Visit to Caucasus - Part 3

Crossing the border to behold the mighty Ararat - July 11th

After a full nights sleep we had a relaxing morning and after some breakfast all was set for our trip down to Armenia. The front bumper of the car had been removed to be repainted after some scratches, but it was replaced onto the car again in time for our trip. We didn’t want to risk any questions about if we’d had an accident, when crossing the border. Our start was delayed a bit, someone decided quite late to take a shower (cough cough) so we didn’t leave the apartment until about 12:30. We drove through town and I realised there was a lot of Tbilisi I had yet to see, but that would have to be another day. The road took us past Rustavi and after about an hour we were at the border. Before crossing the border we stopped to buy some fruit at a roadside stand, and I tried a very strange fruit that the seller called a Georgian pomegranate. It was bright orange and very warty, and when opened it had bright red sticky seeds inside to be eaten. Found out later that it is a sour gourd, but to me it looked like it was from outer space! We had to get out of the car and first go through a Georgian checkpoint getting an exit stamp, then over the bridge into Armenia and stand in line again for the entrance stamp. The lines were long, the sun was hot, everyone seemed a bit frustrated. And it took even longer for my father driving the car through, because once in Armenia you had to not only register the car as being in the country, but also arrange local insurance which took a long time. We must have spent nearly 2 hours at the checkpoint. At last we could continue and the first hour or so we traveled along a river through a narrow valley with towns dominated by old steel mills and abandoned ten story factory buildings with broken windows. These were strong reminders of the Soviet era, when ore would be transported enormous distances to be processed into steel far away from the mines, it seems on purpose to ensure that no one region was self-sufficient and would remain dependant on the union. My father told a story about his first job and how his life was affected by cheap step. He was working for AEG putting together a tender for a project in Iceland, but a competing offer from the USSR won because they were much cheaper. They could not set an appropriate value on steel because steel in the USSR had no real price. And thus the project wasn’t given to AEG and my father did not move home to Iceland and instead started his nomadic lifestyle living abroad. We eventually made it up and out of the valley to Spitak where we stopped for some delicious kebabs in a small cafe. I tried the Armenian Tarragon soda there but it was nowhere near as good as the one in Georgia. It was cool watching the bakers in the town making the traditional flat bread too, working in an assembly line, tossing the dough in the air and through special ovens. 

Fresh hazelnuts for sale at the border!

The crazy fruit (sour gourd) that the salesman tried to tell us was a 'Georgian pomegranate'

Armenians know how to pack their cars effectively! 

Crummy photo of what looks like an old Soviet era steel mill - with strange ore chute at the top of the mountain

Shortly after Spitak we got to the Spitak pass and beyond there the landscape changed quite drastically. In front of us was a vast plain, all green from the fields and with smaller hills here and there. It was quite stunning! We continued on as evening was drawing close, and passed the giant Mt. Aragats which unfortunately was obscured by clouds. It provided some foreshadowing though, because as we got closer to Yerevan, through the haze we suddenly were able to see the outline of the absolutely massive Mt. Ararat! The mythic mountain from the biblical story of Noah, that completely dominates the horizon and without much surprise is featured in a lot of Armenian logos, product names etc. Yerevan was really fantastic! A modern, organised, bustling city. After checking into the hotel it was already quite late but we had time for a walk, some drinks outside and then dinner. One astonishing thing though was the abundance of references to the Armenian genocide of 1915. There were banners and posters everywhere, even people wearing t-shirts like a fashion statement. Everything in English as well. Gave me the feeling that some powerful force is behind all this, and given all the merchandise, the uneasy feeling that people may be profiting off of this tragic event.

