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Today we’ll tell you a little about what Tusheti is all about, how to get there, where to stay, what to see and why to go there at all.

Tusheti is a mountainous area in northeastern Georgia, bordering Chechnya and Dagestan. Here lives its own people - the Tushins, who have been engaged in cattle breeding since ancient times. Now the Tushites mainly bring their herds to Tusheti for the summer, and in the winter they live below, in Kakheti, in the villages of Kvemo and Zemo Alvani.

The Tushins are a very peculiar people, representing a mixture of Tushino Georgians and Batsbis - a nationality close to the Chechens and Ingush. Formally, the people of Tushetia are Christians, but the one and a half churches that have survived in Tusheti are in a deplorable state. The people of Tushino do not use them, but worship the ancestors and spirits of the area in special sanctuaries called niches. Also, Tushians do not eat pork and forbid women to approach sacred places.

Here, at what is called a “temple” in Tusheti, elders are sitting, busy with an important task: driving away lost aunts from him. There is a corresponding sign nailed to the pole.

Maps of Tusheti

Everything is pretty bad with the maps of Tusheti. Google Maps believes that there are no roads there. The Maps.Me application helped us a lot in moving around - it even knows walking trails.

Paper maps of Tusheti can be downloaded here (click on the photo - a large map will open).

Geographically and topographically, Tusheti consists of two and a half gorges, along which villages are scattered. The first is the Pirikit Gorge with villages. The Pirikit Gorge ends with passes to Khevsureti, Chechnya and a path to the Pankisi Gorge.

The second gorge is Gometsar. There are the villages of Dochu with towers, Ilurta with a temple and Indurta with towers. From here the trails go to Khevsureti, Shatili and Mutso.

The third gorge of the Andiyskaya Koysu River contains the villages of Shenako and Diklo, as well as a trail to Dagestan.

In the middle of all this splendor stands the village, the capital of Tusheti. There are a whole bunch of guesthouses, something like a cafe and even a store - unprecedented luxury! At the end of August, however, all this was already or still closed.

How to get to Tusheti

What to see and do in Tusheti

In addition to the mountains, Tusheti is interesting for its ancient villages. The Tushins (like the Svans, Ingush and Chechens) built battle towers, which, together with stone houses, created entire impregnable fortresses for each family. Now they, very organically integrated into the landscape, are submitted for inclusion in the UNESCO heritage list.

You can walk through the Tusheti gorges on foot, on horseback or by car. Equestrian or automobile transport Any guesthouse will organize it for you. Tusheti is full of trekking routes, and the trail from Shatili to Dartlo is considered the most interesting and beautiful trekking route in Georgia. I also thought that in Tusheti the bicycle is very popular: the distances are too long for walking, but too short for a car.

Where to stay and what to eat in Tusheti

There are several guesthouses in Tusheti, mainly located in Lower and Upper Omalo. There are also guest houses in Dartlo, Shenako and several other villages. We lived in Mirgvela Guesthouse in the middle between Omalo and Dartlo and paid for a room with hot water 60 GEL.

In Tusheti, mobile communications are barely available (buy a Magti SIM card, not a Beeline), but this does not prevent hotels from being represented on booking sites like Booking.Com or Roomguru. It is done like this: when a guest arrives, the owners, having climbed a higher tree on the mountain, call their friends “down” and they check whether such a reservation is in the system or not. There are no special problems with accommodation in Tusheti, but it’s worth booking something for the first night so as not to rush around in the dark later. The most convenient way to do this is using the RoomGuru service, which combines information from all hotel aggregators and finds the cheapest offer.

The rules in Tusheti are harsh in the mountain style: you should take a warm sleeping bag, it’s cold at night even in summer. Hosts usually offer “full board” for about 10 lari per meal per person. If you don’t want to pay another 30 lari a day for food (for example, we only had dinner at our guest house), it will be very useful to take food with you. There is nowhere else to feed in Tusheti other than in your guest house. In our understanding, there are no cafes or shops.

In general, what you bring to Tusheti is what you will eat. Our Tusheti breakfast:

And our Tusheti lunch:

In general, Tusheti is harsh and not very hospitable Mountain country. That's why it's beautiful. Thanks to the inaccessible route, there are still very few tourists here, and there is an opportunity to see the pristine nature and the mountain way of life as it is.

Eastern Georgia - Tusheti

Villages Omalo, Shenako, Dartlo

Western Georgia - Imereti

Mountain roads dug into the mountain slopes,
The rocks are wrapped around the rocks in an elaborate serpentine,
Who from the heights cast their gaze into the lowlands
He will not forget these passes.

Nikolay Orlov

Tusheti- High-mountainous Georgia, borders on Dagestan, but there are no official crossings to or from Russia here - and there are no roads either, only mountain paths.
We return to the asphalt. Having descended from the mountains of Khevsureti, we again found ourselves on the plain near the Zhinvali reservoir. According to the route we have drawn up, from here our path lies to Tianeti, visiting sights along the way, and from Tianeti we go to the mountains of Tusheti. But the road we needed to turn onto at the Zhinvali reservoir was blocked - a barrier, a brick.
There was large-scale construction going on on the road - equipment was literally biting into the rocks, moving them into the abyss and thereby significantly widening the road. Locals advised us to go through Tbilisi. And this is a detour of 100 km. And the entire convenient route we had developed was disrupted. But there was nothing to do, let’s go through Tbilisi. We drove the first kilometers and everyone was grieving - how unsuccessful it was. Therefore, after driving only 20 km. we decided to go back and try to drive along the road under construction - after all, if the equipment drives there, then there will be enough space for our little Jims.

