[glofish]

My sentiment is not about Kazakhstan in particular,

It is about the rich westerner's naive gushing when visiting African, Eastern European, Central American remote villages etc

"Everybody is so nice and generous around here ... not like back home in the civilized world"

They confuse how people treat them in particular with what it is like living there.

[usrusr]

One possible explanation for the pattern of generous hospitality in poor countries I find quite interesting (I'm sure it's only one component of many in the motivational environment) is that hosting the traveler from afar is the closest thing they can do to traveling themselves.

[aerostable_slug]

Note that generosity to travelers is a common virtue in many societies throughout history, and violating this can bring severe consequences if only in myth (e.g. a traveling stranger might actually be a god in disguise checking up on you).

And after all, next time it might be you looking for a bite to eat and a place out of the wind and rain for the night. There's not a lot of Holiday Inns on the steppe or in ancient Greece.

[philistine]

They're tourists in an area where they're uncommon. Outside places where they are very numerous, people always treat tourists well. It's simple, really.