Doing the Svaneti!

August 1 2010

Last weekend we went to Svaneti, a mountainous region in Georgia. This province is in the NE corner of Georgia, nestled against some of the highest mountains in Georgia that border with Russia and Abkhazia, one of the two breakaway regions within Georgia. This area is so remote that it was never tamed by any ruler and even during Soviet times it largely retained its traditional way of life. The airplane and wheel arrived in Svaneti in 1935!!! To this day they still use sleds and oxen to transport loads. This area has numerous defensive towers that were designed to house villagers during times of invasion and strife. There are 175 towers, most built between the 9th and 13th centuries that still survive today. Because this is the most remote area of Georgian during times past when Georgia was invaded, the icons, art and other religious artifacts were brought here for safe keeping and many remain in private homes. We did not have the opportunity to see any of them however.

Our friends Jock and Laurie Conly and their daughter Claire asked us to join them on the trip. Jock hired a van, driver and guide since there were five of us. We headed out on Thursday at 4:00 and drove five hours due west to Zugdidi where we stayed the night in a guest house. The owner had dinner waiting for us and we were so grateful for a nice simple hot meal. The next day we left about 8:30 for a grueling drive on the worst road you can imagine! We had pavement for about the first 45-60 minutes and from then on is was a very bumpy ride. I thought my teeth would fall out! But the scenery was spectacular!

We rode next to the glacier fed river Enguri that was very fast moving and full of silt. They were no pools or eddies, just rushing water the entire time. At times we were very high above the river, maybe 500 feet or more. The road was narrow and winding as we climbed the entire route. There were no guard rails. At times I would look out the side window and couldn’t see road below me, only the sheer cliff down to the water. I gasped, squeezed my eyes shut and prayed numerous times. It took us 5.5 hours to go 65 miles. That gives you a clue about the condition of the road. One of the more striking things about traveling in Georgia it how many abandoned factories there are. Huge hulks of building missing the doors, windows and in some cases interior walls and the roofs. It is a reminder of Georgia’s past. They are every where we have traveled here. When the breakup of the Soviet Union occurred all the factories closed and Georgia was thrown into a very turbulent time.

We arrived around 2:00 at our hotel in Mestia, altitude 4600ft. There were pigs and cows on the road much of the time slowing our progress. After lunch we walked around town and visited one of the many defense towers that still stand. These towers have walls three feet thick and are three stories tall. The house was attached to the tower at the second floor which would serve as the living/cooking area. The first floor was for food storage and the third floor was for sleeping. The six of us squeezed into the tower and we realized how difficult the living conditions would have been as there were no windows and the space was quite small. The chimney for cooking was on the second floor and went up through the roof on the third floor. The entire town of Mestia is under construction. Because the road paving from Zugdidi to Mestia will be completed in another year or so, they anticipate many more tourists and all the store fronts are being redone to have more appeal to tourists. However due to construction, the town is filled with mud, dirt and dust. Every time a car or truck passed by we were coated in dust!

On Saturday we got up at 7:30, had breakfast and set out for Ushguli, altitude 7200 ft., highest village in Europe, 29 miles from Mestia, a two hour trip on roads worse than the day before with even more cows and pigs!!! I couldn’t believe the road (I use that term loosely here). We forded many streams adding to my anxiety. But again the scenery was worth the agony. We saw farmers dumping cow manure into the pristine stream from a sled (remember they didn’t get the wheel here until 1935 and some farmers have yet to accept it!) We saw an older woman riding a horse to the next village. I doubt that many can afford a car here and the horse is much more serviceable in this remote area. If you had a car, you would need to be a mechanic also. There are no services like that in these tiny villages of 30 people or so.

We hiked for three hours, facing Mt. Shkhara, the highest peak in Georgia and the 4th highest in Europe at 16,627 ft. and passed so many colorful wild flowers: pink yarrow, queen’s Anne’s lace, Canterbury bells, buttercups, the most intense blue flower imaginable, forget me nots, thousands upon thousands of beautiful flowers. On the return hike we had to jump across a stream so I thought if I got a running start it would help. Bad idea. One foot landed in the stream and I lost my balance. I landed so hard on the rocky bank it knocked one of the lens out of my glasses. I got pretty banged up. Then Jock jumped across and the same thing happened to him only he landed on top of me as I was sitting there trying to recover. Damn! So now both knees hurt, one ankle, ribs on the right side, my right shoulder all hurt. I limped back to the van, which was about 40 minutes from where I fell. We had a nice lunch on the deck of the only restaurant in Ushguli and endured the difficult trip back to Mestia.

On Sunday we got up early and left for a hike to a glacier. This was a shorter ride to the trail head but again the road was wretched. I walked about 100 yards and was experiencing pain every time I put my right foot down: my ankle, my knee and my ribs screamed out STOP! I quickly decided to let the group go ahead and I took a gentle sloping walk along the river bank.

I managed to trip once and wreck my left knee. What a goof I am. I sat by the bank and watched the roaring river then got into the van with the driver who spoke no English and he shared a map of Georgia with me. After studying it for awhile, I tilted my seat back and slept lightly as did he. We were awakened by Ron tapping on the window. Their hike was about three hours long and two members of the group said ‘be glad you didn’t go. It was all uphill and very steep’. I was glad but the truth is I could never have made it. The intrepid group made it all the way to the base of the glacier where the river emerged from the base of the ice.

We drove to the hotel, checked out and went to the newest hotel in town and had a fabulous lunch, our best meal since leaving home on Thursday. We piled back into the van and drove back to Zugdidi, about 4.5 hours. We had dinner and walked to the nearby main street and walked through the city park before going back to the guest house and going to sleep since we were starting the day at 5:00 a.m. As planned we got up at 5:00 and were on our way by 5:30, arriving in Tbilisi at 10:30. We quickly changed clothes and headed to work. It was a grand weekend but I will never travel those roads again unless the new road is completed. I still feel it was worth it for the scenery but we came home pretty worn out. I ended up with a lot of pain from my injuries and lots of lovely purple bruises on my right leg, right arm with a contusion, and my ribs were incredibly sore. I had x-rays on Friday and was told no fractures then Ron got a call from the Physician's Assistant at the embassy saying they wanted to look at the x-rays again as it appeared that I had a fracture in my ribs. Either way I am getting better every day. Our next trip with be next weekend when we go to Kazbegi, another mountain in the Upper Caucasus but much closer to Tbilisi.