At the beginning of the path from the Zhinvali reservoir to Tianeti, right next to the road, hidden behind tall trees in a lowland, stands a majestic temple - Fudznari. Fuznari is probably related to the word "fujo", which means base, base, sometimes the word means hearth. According to an inscription carved on a stone placed above the western entrance, the church dates back to the first half of the 13th century.
The temple has been completely restored, but just 2 years ago it was severely destroyed.

Maneuvering between special equipment and mountains of stone, broken off from the rocks, we safely overcame the section of the road being repaired and drove onto a dirt road. The road went through gorgeous forest with centuries-old trees. Apparently due to the fact that the road is blocked at the very beginning and passes outside populated areas, we didn’t meet anyone along the way until we turned at a fork and climbed up the hill and entered the territory of the Kvetera Monastery. There under open air, at a large table a large group of Georgian men were celebrating something. They didn’t pay any attention to us, and we calmly went to explore the main attraction of this monastery, a 10th-century temple.
Watchtower on the road to the monastery.

A special place in the Akhmeta region of Kakheti. Usually this name refers to a temple from the 10th century, but at this place there are also the remains of a fortress, and once there was the whole city, presumably called Kvetera.

The main building of the Kvetersky complex. The temple itself is quite modest in size. It is built of shell rock and the roof is covered with blue glazed tiles.

Having carefully examined everything, we return to the cars. And then the well-known thing overtook us. We were called to the table. We didn't refuse. Questions about where we are from, how we are, regrets on both sides that the Union has collapsed and there is a border between us. And yet, both they and we noted the pleasant fact that Russians and Georgians are still brothers and friends forever - and the Orthodox religion unites us.

Toasts, toasts, toasts on their part, on our part, for friendship, for brotherhood, for beautiful ladies.
And wonderful melodic ancient Georgian songs against the background of destroyed walls ancient city And beautiful temple under sky blue tiles.

Delicious shish kebab, delicious Georgian wine, friendly people who, by the way, turned out to be from the cultural department of the city of Akhmeta and are restoring this ancient complex. All this immersed us in the original atmosphere of Georgia.

During the feast, Georgian folk songs were sung, which, according to the Georgians themselves, are more than 40 centuries old.

Probably, we could have stayed at this hospitable table until the morning, but we had mountainous Tusheti in our plans, we began to get ready for the road, and said a farewell toast. The Georgians really asked us to tell them at home that they are not scary, and that the Russians would not be afraid to come and visit them.
They they miss us- This is a verbatim quote.
Saying goodbye, having learned that we were heading to Omalo, they advised us not to go there now, because... It was already evening. And the road there, according to them, is very long and very, very difficult and dangerous in the dark. They even offered to spend the night with them, but we decided not to abuse their hospitality and go closer to mountain road,
We managed to reach the beginning of the road to Omalo before dark and spent the night on the bank of a mountain river under spreading walnut trees.

Walnuts straight from the tree were delicious!
In the morning we hit the road to the mountains, to the capital of Tusheti - the village of Omalo. The first kilometers of the journey were easy and calm, although there was little reason for calm: a large number of roadside graves, warning that someone had died here, reminded us that we should not relax on the mountain road. At first they were even surprised to see this cross, deciding that this was already a pass, because... According to the descriptions, there is a cross at the pass.
But before the Abano Pass it turned out to be several more hours of driving along a really difficult and tiring mountain road because... The route goes through several gorges and overcomes several passes. Abano is the most important pass.

Sheep will never give way - that's why they are sheep!

The road is very narrow, there are a lot of oncoming cars (Omalo is now tourist centre Tusheti, many tourists come here). All along the road, even on seemingly straight sections, not to mention the serpentines that climb steeply upward, there are blind 180-degree turns every 100 meters. What and who is around the corner is not visible.

If it is clear that oncoming traffic is traveling far away, it makes sense to stop at the first opportunity (where it is a little wider) and let it pass, otherwise you may not pass.

On one side there is a sheer cliff, on the other, literally 20 cm from the wheel, there is a sharp cliff.

Scary and beautiful. Both are breathtaking.

From time to time the road is crossed by seething water flows, eroding the so-called road to varying degrees.

The views from the road are breathtaking.

Every time we ask ourselves the question - What's around the corner? There's no room to move around

Literally one wheel over the abyss. Here, composure will leave even the bravest - the navigator, covering her eyes with her hands, screamed loudly that she had long dreamed of flying, but only up, and not down into the abyss.

At some altitude we entered the clouds, visibility dropped to 5 meters.

In such a thick fog, we didn’t even notice that we had reached the pass.

The Abano pass itself (2926 m above sea level) was densely shrouded in clouds, which, driven by a strong wind, covered us with tiny droplets of water.

You can't see anything, it's wet and very cold. Quickly down! They left their “trace” on the pass.

At the pass we met two young guys from Germany. They literally crawled under our ski bikes, looking at something underneath. They themselves travel on an ancient Kruzak, sleep like us in tents, and carry wood for a fire on the roof. We talked, chatted about this and that. The guys said that they would really like to visit Russia, but they are very afraid of us Russians and our police, who rob all foreigners. We tried to dissuade them from this. Or maybe in vain? Maybe it's better to be afraid. You look and they will start to respect you.

