In an article published on February 6 in The Guardian, “Georgian Splendour: Trekking in the Caucasus,” author Alice Cairns recounts her trip to Tusheti, Georgia, last August.
“Hardly anyone makes it here. That’s because, after leaving the Tbilisi road, it’s a lengthy drive on an unmade single track that twists so sharply and rises so quickly that 68km takes five hours,” she writes. “But if you can stomach the journey, the Tusheti region of Georgia, up in its remotest corner bordering the Russian regions of Chechnya and Dagestan, is worth it. It’s a pristine paradise of pine-covered mountains, deep valleys and mysterious towers. For our few days there, time stood still,” Cairns says in the article.
Describing her journey to Tusheti, she writes: “When we were planning the trip, a guide told us: your money is no use here and, in a way, she was right. There are no shops. No hotels. No tarmac roads. No mains electricity. No taxis and no bars. Just a few villages linked by footpaths and horse tracks.”
“One other snag, or advantage, depending on your point of view: winter comes early and it makes the road impassable between October and May. So for eight months of the year, only about 20 people stay in these mountains. Then, in the short summer, over 2,500 Tush return to raise sheep, make cheese, ride horses, and, increasingly, host tourists,” she says, noting that she was joined by three other female friends from three countries during her trip, and the story goes on with their stay in the village of Diklo, and walking “to within a kilometer of Dagestan”.
“Dogs and armed men notwithstanding, Tusheti is a peaceful place. There were hot showers and phone chargers and a basic menu of homemade bread, cheese and whatever else comes up from the valleys. We ate well: raw cucumbers, boiled eggs, spicy aubergine casserole, khinkali dumplings, lukewarm beer and herbal tea,” Cairns recounts, going on describing her trip, and what she says was the high point of their visit when they made a four-hour trek from Upper Omalo to Oreti Lake, “a magical green pool at just over 3,000 meters above sea level. From there, we gazed out towards Chechnya. There was no sign of human habitation at all, just peaks. The only sound was the excited calls of bee-eaters, and the clink of our mounts grazing. We felt on top of the world, utterly alone.”
At the end, she notes she’d love to go back to Tusheti again, and visit the villages they didn’t get a chance to see last time. “We’d love to go back, there are some villages we didn’t reach. And everyone said the flowers in June are the most beautiful in Georgia,” she writes.
Start planning now- spring in Tusheti is just around the corner!
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/feb/06/georgia-trekking-caucasus-walking-tusheti-horse-riding-russia
Photo Source: The Guardian