, and invites viewers to connect via kyver.org. The overall message is that Kazakhstan offers great food, culture, climate, and business opportunities, despite some cultural conservatism.
Chapters
Hello again, it's me, Izzy Kiver from kyver.org and today I would like to talk about why I love Kazakhstan people and the culture. You may have heard of Kazakhstan from Borat or Borat 2, but that is not what Kazakhstan is really about. I'm here to dispel a couple myths of why I love Kazakhstan firstly and its future. First of all, bar none, you will not find better food anywhere in the US and many places in Europe than you will find in Almaty. Oh my God, the cafes, they're delish. But more importantly the architecture and design. I feel like I'm this dystopian society where it pre Soviet Union or Soviet Union architecture with super modern interiors. That's super high end design. I have not seen such good design outside Beverly Hills in the US where it's in very high end areas like you can see in Almani or in some of the hottest spots in Astana. Those are the two major cities. You have Asana or Alani anywhere else. Sorry guys, sorry Casey people, but I think you both agree don't really recommend going anywhere else besides for maybe some essential locations there now there is so much to do in Kazakhstan. It is insane. Various climates, different weather, depending where you go. You have the beach, you have the mountains, you have the Alps where you can go skiing year round. It's cool. I like it. The people, I feel like the level of emotional intelligence for East Europe or even Eurasia is super high. You because you have to understand Kazakhstan is not necessarily Europe, it's not necessarily Eurasia. It's influenced by both Salmani. You'll find it's more influenced by China. And you'll find that Pakistan is more influenced by the west where people are trying to study English and get better in English versus a lot of people are also kind of more westernized in some sense. Well, they're kind of also gearing more towards the Silk Road, towards China. But either way you go the level of emotional intelligence and the way conversation are handled, there is this level of sensitivity that people have not consult each other, be careful of how they speak, how they act and basically how they treat you. And being outside of taxi drivers, you know, that's just been my worst experience. That's universal in every country. As long as you stay away from judging the country by the taxi drivers, you're going to see the experience is really good. People are nice, people get along. I feel it's really easy to make friends and no matter where you stand politically, more or less, people get along. We can Talk about some typical topics. Okay. If you're lgbt, probably not the best place for you. You know, it's just not the culture here, very conservative environment. So things that are more accepted in certain places in the west, they just don't fly over here. Not the culture. So sorry, if that's your position, then it's not, it's not going to be the best place for you outside of that. Think of a place that's pretty conservative, free a guy, incredible here. Okay, so very progressive. You have all the luxuries, all the technology. If you have the money and you have a remote job. There are a few places in the world that I would recommend as much as I would recommend Kazakhstan. And if you're a Russian speaker who maybe is from Ukraine, Russia, some other country, and you're able to get a one way ticket or even like a round trip to Kazakhstan, check it out for a couple of weeks. I recommend to come here, get a feel for it, get a hostel, get a hotel, get an Airbnb, talk with the people, make some friends. Everyone is super open. The two places that I came to and visited right away, first was SmartPoint. That is the largest co working space in Central Asia. That's Nahmadi, and of course Astana Hub, which is massive co working space. They do like half a billion dollars a year in revenue from their thousand plus companies that are there. You can become a resident, you get a five year visa. Super easy. If you actually, you know, just join and offer them a startup idea, I think it's awesome. If you're an entrepreneur, you're trying to get your name out there, you're trying to work with people, hit me up. If you need some connects, come to Astana, come to Elmani, check out Kazakhstan, you won't regret it. Food, people, culture, weather, you name it, it's here and I'm loving it. All right, I've been Izzy Kiver don't forget kyver.org and I'll see you next time.