Finally we're going down! And then somehow we began to feel unwell - apparently mountain sickness had caught up with us.

Going down is no easier - it’s a long descent - you have to brake only with the engine. And the road has not become wider.

The absolute treelessness at the top gives way to a pine forest just below.

Having gone down into the gorge, we again had to climb a very steep serpentine road to Omalo itself. This part of the road was in very poor condition - large landslides and severely washed out. This is due to the fact that the road rises, as it seemed to us, into a sandy mountain. And the slightest rain destroys it.

Climbing the mountain, we did not expect to see such a plain. Omalo is located at an altitude of 1900 m above sea level, 8 km from the border with Dagestan.
The village of Omalo and its neighboring village of Shenako, located across the gorge, can be seen in the film “Mimino”, since according to the script, the pilot Valiko Mizandari (i.e. Kikabidze) is from Shenako. And he landed his helicopter right at the airfield in Omalo, making a circle over his native village. Many of those children who ran after the helicopter still live here.

Omalo consists of a summer village (Upper Omalo) and a winter village (Lower Omalo or simply Omalo). The winter village is precisely located on the edge of the meadow that we went to. Upper Omalo is located on a cliff where a complex of Caucasian watchtowers is located - that’s where we are heading.

But first we need to have a snack. We find a cafe (and they are here, just like guest houses). We were offered Olivier salad and chowder. That's all. And the price tag is not at all humane. There was no barbecue, no khinkali, no cheese in any cafe. Probably all the tourists were eaten by bastards. But we always have a supply of provisions with us. We settled down outside the village and had lunch, admiring the beautiful views around.

Located on a steep cliff dominating the area. The top of the rock is a small, relatively flat area. On one side it breaks off very steeply, on the other the cliff is much less deep; and you can climb to the fortress along a path. The complex consists of eight towers, five of which were restored by foreigners, as evidenced by metal plaques on the towers with the names of sponsors.

Near the towers there are posters for tourists, faded in the sun, informing that when the towers were residential, the lower floor was given over to women's work (and it must be said that almost everything was women's work - the execution of all homework, and women also went into the forest for firewood, mowed, reaped and even plowed). The second floor of the tower was residential - they ate and slept here. The third was considered male.

The walls of the fortress, upper and lower towers are made of stone slabs.

Greetings, Sun! Bless my Spirit, Soul and body, so that I may remain in health and grace.

“Clear sun, hear my call. I am your earthly daughter. I turn to you with boundless love, illuminate the righteous path of my husband, so that his thoughts are bright and fair. So that his path may be blessed by you, clear Sun.
Unite your Divine Fire with his Spiritual fire.
May strength and wisdom be in him as much as he needs.
So that he could do his deeds in the glory of the Divine.
Glory to Thee, Sun!”
Well, Nastya gave it away! Truly Slavic!

A tourist center is being built in Omalo. Nobody speaks Russian in the center, only English, and Georgian, of course.

From the center, a beautiful alley leads to an observation deck above the gorge.

We are going to the villages of Shenako and Dartlo. Both villages are separated from Omalo by a deep gorge. In Soviet times they even wanted to build cable car between villages. The first on Shenako's path. The village has the only Orthodox church in Tusheti, built by the Greeks and recently painted with frescoes. It is this church that comes into the frame when Valiko from the film “Mimino” makes a circle over the village.

The village of Dartlo with unsightly houses. Notable for its large number of towers.

We stopped for the night in a pine forest on the edge of the gorge - between Omalo and Shenako. When it got dark, we set up an open-air cinema for ourselves and turned on the film “ Mimino" We watched this movie more than once, sitting at home within four walls. And to be honest, the film did not evoke any special emotions. But here in the mountains, among living scenery, everything was different. We looked at every frame of the film and were delighted to recognize all the places that were depicted in the film. The music and songs heard in the film evoked extraordinary, unforgettable sensations of flight, freedom and infinity.

It is only from the outside that it seems that these wonderful meadows are horizontal. In fact, we had a hard time finding more or less even 3 sq.m. for tents. All other planes have a very strong slope.

The village of Omalo is across the gorge.

Returning from Tusheti to the plain, at the entrance to Omalo, right on the serpentine we met some familiar guys from Germany - they had only just gotten here. We told them what other interesting places in Georgia they could see - besides Omalo, they didn’t know where else to go. The Germans were not prepared. We carefully developed our route and knew exactly when and where we needed to visit.

On mountain roads everything is always different - here time moves differently. Here every action and every step you take will be assessed in a completely different way.

By this point, the percentage of blood and adrenaline in our veins had leveled out - 50x50.

On incredibly steep slopes, in fact, on absolutely vertical rocks, there are lonely towers. One can only guess how one can get there, not to mention how one can build this rather large structure out of stone. In terms of complexity of construction, in our opinion, the towers can easily compete with the pyramids

The road runs over a terrible abyss, rushes between life and death; A crowd of giants guards her; Death nestles over her. Fear the awakening of a terrible avalanche: Walk in silence along the dangerous road.

Having descended from the mountains, we go to a small town in Kakheti - Sighnaghi. Our path runs through Ancient Capital Kakheti – .

Gremi Castle- This is a narrow tower and the Archangel Church with frescoes. The entire complex was built in 1565 by the Kakheti king Levan, who made a new capital here. In 1615, the capital was burned by Shah Abbas. In the castle tower there is a museum with archaeological finds of Kakheti.

