15th September: Mestia, Georgia

Today began on the 10am marshrutka – well, a tourist version of one – to Ushguli. This is a place I’ve wanted to visit for at least 15 years, having seen a magical photo on a now long forgotten adventure travel forum. The bus was soon full, and we were off. We unexpectedly made a couple of bonus stops along the way to view the scenery, including the distant Mount Ushba.

After an hour or so of switchbacks and classic Georgian blind overtakes, Mount Shkhara assumed dominance over the skyline. This is the tallest peak in the Southern Caucasus at 5,193m. We gradually followed the valley of the glacial runoff up to 2,000m, where Ushguli sits.

Simply incredible! Ushguli had certainly changed in the past decade – there was a fair bit of construction activity, and the vast majority of buildings are now aimed at tourists – but there is undeniable beauty in the Svan towers set against the slopes of Mount Shkhara. We spent 3 and a half hours walking all around, including to the next hamlet, to see as much as possible before the return bus.

A cheap home-cooked dinner from a tiny café run by two old women was at least as satisfying as any of the tourist restaurants in town. Wine on the balcony, taking in more of this scenery, was a beautiful way to come to terms with finally having made it to Svaneti after all of these years.

One downside. It seems this trained climate scientist neglected to take into account the higher UV at higher attitudes! Ouch.