Svaneti Trip Part One-Getting there and first hike

We have been keeping ourselves busy, as we keep mentioning, but part of that business has thankfully been recreational. We had been chomping at the bit to get to a region of Georgia called Svaneti, located in the northwest of the country. Set against the backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains (highest mountains in Europe, depending on where you say Europe starts), Svaneti is famous for its defensive towers built to keep out raiders and as a safe haven for family clans seeking shelter during blood feuds with other family clans. When our friend and hiking buddy, Gizo, told us that he had some vacation time coming at the beginning of August and was looking to go to Svaneti, we decided that, despite our jam-packed schedules, we should jump.

Like any good trip in Georgia, this one began with lots and lots of car time. Thankfully (and thanks to Gizo) this was actually car time, though, and not marshrutka (mini-bus) time. This really makes a difference, too, since each hour of riding on a marshrutka is pretty darn near scientifically proven to shorten your lifespan by one year. We drove from Tbilisi to Zugdidi, a 361 km (225 mile) drive that took us just about 5 hours along a nice, civilized, paved road. After Zugdidi, the real fun began. We had a final 135 kilometers to go (that's a mere 84 miles for all of you without distance converters built into your cell phones) and figured we'd be into Mestia, the capital of Svaneti, in just a short bit of time.

Our trusty ride

Oh me of little knowledge and too much faith.

The first 70 km of road wasn't actually too bad. The road was mostly paved, although it's been a long time between patching up, and we got to stop at this crazy big dam, which a woman and her son who we picked up as fellow travelers showed us. I guess they were so happy to have gotten a ride to their remote village that they were only too happy to take a detour to show off one of the area attractions.

Dam!

Once we parted ways with our picked-up companions, though, the road got worse and worse and our hopes of reaching Mestia quickly were replaced by those of reaching Mestia at all. Where once a road in reasonably road-like conditions had stood there now was a pit being excavated by earth movers and diggers and dynamite. While our sedan wasn't necessarily the best choice in automobile for the "road", I don't think a tank or ATV or dirt bike would have been much better. We inched along, trying not to careen off a cliff or rip out all of the underbelly of the car or get stuck in a pit. After 5 more hours (remember, this was 84 miles), we arrived in Mestia, dust-covered and brains rattling inside our heads. (And, as a side note, it seems like the main reason for the awful condition of the road currently is that they are actually building a real road that will last, not just laying down some asphalt that will be washed away each season by snow and rain. So hopefully, in a few months, the trip will not be so much like driving into Kandahar.)

Some of the better road

But boy, was the journey it worth it. Here's a few of our first views of the main town in Svaneti, under construction to spruce it up and give it the infrastructure it needs to be the tourist attraction it deserves to be, but still beautiful and breathtaking.

Mestia, with its family defense towers

Keeps out the raiders!

They light all the towers at night

Lots of construction ongoing, but lots of working on it, too, so hopefully it'll be done soon...

On our first full day in Svaneti, recovered a bit from the long journey and aching to take advantage of the beautiful weather to go out and see some of this place, we loaded up on food from our guesthouse (lots of different styles of khachapuri, lots of good cheese and cottage cheese, lots of fresh bread, lots of coffee and tea... the theme seemed to be delicious and big for breakfast) and headed out for a hike. We chose an easy hike route that followed a jeep track 10 km before crossing a rushing river (via a shaky Soviet-era pedestrian suspension bridge) and heading uphill another 2 km to the Chaladi glacier. We had a faithful canine companion join us for most of the hike there and up at the glacier itself we ran into a few large groups of tourists from Israel and a handful from Georgia.

On our hike

The Caucasus were mostly encased in clouds and mist but started to come out as we walked

Our first glimpse of some tall mountains and the glacier

Gizo, contemplating the sturdiness of the bridge versus the velocity of the river

Almost up to the glacier

Glacier, up close

After feeling sufficiently cooled off from the icy breezes coming off the glacier and its river, we headed back into Mestia, past the airport that can only accept flights when the wind isn't too high. Despite the nearly 15 mile hike we had just completed, we were still feeling pretty fresh so we headed up to the Svaneti ethnographic museum, which consisted of a very confused and confusing tour guide and a typical Svan residence (complete with defense tower to protect the clan from raiders).

Maybe a little bit treacherous to climb up to the top level of the defense towers

...but once inside, the view from the defense tower ain't half bad!

Back to the guesthouse at the end of our first full day, we plowed through another huge dinner consisting of lots of food in big quantities of deliciousness before crashing completely and sleeping blissfully. Even after just one day, we felt like the ordeal that was the car trip to Mestia was completely justified!