The beautiful open plain beyond Spitak pass

Cattle blocking the roads in Armenia

Armenian waterfights! - July 12th

I woke up early and finally went out for a run after several days off. The streets were quiet and mostly empty as I headed north and climbed the stairs of the cascade complex that dominates the northern area of downtown Yerevan. There were all kinds of sculptures, including several by the Colombian artist Botero, and a series of fountains not yet in use, but which definitely will be a sight to behold once complete. As I ran to the top I looked forward to the view of Ararat, but unfortunately the smog and haze did not allow for any such view. Later, after a leisurely breakfast the four of us packed up, checked out, and went out for a walk before leaving the city. It quickly became apparent that there was some kind of water throwing festival exactly this day when we happened to be in town! Turns out this is a ancient pagan festival called Vardavar held every year 14 weeks after Easter. People were emptying buckets of water from their balconies, and teenagers were prowling the streets with super soakers. We sought refuge at a cafe to have some fresh juice (which turned out to be quite terrible) and then when the coast was clear got all the way back to the cascade stairs with minimal drenching. Turns out the cascade complex had an interior part also, with a music hall, exhibit spaces and a gift shop. Amanda bought a beautiful necklace with a pendant shaped like a pomegranate. Now it was midday and since it was midsummer also quite hot. So all the city seemed to be out looking to get others wet. As obvious tourists, everyone was excited to spray us and after some early evasive manoeuvres we eventually had to resign to the reality that we would get soaked. The central square was just mayhem, as firemen had filled a pool with water and people were everywhere spraying each other. If only we’d known and been better prepared! We had to get going though and finally made it to the car, quickly changing out of our wet clothes before driving out. We took the road north east this time, and passed endless stands selling swimsuits and blowup toys, as this was the road to Lake Sevan. This is the place people from Yerevan go on the weekends to swim, camp, and eat on the shore of what must be the largest lake in the Caucasus region. We stopped there for lunch and had another delicious meal, but it was devoured quickly as the wind was strong and cold by the lake. We hit the road again, and this time a tunnel brought us through the mountains back away from the arid south-central section of Armenia to the wooded cooler north. After a couple of hours more we approached the border to Azerbaijan and stopped at an outlook where there recently had been built a military outlook point where soldiers could point their weapons directly at the border. The drive was longer than expected and we had to keep going, getting back to the border which again took nearly two hours. It was getting dark as we approached Tbilisi and once in the city poor lighting, road construction, and crazy macho drivers made the drive a bit less than comfortable. We were even pulled over for some apparent infraction, but allowed to continue on after protesting about the state of the roads! The police were calm, respectful and rather kind though, leaving a very good impression. As we finally arrived back at the apartment, it was time to pack up again as the flight back was already leaving in a few hours. 

The cascade complex in northern downtown Yerevan

Unfortunately no sight of Ararat in this panorama of Yerevan

Armenians HEART PT cruisers!

There's Ararat!

Only photo I got of the water throwing people - it was mayhem though!

Local beer at Lake Sevan

Delicious fish kebab at lake sevan!

Military pillbox looking out towards Azerbaijan

Adventures in Sigulda - July 13th

After perhaps two hours of sleep, we drove off to the airport and had to say goodbye to my father and Maia. Next time we’ll see each other is… October maybe? Or next spring? The flight to Riga was full of Zzzzs, and thankfully so as I had another full days layover to spend in Latvia. This time I took the bus into town and then after some delicious pierogis for breakfast jumped on another bus due east for about an hour to the town of Sigulda next to the Gaujas national park. The sun was shining, and the town seemed extremely well prepared for tourists! Right across from the station was a bike shop with the awesome name ‘Okej’ where I rented another bike for the day. After rolling through town for a bit, I rode down and across the gorge where the river Gaujas flows, into the national park. I was eager to see the cave I’d been reading about, but the Gutmanis cave, apparently the largest in the Baltics was quite disappointing. I wouldn’t even call it a real cave, it was more like a dent in the cliff where perhaps 20 people could shelter from the rain if the weather was bad. I got back on the bike and followed a trail along the river, through dense woods, fields and cute little farms. The trails were a bit confusing though and I soon found I’d gone a bit too far but made my own route than instead of the one on the map I had picked up at the tourist information office. This was a lot more fun as the trails would vary from broad bumpy tractor roads to super narrow single track paths and back to smooth hiking trails. My favourite part was the ghostly illuminated tree in a small clearing with branches every which way and no leaves. I soon returned to Sigulda and saw some more sights like the zip line park, a couple of castles and even saw the Russian luge team getting into the team bus after practicing at the local bob sled arena. After a pizza for lunch/dinner and some reading in a park I got back on the bus to Riga. The evening was quite beautiful and I was able to walk around and appreciate the city a lot better this time around! I was still amazed though by how oddly similar Latvian sounded to Swedish, not the actual words but just some of the sounds and melody of the way people spoke. After an hour or so of strolling through the old town, I walked across the main bridge over the river Daugava, and got on the bus to the airport in front of the large pyramid shaped building that is the national library. I was soon back at the airport and safely on my way home to good ole Göteborg!