Perhaps in this cozy room King Levan made important government decisions.

Already at dusk we arrived in Sighnaghi.

Sighnaghi is the brainchild of the Saakashvili era. Here, in 2007-2012, a large-scale reconstruction was carried out, as a result of which the “City of Lovers” was created. Now this is one of the most visited (especially by Europeans) places in Georgia.

It turned out to be a cozy European town. However, through the slightly open gates we saw the old dilapidated walls of buildings, which with restored elegant facades face the street.

Monument to the doctor on a donkey based on the famous painting by the famous Georgian artist Pirosmani. There is a house museum in Sighnaghi Niko Pirosmani.

We bought homemade wine, cheese, pita bread and huge sugar tomatoes and, in complete darkness, leaving the City of Lovers, we stopped for the night on the banks of the Alazan River. And the next morning we went to Tsinandali.
Almost in the center of Kakheti lies the village of Tsinandali - one of largest centers winemaking of Kakheti. It once belonged to the poet, military general and public figure Alexander Chavchavadze, who inherited this village from his father, Prince Garsevan Chavchavadze.
Garsevan Chavchavadze was a famous diplomat and public figure; in 1784-1801 he was the plenipotentiary ambassador of the kingdom of Kartl-Kakheti at the court of the Russian Empire.
In 1946, on the centenary anniversary of the death of the Georgian poet, the house-museum of Alexander Chavchavadze was opened in the estate. In 2008, the museum was restored. The house-museum has preserved the interiors, furniture and personal belongings of the princes.

We took a tour of the museum. The girl guide told interesting story Chavchavadze family. Once upon a time, the estate's frequent guests were officers of the tsarist army exiled to the Caucasus, people of art: Pushkin, Lermontov.
The Russian writer Alexander Griboedov was also a relative at the Chavchavadze estate. In the park you can still see the chapel in which the poet and the owner’s daughter, Princess Nina Chavchavadze, were married. Married life was short-lived. Unfortunately, a year later Griboyedov was killed. And Nina Chavchavadze remained faithful to her husband all her life, never getting married again.
It was in this estate that Griboedov wrote the immortal play "Woe from Wit." The poet really liked Tsinandali and the Chavchavadze family estate. He dedicated poems to them in which he predicted his death: “Where Alazan winds, bliss and coolness blow.

There is a well-kept park in the English style around the estate.

Familiar with European trading houses, Alexander Chavchavadze built the first winery in Georgia in Tsinandali and laid out wine cellars. His wines began to be transported to Europe, where they were rightfully appreciated.

One of the oldest and most important cities of Kakheti is Telavi. And now this administrative center Kakheti.
On the way to Telavi we passed the Mimino airfield, translated from Georgian as “Falcon”, where, according to the script of the film of the same name, the character of Vakhtang Kikabidze worked. He called here from abroad and was connected not to Telavi, but to Tel Aviv.
At the entrance to the city, at the corner of the fortress there is an equestrian monument to King Irakli II. This monument was featured in the film “Mimino” in the episode where they ask about the helicopter airfield.

Fortress "Batonis Tsikhe" in the central part of Telavi. Translated into Russian, the name of the fortress means “Fortress of the Master.” In the 17th and 18th centuries, when the city was the capital of the Kakheti principality, the residence of the Kakheti kings was located here.

From the walls of the citadel there is a beautiful view of the Alazani Valley with its vast vineyards, and in the distance - the Caucasus Range, the coolness of the mountains of which we had already begun to dream of, since the heat in the valley was 30 degrees.

There is a tourist center in Telavi where they gave us free booklets and tourist maps Georgia. The center is in a building on the side of this beautiful building.

Telavi is a very cozy and pleasant town with a unique Georgian flavor. Unlike Sighnaghi, he is somehow alive, real.

On one of the ancient streets grows a 900-year-old plane tree or plane tree, considered the oldest tree in Georgia. It took 13 people to hug him.

Opposite the monument to Irakli, in a cozy cafe they make very tasty khinkali. Actually, khinkali are delicious everywhere in Georgia, and it seemed to us that they differ only in the thickness of the dough. The dough here is very thin. The price for this dish turned out to be the same everywhere - be it in a cafe or in a restaurant.

Another important attraction of Kakheti is its wine, the best in Georgia. Therefore, after you have eaten, you can now have a drink. Accordingly, the next place on the route is the Kindzmarauli Corporation winery.
"Kindzmarauli Corporation" is one of the largest wineries on the territory of Kakheti. It is located in the very center of the town of Kvareli and is the main producer of the famous semi-sweet wine. Now the plant owns about 80% of the territory of the Kindzmarauli microzone.

Before the tour of the factory, we tasted different wines. At the same time, completely forgetting that some of us are driving. All hope is that during the excursion everything will disappear. The girl who conducted the tasting noted that they are very strict with this matter - no, no, driving.

Georgia has a special technology for making wine. In Europe, grapes for wine are crushed without branches, and then the seeds are separated.
In Kakheti, grapes for wine have been crushed since ancient times along with branches and seeds and all put together in barrels for fermentation, which gives a special astringency to Georgian wines.
In addition, wine in Kakheti ferments for up to six months, which is considered incorrect in Europe - there they forcefully stop fermentation by sharply sub-zero cooling of the mash.
Making wine the Georgian way looks very soulful.
Qvevri is a large clay jug. It is buried in the ground and the grapes ferment there at a constant temperature. This ancient technology is still used in Georgia.

