Thor's Outdoors!: Visit to Caucasus

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!