Entering the park

You call that a cave?

The spooky ghostly troll tree in the middle of the forest where ghouls come to dance at midnight

Trail biking

Farm roads of Latvia

So many storks in Latvia!

Postcard from Riga with the house of the blackheads

Visit to Caucasus - Part 2

Turning back towards pleasant surprises! - July 9th

As we woke up it was quite cold and a bit wet. There hadn’t been any rain but lots of dew and the tent not being fully waterproof meant that everything felt wet. Outside the entire area by the banks of the river were still in the shade of the mountains so it was very cold. Two men on horseback came by, and we mostly noted how they didn’t even say good morning, only ‘do you have any cigarettes?’. Must have been desperate for a smoke! As they left we rekindled the fire and had some breakfast, and watched the sunlight slowly come farther down the mountain until suddenly it hit us also and it instantly became hot! Amanda was not feeling very well so we decided to take it a bit easy. The previous day had been quite hard on all of us because of the sun beating down on us in the afternoon, and lack of sleep. In any case, we were now going to try to make it up a narrower gorge and climb about 1000m over 20km to get to the pass that we had crossed the day before. We only got about 300m into the gorge. It was a lot rougher than the previous trails and little wonder the soldiers the day before told us it was the least traveled path of all the routes in the area. The point we stopped at was a river crossing with no bridge and raging water, and we knew it’d only get trickier further up with multiple crossings ahead. Instead we made the wise decision to turn back. Although the scenery was stunning, nobody was looking forward to retracing our steps, we had all been looking forward to continuing the planned route. As we got to the crazy I-beam bridge though we met the horseman who had earlier asked for cigarettes. He was fishing, and had come with another friend but they had become separated and when we saw him in the morning he had been out looking for the friend together with a young local kid. He wasn’t worried about the friend though, he knew the area well and would turn up soon. We continued on and before long a pickup caught up with us and it turned out to be the two fishermen. The friend had shown up, and he turned out to be an artist from Tbilisi who came to the region in his spare time and was also trying to help the locals set up more infrastructure and activities to attract tourists. They offered us a ride back to Shatili so we climbed into the bed of the truck and got comfortable. They stopped by the road that turned off to Chechnya and showed us the border crossing in the distance that we’d missed the day before. The Russian flag was clearly visible and it made for a strange sight. Our new friend told us about all the refugees that had come through that valley years before fleeing the conflict in Chechnya. Our driver the day before had also told us stories about taking fighters to the border region years earlier, and having helped refugees as well. In Shatili they dropped us off and we went back to the guesthouse we’d stayed in the previous day. 

Golden Rock in the River!

Approximately the spot where we turned around

Heading back after the I-beam bridge

Amanda with Ardoti

Toyota pickup!

Someone thought we were going 20km up 1000m today?