Not all wines in Kakheti are made according to ancient technology using qvevri. This is a hall where they make wine like in Europe.

Marani is a room where wine is stored after it has fermented in a qvevri.

At the Kindzmarauli Corporation company store we bought various wines to take home with us. While traveling around Georgia, we mostly drank homemade white and black wine (that’s what Georgians call red wine, which is logical because it’s made from black grapes), buying 3 and 5 liter bottles. banks. Wine is poured into jars up to the top so that it does not oxidize. Therefore, when stopping for the night, we drank one jar at a time so that this divine drink would not oxidize.
Hiding from the heat, we set up camp in the shade of a beech forest. The morning passed under the gaze of two Caucasian Shepherd dogs.

The Akhali Shuamta Monastery was built in the 16th century. This is a convent and is still in operation today. The monastery has strict rules, everything is done with the permission of the inhabitants. There is a small bell that must be rung before opening the doors in the monastery wall. This serves as a signal to those nuns who do not want to meet with visitors.

Our further path lies to Imereti - the largest and historical region Western Georgia. A visit to Tbilisi was not part of our plans, so we got acquainted with the capital of Georgia on the go, through the car windows

As we move west, the vineyards of the plains of Kakheti give way to the lush forests of Imereti.
By evening we arrive in Kutaisi, the capital of Imereti. In addition, Kutaisi is the second capital of Georgia according to the constitution.
"Colchis Fountain" on the central square of David the Builder.

A monument near the theater building to the famous Georgian actor and director Lado Meskhishvili, who for some time led the theater troupe.

There are vineyards in Kakheti, and tea plantations in Imereti. Tea was grown in Soviet times, but now nothing remains of the plantations except marks on maps. It was on the edge of such a plantation overgrown with tangerine trees and prickly blackberry bushes that we spent the night.
The next day is a visit to the Prometheus Cave in Tskaltubo.

The name “Prometheus Cave” was invented by Mikheil Saakashvili when he was the President of Georgia. Prometheus Cave is the largest in Georgia. Actually, this cave is part of a huge cave network stretching throughout Western Georgia and Abkhazia. Several halls are available for inspection, the route is 1500 m and the passage lasts about an hour.

The cave was discovered in the 80s (allegedly they were looking for a place for a bomb shelter), and it was opened to the public in 2011.

The concrete path in the cave goes up and down. Outlandish growths, icicles, stalagmites, rivers and small lakes - everything is illuminated with iridescent colors.

The music of Gia Kancheli sounds throughout the entire route. Amazing fairytale atmosphere. And considering that it was 35 degrees outside, and here in the cave there was 10 degrees of life-giving coolness, I didn’t want to leave the cave at all.

Visiting time is limited and takes place as part of an organized group. Therefore, after an hour we left at the other end of the cave, from where we were taken by bus to the entrance point.

The next place on the plan to visit is another Imereti natural attraction. We decided to go to the canyon not on asphalt, but to take a shortcut along a picturesque road.
We drove along a dirt path through villages, admiring traditional Georgian houses with balconies and terraces covered with grapes. The winding path went up and down from the hills overgrown with pomegranate trees. We traveled in September and the pomegranate was already ripe.

In Georgia it is very beautiful rivers With pure water amazing turquoise color.

We came across a narrow suspension bridge with rotten boards across the stormy Tskhenisikale River.

To drive along the walkway, I had to fold the side mirrors.

The bridge is very narrow, perhaps even a pedestrian one. Our Jims only squeezed with a millimeter gap between the posts to which the cables were attached.

Okatse River Canyon 3 km long. 50 meters deep. The tourist observation path runs along a suspended cantilever bridge built along the canyon. In fact, you are simply walking over an abyss. There is an observation deck that hovers over the abyss. To be honest, we were only impressed by the design of the path hanging over the canyon. And we drove along the slopes of canyons much deeper than Okatse while getting to Omalo.

We met a sociable elderly Georgian who remembers Soviet times very well and regrets, like many, the times when we were one country. He suggested a wonderful place for camp in a gorge on the Abasha River. Without his help we would not have found it - the place is wild and secluded.

The water is icy - after all, the river flows from glaciers Caucasus Mountains. The current is so powerful that swimming trunks and swimsuits are torn off this way.

You can’t get into this Kingdom of Berendey using other cars. We literally made our way among stones and trees, densely overgrown with mosses and lichens.

Our Georgian friend strongly recommended fishing for trout in this river. According to him, there is a lot of it here. And we always have fishing rods with us. But we were too lazy to uncover our spinning rods, especially since in the morning we were in a hurry to the Martvili Canyon on the Abasha River.

The canyon is very popular among tourists. That's why we hurried in the morning until the tourist buses arrived. The canyon arose thanks to the Abasha River, which carved its way into the limestone rocks.
The canyon consists of two parts, which are separated by rapids and a sandbank.
There is boating at the top of the canyon.

At the bottom of the canyon there is a stone path with overhanging observation decks and romantic bridges.

Despite the fact that the canyon is very crowded, we really liked it for its diversity - this is turquoise lake, sandwiched by rocks hanging over it, from which water oozes and the river falls down into waterfalls sparkling in the sun.

Looking from above into the turquoise waters of the Abasha River, we saw that there really were a lot of trout in it, as the good Georgian had said. This is where we regretted that we were too lazy to take our covers off.

