Georgia, the insider’s tip. Surrounded by 5000 metre peaks on our way to the ‘Balcony of Europe’.

Communications genius and intui-

tive female, explorer and foodie,

grasshopper trainer and tour

diarist = Katharina

Favourite with the women at themarket and goat matador, soft -shell fan and air juggler, good moodenforcer and guide = Andi

On

tou

r in

Ge

org

ia

Man of few words and master at stone

skimming, motif hunter and capturer of

fleeting moments, campfire expert and

supplies gatherer = Seb

Early September 2009: 8 Days in Georgia

TEAM

Th

e

Sun drenched boulevards, little

alleys, art nouveau houses and

Moorish aspects: welcome to

Tbilisi! It is very warm, for us

at least. For the locals, it is

“actually a cold summer”, says

Tamuna. She is our guide and

will accompany us over the next

few days.

DAY11

Alexandre Dumas the elder was a fan of the city’s sulphur baths.Due to the heat, we decide to view the old part of the city with itsbaths and domes from the outside.

DAY11

Next stop: Mestia, the capital ofSvanetia. We also get closer to theconflict zones of Abkhazia and SouthOssetia. A reminder that one hearsmore about Georgia in the news thananywhere else, due to the tensionswith Russia. What is a well-kept se-cret, however, is that Georgia is anoutdoor paradise. DA

Y

2

Sweet-smelling fruit, piquant cheese and heart-shaped glass -es. We go shopping at a street stall and in the market hall and taste all kinds of things: aromatic apricots, honeycombsto chew on and natural ‘churchkhella'. The ‘Georgian Snickers’made from nuts strung together and covered in concentratedgrape juice. Mmmm!

DAY

2

DAY 30At Mestia we are right in the middle ofthe Caucasus Mountains. All aroundus, sheer granite peaks that are two,four and five thousand metres high jutinto the overcast sky.

Our first tour takes us up the local mountain, Suruld(2350 m). The rain that had been forecast arrives forreal but our spirits remain high.

Our view is dominated by Ushba withits striking double summit (4737 mand 4698 m), which initially remainshidden in the clouds. The ascent of Svanetia’s highest mountain isdeemed one of the toughest in the Caucasus because it is so steepand rugged.

DAY 30

Ushguli! It is as if we had travelled back in time a couple ofhundred years. Guesthouse Ushguli is where we are staying.Our hosts even take time for a few pictures.

I wonder if we will be given ‘Chatschapuri’ for dinner. Thischeese pie is a Georgian speciality (leavened bread with a filling of cheese, eggs, sour cream and garlic + various otheringredients) and is delicious. First of all, we set off on foot toexplore the area.

DAY4

TAG4

DAY4

The community of four villages up at2200 metres is amongst the highest inEurope. It is a UNESCO World Heritage

site. There are medieval houses andfortified towers from the 11th century.

Here we are exploring the past.

Ushguli’s fortified towers remind us of what our hosts had told us: that in many places in Georgia they are hoping for tourism. Due to the warrisk many visitors stay away eventhough most of Georgia is unaffected.

DAY

4

TAG4

DAY

05The brave Miran is waiting for us this morningand patiently lets us load some of our campingequipment on him. We set off with pack-horse,equipment and our guides Tamuna and Homba,two of Ushguli’s 250 inhabitants. Our objective:to follow the length of the Enguri to its sourceon the Shkhara glacier, en route to Georgia’shighest peak.

DAY

05

On the way, we meet acouple of farmers. Westop and get chatting.Their traditional way ofmaking hay proves to bemore difficult than itlooks. Another thing thatstrikes us is how welcomingand open the Georgianpeople are, whether inthe city or up here in themountains.

By foot or on horseback? The Enguri is still quite tame here butit is a glacial river nonetheless, so Miran is at our service.

By late afternoon we reach the end of stage one. Before theterrain gets too steep and difficult to navigate, we find abeautiful spot to camp, right between two huge boulders withviews of all the surrounding 5000 metre peaks. After a briefbreak in the afternoon sun, it’s off to collect firewood. Seb,the campfire expert, is in charge. Tonight’s menu: potatoesfried over the campfire.

DAY

05

DAY6

During the night, we are flooded! Lightshowers turn into a thunderstorm withheavy rain lasting right through the night.We are fine in our Jack Wolfskin tent.Tamuna and Homba on the other hand getwet at some point in the night but stillsleep through it. Their composure seemsunshakable.

During breakfast we have a team chat. With the thunder -storm the river has swelled. We have to cancel our plans.We can’t go to the glacier this way as our return route maywell be cut off. The river is already too wild to cross on footnow. Luckily we have Miran, and can use him as a horseferry.

But very soon, we find a new objective. With 87% of thecountry covered in mountains, we are spoilt for choice! Wewalk through the Shkhara massif with glaciers and majesticpeaks at eye-level. We get to the end of this upper Svanetiavalley that, due to its altitude, is also known as the ‘Cauca-sian Himlaya’.

DAY6

After crossing a pass, we see Ushguli way below us once again.

DAY

7

A lovely farewell from the team at the Ushguliguesthouse including photographs and a packedlunch. Seb manages to secure an extra portion.:0) Pridorn, our unflinching driver starts the mini-bus in the direction of Tbilissi...

The driver :-)

... We don’t get very far though.... Lastnight’s rain has resulted in a landslide ofmud and rocks across the road. We tryto stabilise the ground with branches. Finally we have to say goodbye to our littlebus that has taken us all this way, andload our kit into the four-by-four thathas come to help.

DAY08The landscape changes shortly beforewe leave for home. After the jaggedgrey/green of the Caucasus, we aretreated to the warm earthy tones ofthe dry steppe surrounding DavidGareja. On the way to this special Orthodox complex, we meet an oldGeorgian man who comes up here everyday. He shows us the way to the net-work of caves that housed monksback in the 6th century AD.

Last day

From up here you can see far intoneighbouring Azerbaijan. We admirethe frescoes and caves that servedas cells for the monks. Some are na-turally formed, others are carved outof the soft sandstone. A couple ofbuildings such as the fortificationhave been built from stone.

We take a last look round and slowlymake our way back to the car wherePridorn waits patiently. Then he takesus to the airport.

DAY08

THE END.

www.Via-Verde-Reisen.de: The Via-Verde team suggested two tours. The alternativeone would have taken us on alpine paths through the Greater Caucasus and “GeorgianDolomites” for 8 days. We were tempted. Maybe we will just have to come back.

www.ttc.ge: The Georgian agent. Our guide Tamuna was simply brilliant. She alwayscame up with a solution and knew the answers to all our questions.

www.auswaertiges-amt.de: For up-to-date information on the situation in-country.

If something should happen: www.tiflis.diplo.de (German Embassy in Georgia)

photos: Moritz Attenberger