Amanda had a fever and was quite ill so we decided to stay in Shatili another night. After some lunch with delicious Khachaburi (a cheesy bread pancake made with fresh cheese and thin flakey dough) we rested for a bit and Amanda went to sleep. Later in the afternoon we headed out for a walk, up the Shatiliskali gorge to the northwest where the small hydro power plant was that gave the village electricity. Maia, my father and I headed out and it was much easier now without our packs. The power plant wasn’t far and it was curious to see it because several windows were broken and the equipment inside was exposed. There were signs indicating that it had partially been funded by USAID. As we kept going, the mountains were almost more beautiful than what we’d seen the day before. As we walked upstream a giant broad green mountain looked down on us, it was as if it were a throne for a giant. As we got to the base of it, the river split and we turned west where it seemed a bit more accessible. A beautiful waterfall then appeared before us! It was still quite some distance away but was high up and stunning to look at. Maia and my father decided to stop there as I would continue up a bit, saying they’d wait for me or turn back slowly to the village after a while. As I continued up the path got a bit more difficult but I saw fresh footprints and it got easier again further on. I climbed and climbed and soon was right by the waterfall and had a great view down to where I could see my father and Maia resting. I continued though and beyond the waterfall the valley opened up a bit and I saw cows grazing. Suddenly a shepherd was standing there and I said hello and tried to ask if it was ok to keep going a bit and he gestured yes. A few hundred meters farther I saw a small shack with a horse outside and a pen for more cows. I stopped for a bit and soon the shepherd from before came past me and invited me over for tea. Turns out there were four men living there, Vadim (who invited me) along with Abdullah, Beslan, and Pator. They were Chechen shepherds and had made a small house for themselves there. Vadim made me some tea but they themselves could not have any because it was still Ramadan. We tried to talk a bit, I learned that Vadim was 25 without any kids while Pator who was quite a bit older had three kids in Volgograd. I showed them my GoPro camera which they liked and later I got a ‘groupie’ photo with Beslan and Vadim! Although their hut was very simple and with dirt floors, life there must be nice. So calm and quiet, fresh water everywhere, cattle that give delicious milk and cheese and getting some other supplies from Shatili once in a while. As it was slowly getting dark I thanked them and gave them my Iceland buff scarf as a gift, before heading back down. I ran into Abdullah on the way down who seemed to be relieved that I was leaving and made sure I hadn’t got any photos with him. I continued down very happy with having met such great guys, when to my surprise I saw my father and Maia standing there almost at the top of the waterfall! They had become worried and come after me. They also met Abdullah and then thought that maybe I’d been kidnapped. I was a bit annoyed that they were so worried and that they’d come after me, but all ended well and we made our way down the beautiful valley. I went ahead to make sure Amanda wasn’t worried about us being gone so long but she was just sitting in the common area reading, since the two Danes who were staying there now too weren’t big talkers and hadn’t engaged Amanda in conversation. As my father and Maia arrived there was also a group of Romanian climbers who needed Maias help in translating as they were looking for rooms and some dinner. The kind lady running the place made dinner for everyone despite the late hour, and we learned that the Romanians had been up Mt. Kazbek (5033m) the day before, impressive! They were a jolly group, shared a beer with us and Maia gave them some of the fruit vodka we had with us. So despite the disappointment in the morning of having to turn back, we had quite an eventful and fun day!

The powerplant supplying Shatili with electricity

We chose to go left

The awesome waterfall!

My dad and Maia are down there somewhere

The shepherds hut I came across

Reunited and heading back down

Looong drive and delicious dinner - July 10th

After another delicious nights sleep we woke up to see the kids across the river locked in true judo battles as their coach was giving tips. There were about 30 kids, so 15 bouts all at the same time. Breakfast was delicious again, and they even gave us extra Khachaburi to bring with us on the road. The plan for the day was to hike up the valley to the pass the same way we’d come by car, and a different jeep would meet us and drive us back to Tbilisi. Before we left Shatili we said farewell to the kind family that had taken such good care of us during our stay, and had our photo made with them. We also stopped in ‘new Shatili’ to buy some local honey from a lady that had beehives in her garden! The hiking was easy as we were just following the road, but it was such a beautiful sunny day that it was a real delight walking there. After a few kilometres we took a break by a beautiful grassy patch by the river and everyone jumped in for a dip! It was even colder than the swim I’d taken two days prior, but the surroundings even nicer. We rested for a while amongst the colourful flowers and butterflies as the warm sun dried us again. Soon we continued past deserted farm buildings, seemingly part of a collective farm from the Soviet era. The Lada Niva met us after we’d gone about 6.5km so it wasn’t a long hike and I actually wished we’d met the jeep later. The ride back to Tbilisi was very long and bumpy and although the Niva is a great 4x4 it was a bit cramped inside even though most of our gear was strapped to the roof. I learned a new phrase too! ‘Niva qvelgan miva’ which means in Georgian ‘Niva goes everywhere!’. We stopped up at the pass where now with the weather much nicer the view was breathtaking. Green mountains all around, with snow-capped peaks beyond. To the southwest where we were heading, we could also see the village Roshka in the distance which had been intended to be our destination if we’d hiked the route we’d planned. It was obvious that this was a dream though, as the mountains were steep and distances farther than they appeared on the map when my father drew up the plan. After picking up some garbage at the pass since a plastic bag blew by me and made for a practical receptacle, we continued on for at least another 2-3 hours. Maias brother met us with the car in Zhinvali and as it was about 4:30 and we hadn’t had any lunch, we went straight to a local restaurant Maia knew. What a feast! We had deep-fried whole fish (head and bones and all), along with Khinkali (a type of dumpling), eggplant with walnut paste, and of course the main event, delicious Shashlik! The restaurant seemed to be a favourite for many kinds of people, notably also a group of middle-aged men who were quite fond of the bottle and couldn’t walk straight to the bathroom, and had to hold each other up as they eventually left their table. An anecdote/joke was shared about how a foreigner had once seen all the drunk men stumbling around holding/hugging each other, and stated how great it was to see gay men so openly being able to share their affection for each other! Unfortunately, if one were to say that to these men though, there’d probably be lots of trouble since things are still quite traditional in the area. Along with dinner though we had some good beer, and I got to try for the first time a soda flavoured with Tarragon. So delicious and refreshing! The continued trip to Tbilisi was not very long and we were soon back at the apartment, where we unpacked, cleaned up and relaxed while making plans for our trip to Armenia the next day!