Let's move on. Opposite the medieval fortress, in a cozy restaurant, we tried Imeretian khachapuri made from thin dough with cheese inside - in each region of Georgia, khachapuri is prepared differently. We have already eaten lobiani (with beans) and Khevsur khachapuri (with grass inside besides the cheese), and Kakhetian khachapuri (on a spit).

While in Imereti we tried Imeretian curd cheese. I really liked the Georgian lemonade produced at the Lagidze plant. It’s surprising that such a wine country has very decent and tasty beer. But the kebab did not become our favorite. They ate shashlik made from lamb, beef, and chicken. I was not impressed with this dish. We make barbecue often at home and it turns out great.

We stopped by an abandoned thermal source.

Boiling water with the smell of rotten eggs comes out of the ground - apparently the source is hydrogen sulfide.

We planned to spend the next couple of days relaxing on the Black Sea beaches of Georgia. The tourists we met in the canyons reported that the beaches in and around Batumi were very dirty, but we would not go to Batumi, we decided. On the map we found where the big beaches are - that place turned out to be the outskirts of the city of Poti. But even here the spectacle turned out to be simply disgusting.

We have never seen anything like this anywhere. The garbage is not only on the surface, it is mixed with sand God knows how deep. It's a shame - after all, the beach is really wide and long, surrounded on one side by a gorgeous pine forest. In search of a place to camp, we drove into this forest, but even here we were greeted with a shock - as if garbage was being dumped here from all the cities of Georgia.

We rushed to look for places where the locals couldn’t reach with their garbage. To do this we had to drive another 40 km. But we also couldn’t get close to the sea - along the sea along the beach there is a railway line to a huge port-industrial zone, which is not indicated on the map. As a result, we got up for the night in complete darkness without even having dinner, since while we were laying out our tents we became dinner for a horde of mosquitoes.
In the morning it turned out that we stood on an island in a swamp. And all night we thought that we were standing on the bank of the river - the frogs were croaking very loudly.
Well, this is the sea - we decided and went further along the planned route - to Svaneti, to the mountains.

Tusheti is the most remote and cut off corner of Georgia. The road here is one of the ten most dangerous highways in the world. This is a dirt road - you can only drive on it with a good SUV and only from July to September. Tusheti is mountains, highlanders, traditions, towers, harsh and beautiful nature. We definitely recommend visiting.

Omalo

Road to Tusheti. This road is one of the top ten dangerous roads in the world according to the BBC. Dirt, passable only with good SUVs and only from July to October. A trip along it is extreme in its purest form. sheer cliffs, deep canyons, mountain rivers are scary and very, very beautiful.

Excursions and routes around the region from Tbilisi

Everything is wonderful on a trip to Tusheti! It's like you're passing through a portal to another world and another time. The road is not for the faint of heart, but very beautiful. Culture and traditions, nature, local kitchen and adrenaline - that's why you should come here. Overnight in Omalo (guest house or tents) Ujarma – Telavi – tasting at the winery – road to Tusheti – overnight in Omalo – trip to Dartlo (car or horseback) – Tbilisi

Hello, my name is David! In front of you - travel blog“Beyond the Seven Mountains Ru”, in which I talk about my trips - all of them are independent and low-budget, but long. Welcome and let's chat!

Tusheti: how to get there, where to live, how much it costs. Photos of the Abano pass, the villages of Omalo and Shenako

My adventures in Tusheti have been told (parts , ), now it’s time for practical questions - “how, where, how much.” I will illustrate the post with photos taken on the first day (Abano pass, Upper Omalo and Shenako).

View from the road to Abano Pass; beyond the Greater Caucasus are the valleys and gorges of Tusheti.

How to get to Tusheti

People usually get to Tusheti by SUV (some tourists on their motorcycles). Minibuses and buses do not go to Tusheti - the road is bad, they cannot.

If you don't have your own car, you need to take a car with a driver. My friends and I (St. Petersburg residents whom I met in Tbilisi) spent the night in, in the morning (8:00) we took a taxi (we agreed with the taxi driver in the evening - there was an overabundance of people willing to tax) and drove to Kvemo Alvani for 12 lari (from Telavi to Alvani You can also get there by minibus). The place where drivers wait for tourists is called the “exchange” - Telavi taxi drivers will find it for you. Here we found three or something cars. We left on one of them. There were no tourists here except us. We wanted to have a fourth passenger, but we were told that people rarely come here one at a time. We waited - alas.

If you don’t know where to stay in Omalo, these same drivers can arrange everything for you - they are from Tusheti and have all the necessary contacts. You can also talk to them about transportation around Tusheti itself - if a particular driver is busy, he will find someone who will take on this matter. So far in Tusheti, supply in the tourism sector clearly exceeds demand.

Smoke break on the road to Abano Pass

The standard cost of a car is 200 lari, so it’s better to go to Tusheti in a group to split the costs between three or four. Exist travel companies, which recruit passengers, so that if fellow travelers have not formed themselves, as in my case, they will find them for you.

592-820-356 – Dato
555-20-72-92 – Vazha

I do not know these people personally and have not used their services. Try it.

In addition, in Tbilisi you can find tours to Tusheti at realistic prices (see prices at the end of the post). Ask at your guesthouse or hotel.

Abano Pass. Road in the clouds

Clouds underfoot

What else is known about travel to Tusheti? Internet sources claim that several years ago in Tusheti people were transported in the backs of KAMAZ trucks. However, none of the local and Telavi people confirmed this information; I didn’t see any KAMAZ vehicles with passengers in the back on the road from and to Tusheti.

