Georgia. Svaneti

  Svaneti is a historical mountainous region in northern Georgia, inhabited by the Svan people. Here, I followed a short tourist route, visiting the regional center of Mestia and the colorful village of Ushguli... After reaching the village of Becho by minibus from Tbilisi, I began my acquaintance with Svaneti. Since the journey took more than 9 hours, I stayed overnight in a meadow near the village and started my hike the next morning...

  Unfortunately, the entire hiking day, all the mountains were covered with clouds, and it was drizzling rain...

  The clouds obscured both Mount Ushba and the Koruldi Lakes, as well as all the peaks that day. Only after descending lower did views of Mestia, the administrative center of Svaneti, open up...  

 Thus, the focus shifted from mountain peaks to villages with their unique architecture, specifically the Svan houses and towers from the 9th-11th centuries...

  Leaving Mestia behind, I continued down the valley, passing small villages...

 I stayed overnight in the village of Chvabiani at one of the guesthouses to dry off a bit after a whole day of bad weather. In the morning, the weather did not improve, and the mountains were shrouded in thick fog. Upon reaching the main road, I tried to hitchhike to the village of Ushguli. After about half an hour, I was picked up by some guys in a pickup truck who were heading to work laying a road near Ushguli.

  Upon reaching the Ushguli area, the weather improved for a while. Here, between the village of Ushguli itself, are the villages of Murkmeli and Chazhashi...

   Village Murkmeli...

  

   Village Chazhashi... The concentration of towers and buildings in this village is the highest...

  The towers have 3 to 5 floors, and the wall thickness decreases with height, giving them a slender and solid profile. The houses next to the towers are usually two-story. In ancient times, the first floor consisted of a large room with an open hearth and a place for both people and domestic animals. The second floor was used by the residents during the summer and served as a pantry for food and tools. A door on this floor allowed access to the tower, which also had a vestibule near the main entrance. The houses served both as dwellings and defensive structures against invaders, who often attacked the region. There were also frequent internecine wars among the Svans, usually caused by blood feuds. Sometimes the owners could hide from their neighbors in their towers for half a year. Such fiery Georgians...  

   

 The village is incredibly colorful, with pigs running along the streets, lots of mud and dirt—everything is very authentic...

 And in the background, behind the veil of clouds, you can see the mountains, specifically the mountain range with Georgia's highest peak, Shkhara (5193 m)...

  

 Village Ushguli...

  I spent the entire day in Ushguli and returned to Mestia in the evening with a small company from Kazakhstan, whom I happened to meet in the village, and they happened to have a few free seats in their rented minibus. The weather forecast for the next three days was unfavorable, with continuous rain and cloudiness, so I decided to leave the mountains the next day and spend the last three days of my stay in Georgia on the Black Sea coast in the city of Batumi...