Zhabeshi → Adishi, 23 July 2009

In the morning we started our walk upwards and looked down on the village of Zhabeshi and the Tviberi valley.

Our elevation steadily increased until we reach a plateau at 2,700 metres. From here we looked out upon the Inguri River valley to the east is the Tetnuldi (4860m).

On the hike we had a lot of impressive views, including the characteristic Ushba mountain with its two peaks and the Tetnuldi.

Happy pigs

There were many pigs in Svaneti. They went freely around grazing living a good life.

Mestia → Zhabeshi, 22 July 2009

At 9 in the morning our guide arrived with his horse and we stated on the first leg of our hiking to Zhabeshi. We went over a mountain ridge and down into the Tviberi River valley to the village of Zhabeshi.

Tbilisi → Mestia, 21 July 2009

As soon as daughter and her boyfriend arrived we stated on the long and tiresome drive to Svaneti (11 hours). Mestia is the main city in Svaneti. It was a 10 hours drive (plus 1 hour breaks) to come to Mestia from Tbilisi, the last four hour from Zugdidi to Mestia on gravel roads with a lot of potholes.

Surrounded by 3,000–5,000 meter peaks, Svaneti is the highest inhabited area in Europe. Four of the 10 highest peaks of the Caucasus are located in the region. The highest mountain in Georgia, Mount Shkhara at 5,201 meters, is located in the province. Other prominent peaks include Tetnuldi (4,974m.), Shota Rustaveli (4,960m.), Mt. Ushba (4,710m.), and Ailama (4,525m.).

We headed to Union "Mountain-Tourism Center in Upper Svaneti" which arranges the trips, accommodation in families and guide services (http://www.svanetitrekking.ge/eng/index.htm). Due to some mistakes our trip was not arranged in advance, although we had exchanged several e-mail and phone calls but soon they had arranged the hiking and a guide as we wished and we were on our way to our very friendly host family. We had chosen the so called HORSEBACK TRAIL: Mestia - ZHABESHI – USHGULI as the main part of our hiking adventure.

Juta Village, 19 July 2009

In Kazbegi we hired two jeeps to drive us to Jutta village, which lies at 2150 m and is the highest village in the area. Basically all inhabitants of this little settlement belong to the same family: Arabuli. From Jutta we went a couple of hours through beautiful meadows in the direction of the magnificent Chaukhi Mountains – visible all the way.

Kazbegi, 18 July 2009

The end of July there was hiking in the Caucasus on the programme, together with my daughter and her boyfriend, my son and her girlfriend plus two of their friends.

First my son, his girlfriend and their friends arrived, and we went on a weekend trip along the Georgian military highway to Kazbegi, near the Russian border.

Above Kazbegi, at an altitude of 2170 metres, and its most important attraction is Tsaminda Sameba stands on a hilltop. The silhouette of the church against the sky looks really nice. The church was built in the 14th century.

From Kazbegi it takes about one and a half hour to walk up to the church. From the church we continued for an hour over the nearby mountain ridge. The meadows were in full bloom. It was a beautiful walk with the meadows, the birch forest and the mountains (the highest of them Mt Kazbeg - 5047m) around.

Tbilisi Botanical Gardens

As a training exercise before the challenges in Caucasus (Svaneti) in a week, I took a 5 hours Sunday walk in Tbilisi and surroundings. First the “usual” walk to the city centre. From the bath house region I walked through the old Jewish/Azeri part of the town to the new unfinished Transfiguration Church to be greeted by one of the best vies in the city. From the church I went up the mountain ridge bordering the Botanical Gardens through thinly planted pine forest with occasionally startling views. From the mountain ridge I found a nice path down to the botanical gardens. The botanical gardens was a very good experience with lush forest and nicely maintained.

The only person I meet from, the time I left the Transfiguration Church until I approached the entrance to the Botanical Gardens was an employee of the Botanical Gardens. Strange to be so alone and at the same time so close to the city.