More. At the Abano Pass an old Lada was also seen, arriving from Tusheti. I don’t know how the journey ended for this car. We only know that SUVs regularly get stuck on the roads. So if you hire a driver, remember that you may be stuck for many hours on a mountain road - it is better to have food and water with you.

Descent from Abano Pass

Once again the descent, but larger. Beauty!

Tusheti Map

A resident of Verkhovan assured me that it is possible to walk from Verkhovan to Chesho - but it’s better with a guide - there is no road there, only a path through the ridge - that’s what I was told. I don’t know how obvious or not the necessary path is - I haven’t seen it myself. Tamaz, mentioned in the post, leads along this path. But he said “it’s better with a guide” not to simply impose his services - he’s not like that at all. A deeply decent man good man. We need to contact Vazha Kardlidze. It’s just that in Verkhovhan, where Tamaz lives, there is no mobile connection.

Or just go and see what happens. In Tusheti or specifically in Verkhovhan, you will talk with the locals about the trail, what is there with it - is it marked, clear or confusing, do you need a guide with your specific experience or not...

Says Vovan (guest) on Sun, 13/07/2014 - 23:07.

Hello, we are going to take a small group on a trip around Georgia in early August. I was interested in Tusheti. Please, tell me, is it possible to ride Zhinvali-Tianeti-Akhmeta on bicycles and further to Tusheti? Is this realistic and where can I get a ride along this route?

David, hello!
Very good and useful story! We are just planning to go to Georgia in July and now I am reading the information and trying to plan a route.
And I would like to know if in Tbilisi we are planning to rent a car for a trip to Tusheti, enjoy the nature there and see the villages. Do you think it’s better to go for 3 days in total or 4?
And I’m also very interested, because I couldn’t really understand, in a Nissan Qashqai in July, if there is no rain, you can get to the villages of Shimani and Mutso without any problems?
Thank you in advance)

Says Alexey2323 (guest) on Sun, 07/28/2013 - 23:52.

Hello!
Thank you for everything!)
you wrote
“There is no road from Khevsureti (Shatili there) to Tusheti - you can go on foot with a guide, they said it would take three days to walk somewhere.”

Question - do you have contacts for conductors?
And what could be dangerous if you go without guides? (wild animals for example?)

Good afternoon, David.
I read your report on Tusheti and several questions appeared. We are planning a cycling trip around Georgia for September, the route passes through Alvani, so we simply have no right not to visit Tusheti. I think it will be difficult to physically get to Omalo, we are considering a transfer option. Therefore, it will be interesting whether it will be possible to leave the “iron horses” in Alvani and how a group of 7 people can teleport to Omalo, using two cars, or whether there are options for more spacious transport.
Thank you very much!

There is no road from Khevsureti (Shatili there) to Tusheti - you can go on foot with a guide, they said it would take three days to walk somewhere. So, from Khevsureti you need to go down to the plain, go through Tbilisi to Kakheti and up there.

Your route is unrealistic, let's say.)

There is one more question - I don’t know whether all these roads will be passable in May. At least I know that the road to Tusheti can be covered with snow even in May - it was in the news somewhere.

Today, the only road connecting with Tusheti runs along the Story River gorge through the Abano Pass. However, due to snow, the road is closed from late October to mid-May. Local population has the opportunity to get to the nearest district center only by border guard helicopter. However, he flies once a month.

Clearing of the road connecting Tusheti has begun. As stated Information Center Kakheti, gamgebeli of the municipality of Akhmeta Koba Maisuradze, by the end of the month the road will presumably be cleared to the pass, and by May 15 - already to Omalo -

But even if there is no more snow there, the condition of the road can be very bad - melting snow and all that - it’s not easy there anyway. And in Tusheti itself, roads may be in impassable condition this season.

If I were you, I would take an interest in the question closer to May. For example, I would call the guesthouse mentioned in the post and ask if it was possible to get to them. If they say yes, then I would go to Tusheti. Half a day there, three days there, half a day there - that’s already five days. The rest can be spent in Kakheti, for example - it is just on the plain near Tusheti. You can go to Vashlovani National Park - interesting place(I haven’t been, but there are a lot of photos on the Internet, I’ll go this year). Just in May it will be green there, all these fantastic landscapes...

If there is suddenly no road in Tusheti, then you can go to Svaneti - it will definitely be possible to get there, even in winter or in summer. If the road in the highlands is in order, it will be possible to travel from Mestia to Ushguli - the very top of Georgia...

Again, you can easily spend five days on Svaneti, and a week too.

If you really want to go further, and suddenly such an opportunity arises, then you can go down from Ushguli to Lentekhi, and then to Kutaisi - a very difficult route, judging by Internet sources, they still travel on the Ushguli - Lentekhi section - for example:

Lentekhi - Ushguli This is by far the hardest part in Svaneti. There are several mountain passes on this approach. These include Zagaro Pass and Ughviri Pass (2700 meters). Both can be snowed in late into the season so check conditions or be prepared to walk. There are for sure no routes between Lentekhi and Ushguli. The road is a seasonal road for summer driving only, means that there is absolutely no "real traffic" but a few foreighners do this road as a special challenge with their jeeps. User:see waited in Ushguli towards Lentekhi in August 2011 one complete day without seeing a car. The next day he walked more than 10 kilometers, until a Polish jeep picked him up. Bear in mind that the road leads approx. 45 km through absolute wilderness and some villages along this length marked on various maps are already abandoned.