The stone church above Shatili

Heading out

Fresh clean water all over!

The biggest juiciest wild strawberry I've ever found

Taking a dip in a glacial river

Niva qvelgan miva!

From the mountain pass looking down at the valley of Arghuni River

Father and son again

At last some Shashlik!

Visit to the Caucasus - Part 1

Latvian layover - July 6th

The trip to the Caucasus started early in the morning as my flight left Göteborg at 6:00 and the taxi came to get me at 4:30. Luckily I was in a superb mood as I had some inspiration to draw on in form of a quotation from the Dalai Lama! Yesterday I’d been to the Gothenburg Tibetan Buddhists Association celebration of the Dalai Lamas birthday (which was on Monday, so today) and they gave me a gift with the following quotation:

“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.”

What great words to begin the day with! Landing in Riga I made my way to the tourist information office, picked up some brochures and bought a bus ticket to town. 25 minutes later I jumped off bus line number 22 by the central station. It was a beautiful morning and after wandering around a bit (the area by the station is a bit confusing, a large open air market right outside next to a big mall, plus lots of underground walkways under the large roads) I sat down at a cafe for breakfast and to plan my day. As I was sitting at the cafe a large group of young men and women dressed in traditional costumes gathered in the area in front of the station and sang folk songs! It was very beautiful, the music, the flower wreaths in the girls hair, and the morning sunlight on the entire scene. I decided that I would try to arrange a guided bicycle tour of the city! As it was Monday morning, there weren’t many other tourists around though, so it would only be me in the tour and instead I just rented a bike and would go exploring myself. The owner of the bike rental place was named Gustavs (it seems that all Latvian names end with S) and was very kind and excited to show me different possible routes. I headed northeast out of town on a hybrid/mountain bike with a bell that would ring with every bump. I quickly arrived at a long straight avenue that took me to Mezaparks, the large city park which also has concert venues. It was quiet and green and very big with trails and paths disappearing into the woods. Well on the other side I continued towards the coast but before that I saw a tragic sight! A large truck had overturned and its entire load of beer in glass bottles had smashed against the road and was ruined. The police were there seemingly not knowing what to do, and one could smell the beer in the air.

Cycing through Mezaparks

The sand only got deeper

Time to cry over spilt beer

As I approached the coast I took a shortcut through the Piejura national park there and ended up having to push the bike for about a kilometre through deep sand before popping out again near the pier that poked out into the baltic sea with a lighthouse at the end. It was interesting looking west towards Scandinavia! Although of course one can’t see across. As I headed back my butt was starting to hurt because the saddle and bike were less than optimal, and it was also starting to rain a bit. I pulled on my jacket and stopped also at a store to buy some juice and a pastry. In town I stopped at a park to look at a map and it started raining harder so I took cover and made use of the free wi-fi to chat with my sisters for a bit. There seems to be free public wi-fi all over town! After returning the bike I ventured into the old town and saw the main sites including St. Peters church and the statue of the Bremen musicians, also the House of Blackheads and the Sweden gate. I had a pizza and some local ‘Bear-ripper’ beer when it was raining at it’s worst and before long jumped back on the 22 to the airport. Almost fell asleep standing up in the bus… Finally made it to the gate to continue the trip to Tbilisi!

