Recently I had the chance to travel outside of Tbilisi, Georgia's charming and cozy capital city, to the northwest corner of Georgia. The Svaneti region of Georgia is nestled high up in the Caucasus Mountains, near the border with Russia.
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| Vanilla Sky - First Class |
To get to Mestia in Upper Svaneti, one can travel in many ways. By foot or horse is a long trip. By car is at least 8 hours from Tbilisi, with over half of the trip winding up the mountains on a road currently under construction. Or you can fly. And we flew.
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| View from the window |
Vanilla Sky Airlines flies twice a week I am told, as long as the weather is good and the airstrip in Mestia is open. Which given the snow in the winter is only about six months, or so I am told. This WWII era biplane with 12 jump seats fits you and your luggage comfortably. There is no inflight service, unless you count the "sic sac" they provide prior to takeoff, or the lighter that you give to the pilot half way through so he can light his cigar. When the weather is clear, there is no need for the GPS on the plane's dashboard because you can see exactly where you are going.
Luckily our flight was uneventful and we landed on the grass landing strip in Mestia about an hour after take off. And when you land you feel as if you are in a mountain paradise.
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| Mestia |
Mestia is full of the traditional Svan towers that were built in the 11th century as lookouts for invaders. Amazingly today these towers continue to stand tall, a sign of both the strength of construction and the of the Svan people.
Today Svaneti is part of Georgia, however it retains its history, culture and language. Many residents of Svaneti, known as Svans, still speak Svan a language yet again so different than Georgian. The town is in the middle of a transformation at the moment with lots of investment in infrastructure to build more tourism opportunities in the region. The Georgian government is supporting the construction of a ski resort, upgrading the airport and the town is being given a facelift. USAID and the Millenium Challenge Corporation have both invested in programs to enhance tourism in the region, with small grants to build and update guest houses, hotels and create better signage and hiking maps for the region.
In addition Mestia is home to a branch of the Georgian National Museum. This small museum is packed with wonders - icons, artifacts, and photographs from the early 20th century. During invasions of Georgia over the past thousands of years, wealthy Georgians and leaders would send their treasures to Mestia for safe keeping. So today the museum has a fascinating collection of religious icons and artifacts that will fill you with awe. Plus the US Department of State, with a small grant has arranged for the training of the museum staff in this little gem to do their own conservation. Trained by experts from the Smithsonian and the Metropolitan Museum, the Georgian staff can now protect the wonders this museum holds. Worth a visit.
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| Spectacular views |
If you are a hiker, Mestia is a great place to start. You can hike for days in and around Mestia, and you can do multi-day hikes to Ushguli and other small villages in the area. We did an eight hour hike from Mestia, up over a pass to another small town, where a car met us for a 45 minute drive back to Mestia. Essentially we went straight up and then straight down. Once we cleared the dirt road about two hours into our hike we had the mountains to ourselves. Beautiful green pastures and breathtaking views. I couldn't believe I was in the middle of the Caucasus, but 10 miles as the crow flies from Russia, in the high mountains with crystal clear air and spectacular vistas.
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| Green Pastures |
Along the way we found wild blueberries growing along the path. One of our fellow hikers, a Georgian, had never had blueberries before. And we kept looking back and finding him knee deep in blueberry bushes picking as many as he could, while trying to be secretive about it. His blue fingers and lips kind of gave him away. At times the path disappeared, thanks to landslides and winter avalanches and we picked our way across the scree and steep mountain side. Even in late August we had to cross snow patches that remained from last winter and will probably still be there for the next snow fall.
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| Looking back up to the summit |
At the summit of the pass, we stopped for lunch. Khachapouri (traditional Georgia cheese bread) fresh peaches, and cucumbers we ate like a carrot stick. We had hiked high enough that the view from the summit was in the clouds and we had no real vistas, plus the wind was howling through the pass and to be honest all I wanted to do was keep hiking to stay warm and to get out of the wind. After lunch we quickly got out of the wind as we came down the other side. And we came straight down. At one point I considered laying down and just rolling down the hill. It would have been faster, but harder to avoid the cow pies that filled the hillside. And there were a lot of them. We passed a view goat herders and farmers out to collect their cows from the pastures on the way down. And encountered young Georgian cowboys riding up the hill on their one hours with their German Shepherd following close behind. Upon arrival at the village we met the car and the wonder of a few Svans who couldn't believe we did the hike across from Mestia in only eight hours. Personally I was motivated by the thought of dinner, and a local delicacy which is essentially fried corn bread with cheese. You really can eat your way through Georgia.
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| Georgian Reggae |
When we returned to our hotel, we found the small dirt road up to the hotel packed with cars and people. The front of our hotel had transformed into a concert hall - a large stage with lights was full of musicians performing all kinds of Georgian music, including the polyphonic songs of Georgia, some folk songs and Georgian reggae. Yes, Georgian reggae.
In the end, it was another perfect day in the Caucasus.
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