Astana

Call it Astana, call it Nur-Sultan (its official moniker), the fact remains that the capital of Kazakhstan is a wonder of modern urban planning. Spreading its metallic and mechanized wings on the rolling Central Asian steppe, it's set to shock with architectural masterpieces that look like UFOs or spaceships. From the Baiterek Tower – locals think it looks like a colossal lollipop – to the Shabyt Palace of Creativity – a glass-fronted tuile that could be a futuristic model of a volcano – the samples get more and more unique. And that's only scratching the surface, because Nur-Sultan tour guides also have the 77-meter-high minarets of the sprawling Hazret Sultan Mosque, the mind-boggling pyramid of the Palace of Peace and Reconciliation, or the Khan Shatyr Shopping Centre, the world’s largest marquee up their sleeve.

Between – and sometimes inside – those mighty creations are museums to Kazakhstani history, Kazakhstani leaders, and the peoples of the Kazakh steppe. They're hemmed in by districts of traditional cookhouses that churn out fermented mare's milk and shashliks, or bumping discos where the country's forward-thinking youth gather for vodkas and dancing come evening.