Georgia and the Caucasus Mountains

I had been looking at guided trips to the Caucasus or the central Asian republics for a while, with a view to travelling in September 2018. But I was frustrated by the lack of direct flights and decided upon an alternative destination instead (South Africa). Then, however, I noticed this Explore walking holiday – and, amazingly, I found that there were now direct budget flights from Luton to Kutaisi! Obviously, Luton is not the most convenient airport for West Scotland but my parents live near Coventry and that was where I started and ended my trip. I booked my flight independently as usual but, in fact, all of the tour group coming out from the UK were booked on the same flight. As with my previous Explore trips to the High Atlas, Indonesia and Nepal, I realise that this was not an independent walking trip in the original spirit of The Untravelled World but I am reporting it here as I feel that some people may still find my observations and experiences useful.

Costs. Flight £267 (including hold baggage and an extra legroom seat for the 5 h flight). Explore tour £897 (including single room supplement). Total cost of trip £1270.

Day 1: Travel to Kutaisi. I was staying with my parents near Coventry. I left their apartment at 10 am and got a train from Coventry down to Milton Keynes Central. I then caught the 99 bus on to Luton airport, arriving about 1 pm. My plane took off maybe 25 min late at about 4.30 pm and landed in Kutaisi, Georgia at 11.45 pm (local time). In the terminal I met the local tour guide and seven other people from the Explore tour group, all of whom had been on the Luton flight. We waited a long while for two more people. We then gave up and drove in the tour minibus towards Kutaisi – except, more than halfway there, the tour guide got a phone call and we went back to the airport for the other two, who had flown in from Rome (to everyone’s surprise). We eventually reached our pleasant Kutaisi hotel at 2 am.

Day 2: Travel to Becho. I went down to breakfast at 8.45 am. We left the hotel at 10 am and drove to the nearby Gelati monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage Site but one badly in need of some further restoration. Then we went back into Kutaisi for lunch. We set out for the long bumpy drive to the Caucasus mountains at 1.45 pm and arrived at our guesthouse in Becho at about 6.45 pm. Dinner with local beer at 7.20 pm. Bed at 10 pm.

Day 3: Walk around Becho; travel to Mestia. Breakfast at 7.50 am. We departed in the minibus at 9.00 am but only for a short hop. Started walking at 9.10 am. Lunch at the Ushba waterfall in lovely sunshine, surrounded by stunning mountains. Oddly, our guide did not want us to walk as far up this waterfall as the original trip notes indicated. We were back at the (new – the roads were going to get a lot rougher!) minibuses/4WD at about 3.20 pm and then at the Becho guesthouse at 3.30 pm. We left in the same vehicles at about 4.10 pm and reached our very modern and pleasant Mestia hotel at about 5 pm. On the way we had started to see the towers for which the Svaneti region is so famous. Dinner at 7 pm with local beer. After dinner most of us went to a bar in the village with live (loud!) music. Back at hotel about 10.20 pm.

Day 4: Walk around Mestia. Breakfast at 8 am. It was pouring with rain outside. So we changed plans and at 9 am left the hotel in the minibus to go and climb one of the interesting towers in the village. It stopped raining sooner than expected and so we took the minibus to Mulakhi and started walking back to Mestia at 10.15 am. Great views and a picnic lunch. We were back in Mestia at about 3 pm. There was a power cut, the first of several. Dinner with local beer at 7 pm. Bed at 9.15 pm.

Day 5: Travel to Ushguli; walk up Mount Guro. Breakfast at 7.40 am. We departed Mestia at about 8.55 am in 4WD vehicles. The weather was terrible – but what an exciting white-knuckle drive! Reached Ushguli at about 11.30 am and checked in to our guesthouse. We started walking at 11.55 am and reached the top of 3070 m Mount Guro (a grassy bump that would not be out of place in the Southern Uplands) at 2.35 pm. The sun finally came out on our descent and there were some good butterflies about. We were back down in the village at about 5 pm but some of us walked along to a nearby viewpoint. I got back to the guesthouse at about 6.10 pm. Dinner at 7 pm with local beer. Bed at 9.15 pm. There was a lot of noise in the night from a variety of sources.

Day 6: Travel to Mestia; walk around Mestia. Breakfast at 8 am. There was much discussion about the noisy events of the previous night. It was raining hard yet again. The original plan (to walk to the Shkhara glacier from Ushguli) changed and, about 9.30 am, we drove back to Mestia and our original hotel there, arriving 11.30 am. Seven of us (plus our tour guide) drove up an ugly hydroelectric construction road and started walking to the foot of the Chalaadi glacier at about 12.30 pm. Picnic lunch at glacier. We were back at the 4WDs at 3.15 pm and the hotel at 4 pm. Dinner and local beer at 7 pm. Bed at 10.15 pm.

Day 7: Travel to Kutaisi. Breakfast at 7.40 am and we were underway at 8.50 am. We stopped at the large Enguri dam for photos and in Zugdidi for lunch between 1 pm and 2.30 pm. We then did the long drive to the Prometheus Cave, which – although very impressive – was just a show cave and so not especially Georgian. We reached our Kutaisi hotel at about 6.30 pm. Dinner at 8 pm. Bed at 10.45 pm.

Day 8: Travel home. Breakfast at 8 am. We departed the hotel just after 9 am and visited Kutaisi cathedral until about 10 am. We arrived at the airport about 11.35 am. The plane took off about 1.35 pm and landed in Luton at 3.30 pm. I caught bus to Milton Keynes and then the train to Coventry, arriving 6.30 pm. I was at my parents’ place at 6.50 pm.

Reflections. Needless to say, Georgia was a fascinating country to visit and one felt a bit like a pioneer. The Caucasus mountains are, of course, utterly magnificent – how could they not be? Go now, before they are turned into sad identikit skiing resorts... We were incredibly unlucky with the weather on this trip, with three of our four walking days rain affected. But I guess that’s mountains for you! I would have preferred this trip to be a bit longer than a week – maybe ten days? – as one loses two full days because of the long drive from Kutaisi to the mountains. I found the walking to be rather easy – it is graded as “Moderate” by Explore. Although the trip was expensive (by the standards of The Untravelled World), once I was in Georgia I spent very little money. Would I visit Georgia again? You bet I would!

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