From Gori, we headed northward to the Caucus Mountains again, to visit the Mestia region. On our way north we visited the Prometheus Caves. These caves were discovered quite late, in the early 1980’s and run for up to 1.8kms. The caves themselves are between 60-70 million years old.
We started heading up the Svantei valley on our way up to the border region and Mestia. This area borders with Northern Ossetia, which is considered a republic of Russia, Southern Ossetia is also considered a republic of Russia, but is technically Georgian territory. The angst of the effect of Russian occupation and various wars and skirmishes is felt keenly here in Georgia. Georgians will build monasteries and churches in random and remote areas to establish a firm statement that this is their border and they were here, as a statement to any nation who has ideas of land grabs. Military service is compulsory for boys here in Georgia and the pressure of their larger neighbours is a constant presence.
This part of the world is famous for its defensive towers. These towers are unique to the region and were primarily built between the 9th and 12th centuries. However, the origins of the tower likely date back to prehistory. There are around 3500 Svan towers in Svaneti.
We visited the tiny hamlet of Ushguli and its Church of the Mother. Ushguli is a community of five medieval villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge and is one of the highest continuously inhabited towns of Europe.
We explored the town and was introduced to some local ladies who showed us how to make the local meat pie (more food!!) Kubdari. This is where my Khinkali making efforts came into play and the cook joked that I was sealing the pie up like it was a giant dumpling (because that’s EXACTLY what I was doing!).
We watched a local movie in the local cinema (pics below, it was super cute) called Dede. It has won international film awards and was made by a local director with an almost entirely local cast. It was good for giving an idea of life in regional Georgia after their civil war in the 90’s. One of the stars of the show even jumped off his building site to say hello after we’d seen it. If you get a chance to download it, I would do so!
The scenery in this part of the world is breathtaking, though I think winters here would be exceptionally hard on locals.
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