Fancy visiting a lake that is famous for now being a dry ship cemetery? Or how about visiting the world’s largest tent?

Welcome to Kazakhstan, the former closed Soviet state that promises tourists a bewildering array of attractions unlikely to be found elsewhere.

Poised strategically between Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan has long been largely ignored by the West or parodied in Hollywood. Now it is putting out the welcome mat for foreign tourists and seeking to reinvent itself as a player on the international diplomatic stage.

But with a poor human rights record, restrictions on the press, and an authoritarian government, 101 East examines if Kazakhstan is too hard a sell.