Made it to the lighthouse

Enjoying a 'bear ripper' beer while it rains in Riga

Day one, transfer to Shatili! - July 7th

Another super early morning! The flight to Tbilisi landed at about 4 in the morning and I was super tired, although not grumpy. Pappa, Amanda, and Maia were waiting for me at the arrivals, so good to see them again! We drove into town and passed many impressive modern buildings including the ministry of justice and the seat of government once we were close to downtown. The area by my fathers and Maias apartment building is a giant construction zone currently and quite chaotic and dusty. The actual apartment building I must say was quite dirty, with some trash on the floor and seemingly nobody taking care of it, but the interior of the apartment was paradise in comparison! They explained that nobody tends to the apartment building and even the elevator is coin-operated. Seems like the focus is on keeping the inside of apartments top-notch while the outside can be a little run-down. After a few hours of delicious sleep it was time to have some breakfast and re-pack for the mountains. Maia had arranged for a driver to take us in his toyota land cruiser to Shatili. Interestingly the car was hybrid gasoline and gas and we stopped both to fill up on both. Seems like a lot of cars (and especially in Armenia) use gas in Georgia. I was still sleepy so missed some of the drive but was awake for when we started climbing up to the main pass at 2680 meters we had to go through. The road got twistier as the mountain became steeper and the clouds were getting closer to us as it was cloudy and foggy and somewhat rainy. At the pass visibility was very limited and we saw some shepherds huddling in their coats looking over their sheep as the rain came down. The descent towards Shatili seemed not to take too long although the drive in total was about 5-6 hours. We passed some small villages and saw our first proper tower by Kistani! It was still raining as we arrived and Shatili looked quite menacing. The village is a series of rock and stone towers built together so that it became a fortress of sorts with no streets but rather paths and covered walkways between the buildings. 

Tbilisi morning along with Mais brother 

Pit stop before we got to the mountains

Foggy and wet conditions up to the pass

Amanda and medieval village Shatili

Fortress village of Shatili

Our view across the river where a judo camp was being held

Our original plan was to start hiking that very afternoon, but with the late arrival, tired travellers, and the rain, we decided to stay here for the night. As we tried to find an available room we walked to the top of the hill to ‘new Shatili’ where the locals live. The old village with the towers is now all tourist accommodation. We found a tall big man who apparently was a friend of Maias father and ran most of the tourist hotel business in Shatili. He said he had no vacancy in the towers, that most make reservations months in advance and all he could offer was a small shack with no view and not as charming at all as the towers. We had our camping gear so we thought we’d just set up our tents and ask for a warm meal, but Maia went off to make a call and stumbled across a woman who ran a hotel in a different part of the towers. How fortunate! And the first proprietor had purposefully not told us about the other hotel although we had asked! Things turned out fantastically! We got two rooms, with nice beds and linens and towels and electric lights. Even bathrooms downstairs with hot water, showers and even washing machines! Crazy contrast given how these buildings were constructed and where we were. The woman running the hotel was only there for the summer, and had her daughter and son with her to help run the place. After resting for an hour or so we had a delicious dinner with soup, shashlik (grilled skewered meat) made with the meat we had brought, and salad with the juiciest reddest tomatoes you can imagine. Even had some delicious fresh milk for dessert! It was heated and naturally sweet, just perfect! I was glad that we had stayed here for the night as it was still raining, and we went to bed early to rest up.

