Welcome to Georgia

Georgia, the insider’s tip.

Surrounded by 5000 metre peaks on our way to the ‘Balcony of Europe’.

Communications genius and intuitive female, explorer and foodie, grasshopper trainer and tour diarist = Katharina

Favourite with the women at the

market and goat matador, soft-

shell fan and air juggler, good mood

enforcer and guide =

Andi

Early September 2009:

TEAM

On tour in Georgia The

8 Days in Georgia

Man of few words and master at stone skimming, motif hunter and capturer of fleeting moments, campfire expert and supplies gatherer =

Seb

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Alexandre Dumas the elder was a fan of the city’s sulphur baths.

Due to the heat, we decide to view the old part of the city with its baths and domes from the outside.

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DAY

Next stop: Mestia, the capital of

Svanetia. We also get closer to the

conflict zones of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A reminder that one hears

more about Georgia in the news than with Russia. What is a well-kept secret, however, is that Georgia is an outdoor paradise.

2

DAY

anywhere else, due to the tensions

DAY

2

Sweet-smelling fruit, piquant cheese and heart-shaped glasses. We go shopping at a street stall and in the market hall

and taste all kinds of things: aromatic apricots, honeycombs

to chew on and natural ‘churchkhella'. The ‘Georgian Snickers’

made from nuts strung together and covered in concentrated grape juice. Mmmm!

DAY03 At Mestia we are right in the middle of the Caucasus Mountains. All around

us, sheer granite peaks that are two, four and five thousand metres high jut into the overcast sky.

Our first tour takes us up the local mountain, Suruld

(2350 m). The rain that had been forecast arrives for real but our spirits remain high.

Our view is dominated by Ushba with its striking double summit (4737 m

and 4698 m), which initially remains hidden in the clouds. The ascent

of Svanetia’s highest mountain is

deemed one of the toughest in the Caucasus because it is so steep and rugged.

DAY03

Ushguli! It is as if we had travelled back in time a couple of

hundred years. Guesthouse Ushguli is where we are staying.

Our hosts even take time for a few pictures.

I wonder if we will be given ‘Chatschapuri’ for dinner. This

cheese pie is a Georgian speciality (leavened bread with a

filling of cheese, eggs, sour cream and garlic + various other

ingredients) and is delicious. First of all, we set off on foot to explore the area.

DAY

4

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The community of four villages up at

2200 metres is amongst the highest in

Europe. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There are medieval houses and

fortified towers from the 11th century.

4

DAY

Here we are exploring the past.

Ushguli’s fortified towers remind us

of what our hosts had told us: that in many places in Georgia they are hoping for tourism. Due to the war

risk many visitors stay away even

though most of Georgia is unaffected.

DAY

4

DAY

05 The brave Miran is waiting for us this morning and patiently lets us load some of our camping

equipment on him. We set off with pack-horse,

equipment and our guides Tamuna and Homba,

two of Ushguli’s 250 inhabitants. Our objective: to follow the length of the Enguri to its source

on the Shkhara glacier, en route to Georgia’s highest peak.

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DAY

05

On the way, we meet a couple of farmers. We

stop and get chatting.

Their traditional way of

making hay proves to be more difficult than it

looks. Another thing that

strikes us is how welcoming

and open the Georgian people are, whether in

the city or up here in the mountains.

By foot or on horseback? The Enguri is still quite tame here but it is a glacial river nonetheless, so Miran is at our service.

DAY

05

By late afternoon we reach the end of stage one. Before the terrain gets too steep and difficult to navigate, we find a

beautiful spot to camp, right between two huge boulders with

views of all the surrounding 5000 metre peaks. After a brief break in the afternoon sun, it’s off to collect firewood. Seb, the campfire expert, is in charge. Tonight’s menu: potatoes fried over the campfire.

DAY

6

During the night, we are flooded! Light showers turn into a thunderstorm with

heavy rain lasting right through the night.

We are fine in our Jack Wolfskin tent.

Tamuna and Homba on the other hand get wet at some point in the night but still

sleep through it. Their composure seems unshakable.

During breakfast we have a team chat. With the thunderstorm the river has swelled. We have to cancel our plans.

We can’t go to the glacier this way as our return route may well be cut off. The river is already too wild to cross on foot now. Luckily we have Miran, and can use him as a horse ferry.

DAY

6

But very soon, we find a new objective. With 87% of the

country covered in mountains, we are spoilt for choice! We

walk through the Shkhara massif with glaciers and majestic peaks at eye-level. We get to the end of this upper Svanetia valley that, due to its altitude, is also known as the ‘Caucasian Himlaya’.

After crossing a pass, we see Ushguli way below us once again.

DAY

7

A lovely farewell from the team at the Ushguli

guesthouse including photographs and a packed

lunch. Seb manages to secure an extra portion.

:0) Pridorn, our unflinching driver starts the minibus in the direction of Tbilissi...

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... We don’t get very far though.... Last

night’s rain has resulted in a landslide of mud and rocks across the road. We try to stabilise the ground with branches.

Finally we have to say goodbye to our little bus that has taken us all this way, and load our kit into the four-by-four that has come to help.

DAY0 Last day

8

The landscape changes shortly before we leave for home. After the jagged

grey/green of the Caucasus, we are

treated to the warm earthy tones of the dry steppe surrounding David

Gareja. On the way to this special

Orthodox complex, we meet an old

Georgian man who comes up here every day. He shows us the way to the network of caves that housed monks back in the 6th century AD.

DAY0

8

From up here you can see far into

neighbouring Azerbaijan. We admire

the frescoes and caves that served

as cells for the monks. Some are na-

turally formed, others are carved out of the soft sandstone. A couple of

buildings such as the fortification

have been built from stone.

We take a last look round and slowly

make our way back to the car where

Pridorn waits patiently. Then he takes us to the airport.

www.Via-Verde-Reisen.de: The Via-Verde team suggested two tours. The alternative one would have taken us on alpine paths through the Greater Caucasus and “Georgian Dolomites� for 8 days. We were tempted. Maybe we will just have to come back. www.ttc.ge: The Georgian agent. Our guide Tamuna was simply brilliant. She always came up with a solution and knew the answers to all our questions.

If something should happen: www.tiflis.diplo.de (German Embassy in Georgia)

THE END.

photos: Moritz Attenberger

www.auswaertiges-amt.de: For up-to-date information on the situation in-country.