What can a Traveller expect in Kazakhstan?

And also, what has Kazakhstan to offer a traveller?
Questions that can be answered in many ways. Below a few possible answers.

First of all, after undergoing the (usually smooth, sometimes tricky) border formalities, you will be welcomed in a vast and empty country with a very hospitable people. If there's a unique trait of the Kazakhs, and other nationalities living in Kazakhstan, it's their warm treatment for those coming from afar. A characteristic for all people with a nomadic past, and from which millions of displaced people from all over the USSR - especially during and after WWII - have profited enormously.

Kazakhstan is a country of vast spaces, the result of a relative small population (16 million people) living in a vast country (the 9th country worldwide in size), that is populated mainly along its edges. During larger tours one will have to make transfers across the open spaces (desert, semi-desert, steppe) and feel the real Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is moving, especially in the cities and areas where (oil)industry is transforming life. A new class of self-confident people has been formed with their specific characteristics, while many people have more chances than ever to improve their livelihood.

In 2012 any traveller to Kazakhstan can still consider him- or herself to be a pioneer, especially when you leave Almaty and Astana behind you. Few foreigners have travelled through these lands. This (slowly) changing, because the Kazakh government these days is more active in promoting tourism and more touristic facilities (especially accommodation options in the countryside) are being offered.