Great start to the hiking! - July 8th

What wonders a proper nights sleep can do! Woke up to see my father looking out over the balcony across the river at a group of Georgian boys doing some kind of wrestling training. Turns out it was a Judo camp, and it was fun to watch these guys (aged about 8-16) do squats, walking squats, balance exercises etc in such an environment. Breakfast was delicious with eggs, cheese, bread and jam. It was still raining a bit, but much better than the day before. We packed up and after some well wishes from the family hosting us, set off on our first day of hiking! The first two kilometres went north along the river until valley opened up a bit as another river joined from the east. At this point (less than 1000m to the border with Chechnya / Russia) there was an abandoned village where about 100 years earlier some kind of plague hit the village and all the sick went off to live in smaller huts near the river to be separated from the rest. Nobody survived and now we could see the huts where the sick had lived, with lanterns and coins in the windows and human remains visible inside. Strangely, there were also dead mice scattered around the area, at least 6-8 and they were all severed in the middle with their guts poking out. Maybe a bird of prey brought them there but never ate them? We turned south-east into the next valley and by now the rain was gone and the sun was shining strongly on us making for terrific hiking weather. We passed some smaller huts with small vegetable gardens but did not see any people. After nearly 10km of total hiking we stopped by flat grassy area by the river to have lunch, and I also took advantage of the nice weather to jump in the river for a swim! It was mighty cold since the river is almost only glacial run-off, but it was refreshing with a quick dip. I should mention hear that all along the way there were soooo many flowers, and even more butterflies! I have never seen more butterflies anywhere than along this hike! Also, every so often along the road there’d be a memorial to people who had died in the area. The memorials would always contain some kind of stone with script and a water fountain with a cup. There was therefore also never any shortage of delicious fresh spring drinking water! 

Amanda departing from Shatili

Can you read the Georgian alphabet?

Father and Son in Georgia

The road to Chechnya is closed

Collecting water along the way

Bringing out my inner Putin

More Putin style activities?

After another hour or so we reached Mutso! Another old abandoned village perched high above the river on a cliff. It was similar to Shatili, but looking more like a proper fortress with higher towers guarding it. I ventured up to see the village on my own as the others rested down by the river. Up there I met Benedict, Sabina, and Ihtar. Two Austrians and a Spaniard that we’d seen in their van passing us earlier. They were on a long driving holiday and this was their last stop before turning back to Austria. They said they’d seen marijuana growing amongst the ruins, but although I looked I didn’t see any of that. I continued up and up but had to stop because to reach the last tower was a 5m walkway with massive drops on each side, and only about 50-70 cm wide. I was okej with enjoying the view from there :) The views were amazing! The mountains green and lush with little creeks flowing down, and in the distance massive peaks of the even higher mountains. As I climbed down I passed a small modern building that they seem to be setting up as a staging area to receive tourists or hold events in, so there seems to be some activity there. We continued upstream and soon came to a military checkpoint where we had to register ourselves before continuing. The soldiers there gave us some advice, mostly that we should be careful and not venture on if we had any doubts or if the weather got worse. One of them had the same last name as Maia, so a long lost cousin! We continued on and soon had to cross the river on one of the craziest bridges I’ve used! It was just two long I-beams, one to stand on and one a bit higher up to hold as you crossed. Both secured with heavy rocks on each side, but both very wobbly and looking a bit scary. We managed across without any issue though and continued on. Soon we got to Ardoti, although the village was high high up on the mountain side and we saw an off-road jeep driving up the switchbacks to get there. This is where the road or track ended, and we continued now on footpaths only. A couple of kilometres further we reached the next valley where we intended to continue and the timing was perfect as this was the last good camp spot for a while and it was getting to be about 7pm so we decided to stop for the night. Someone had already trampled down some grass to make a spot for tents and we made it a bit larger to fit both. My fathers tent was a Scandinavian tunnel tent and a real pain in the neck. Crazy stupid design! You had to set up the fly first, and then crawl inside fastening the interior tent while lying on ones stomach! Imagine doing that in the rain. Anyhow, we soon also had a fire going and enjoyed dinner amongst some of the most spectacular scenery possible. The river roaring nearby while the sun was setting and sending golden light onto the green mountain tops all around. It had been a long day with about 21km of hiking, so we gladly turned in for the night falling asleep to the sound of the river. 

Mutso

Beekeepers everywhere in northern Georgia

Amanda crossing the 'bridge'

Campfire!