Hiking in Georgia - part one - Svaneti, Mestia, Ushguli, Tbilisi

One of my favourite journeys was two weeks long trip to Georgia, and not only because of the beautiful mountains, glaciers and lakes - but also because of the food, wine and hospitality of the people.

I find Georgia a very convenient country to travel in, at least from backpackers perspective:
* It is relatively easily reachable (from Europe or Israel)
* The country is pretty cheap even in the capital
* It's not such a big of a country and it is easy to reach almost any region from Tbilisi
* It is a relatively safe country
* The back-country is authentic and not spoiled by tourists
* The people are friendly, and there were a lot of guest houses everywhere I visited

Besides that, the country offers some higher than 5km peaks (Shkhara at 5,068m, Mount Janga at 5,059m, Mount Kazbek at 5,047m) with numerous glaciers in between, great wine and excellent food.

Tblisi to Svanti
My first half-a-night at Tbilisi I spent walking on the streets, simply waiting for the mini bus (Marshrutka) to Mestia, a town in Svaneti.

Tbilisi at night

Fortunately, the Mini bus arrived and more than twenty people were packed in a small vehicle that was would have been tight even for fifteen. The journey was supposed to last about seven hours, but definitely felt longer. It was a very hot day and there was no AC, inoperable windows and loud music. My friend threw up two times and later recalled this trip as Orwell’s room 101 journey. The situation became even worse the road started to ascend into the mountains. The driver speeded, paid no respect to the continuous separation line and honked before every turn (probably in order to warn the other drivers that he is coming through). I looked that the driver was about forty-forty five years old, and thought that if he reached such an age - this is probably safer than it appears.

Our Mini bus at a refreshment stop, which was indeed needed

Finally we arrived to Mestia - the capital of Svaneti region. We stayed in a very decent guest-house and started our trek the next morning.

Mestia

Mestia

Sine I couldn't find any trekking maps - I just used my smartphone with maps from OpenStreetMap (via http://osmand.net/, not related, not sponsored, not affiliated) and it was good enough.
The region is very beautiful and it got more and more wild as we moved forward. The hike itself wasn't too hard and we finished it in three days instead of four. First night we stayed in Zhabishi, on the second in Adishi and from there we walked to Ushguli.
On the first day of the hike I had a terrible food poisoning and felt awful, but quickly recovered in the next few days.

Near mestia

A local bar

The path from Zhabishi to Adishi had some steep ascend in the beginning, but was much much easier later. On your way you could see a lot of Svanetian towers (in almost any village) and enjoy some of these perfect mountain views.

Near Adishi

Near Adishi

Shkhara glacier

On the third day of the hike we crossed the river near Adishi on horses (the service is provided for a small fee by locals). And after a nice ascent were awarded by a great view to the glacier. On your way to Ushguli - don't be temped to make a shortcut and keep the touristic track (and not the road). It's harder because of the ascent and the descent but much nicer. We arrived to Ushguli at the sunset and stopped in a nice guesthouse for two nights. In the village you can resupply yourself with some wine (and evening without a glass of wine in Georgia is a wasted evening).
In the area you can walk to a nearby glacier or make a tour on horses. You can easily make your way back to Mestia on a Minibus that goes from Ushguli to Mestia. We spent another half day in Mestia enjoying restaurants, views, and getting ready for the hell trip back to Tbilisi.

This red wine I packed for the road is the reason why the seven hours ride back was much more comfortable

Many thanks for our host from Guesthouse Marina in Mestia who called the Minibus driver and told him to pick us right from the guesthouse.

This concludes the first part of the journey to Georgia.