No one can say what will happen in May in this area - it depends on the year and the weather. It is quite possible that you won’t be able to get through. Even if you pass, God only knows what will happen to your car. If you break down in the mountains, you will have to wait, for example, a day or two for repairmen. I don’t want to intimidate, but it’s worth carefully considering the question of where you are going and what awaits you there in May.

IN good weather compensated by the majestic views of the Giants of the Caucasus. Unforgettable view of Ailama. As a tax, it can be compared with the views of Ushba from the road to Mestia from the turn to Becho, but here Ailama is much closer. Good luck!!!

Thank you! I wish you that everything goes as smoothly as possible with your trip to Georgia!)

Says Revaz (guest) on Thu, 09/13/2012 - 22:53.

Hi David!

Thank you very much detailed story, better than any Lonely Planet.
I myself am going to Georgia with my St. Petersburg friends. We haven’t decided where we’ll go yet, but we’ll rely on your blog.
By the way, if you’re in Tbilisi at the beginning of October, we can meet you.

It would seem difficult to hear something new about Georgia. The land of the gentle sun, high mountains and intoxicating wine has long been known to tourists and travelers. It seems to have been driven up and down. Ancient monasteries on mountain peaks and cave complexes - business card Georgia, along with its hospitable population and rich cuisine. But there is one place in Georgia where you won’t see a single familiar monastery, where there won’t be a winery around every corner, where a mustachioed Georgian in a cap doesn’t stand outside a restaurant inviting you to try khinkali. Getting here is difficult and dangerous. The road here is closed nine months of the year. The people living here are practically deprived of the benefits of civilization, and their houses are still built from stone...

Tusheti (or Tusheti in Georgian) is the most remote region of Georgia. It is located almost on the border with Dagestan and Chechnya. Getting here is extremely difficult, but possible. And the difficulties experienced during the journey are more than compensated by the delights seen.

The nearest settlement on the road to Tusheti is the village of Pshaveli. This is where you can rent a jeep or book a tour with a driver. This pleasure will cost differently, as agreed. We've heard that the price goes up to a hundred dollars per car per day, plus the cost of gasoline. You can do it there and back in two days, because the journey one way takes about six hours, although the total distance is only 70 km. The thing is that this road is a winding serpentine road without bump stops. Only the first 15 kilometers are visible traces of asphalt, and even those are constantly washed away by mountain rivers. Next - primer with frequent sharp turns. Driving on this road is quite dangerous, so it is better to hire a local driver.

All 70 kilometers to Omalo, the main village in the Tusheti region, you will see amazing pictures. Here, the human hand practically did not touch what nature created. Huge waterfalls here flow directly onto the road you are driving along. Rockfalls often occur, so you have an excellent opportunity to get out of the car and clear the road so that you can move on along it. On endless passes you can often see snow - and it doesn’t matter that it’s August! Stormy streams mountain rivers, even at the end of summer, they blur everything around. That is why it is impossible to build a normal road here. That is why the path here is cut off from October to June.

This is why this area is so beautiful - there is practically no one here for nine months of the year!

Yes, over the course of 70 km you will see a maximum of two border checkpoints with Russia, at the very beginning, and a booth with a guard national park, already at the entrance to Omalo. People don't live here. The mountainous terrain and wild weather conditions took their toll.

But what can you see in Tusheti itself? Why does it take so long and so dangerous to come here? The first is the feeling that you are far from civilization. It's hard to name locality ten houses with barns. There are about one and a half dozen villages in the district, and all of them are almost identical in their composition and appearance. The second is pristine nature , simply amazing in its grandeur. In Tusheti you can see four-thousand-meter mountains with snowy tops, endless rocky passes, powerful waterfalls and rushing cold blue rivers. It is full of entertainment for tourists: horseback riding, ATV excursions, trekking tours along unexplored mountain paths. And the third is miracles of human industriousness and ingenuity which you will see in the local architecture. Back in the Middle Ages, Tusheti towers began to be built here - structures that to this day amaze with their grandeur, meticulous execution and extraordinary stability.

The Tushetinskaya tower looks like a tall house with a tapering roof. It reaches a height of 10-15 meters. But the most important thing about it is that it is completely made of stone. Blue slate, which is found in large quantities in local rocks, replaced the residents of Tusheti with bricks, concrete, and mortars. Georgian craftsmen skillfully selected each pebble and sharpened it if necessary to make the perfect “brick” from each one. Then they fitted them to each other like a mosaic so that the wall of the house would hold together without mortar. Can you imagine how delicate, almost jewelry-like work it is to build such a house out of practically nothing!

The purpose of the Tusheti towers is similar to the Svan towers. In Svaneti, such buildings were also made of stone, but not so scrupulously. The first function of both structures is to notify the population of an approaching enemy. If the guard herself high tower saw the enemy troops, he lit a fire, the light from which was noticed by the guards of other towers. Thus, without our usual means of communication, such as mobile phones, people transmitted distress signals to each other in a matter of minutes.

Now in Tusheti, some towers are open to the public; you can climb inside and see with your own eyes how the Tush people used to live. The living space inside the towers is not very large, literally three by three meters on each floor. The first floor was usually reserved for a barn - sheep and cows were kept here. The second and third floors were residential. To be honest, this seems incredible. We, civilized people, accustomed to spacious rooms, solid walls and decorative items, do not understand at all how people lived on these miserable square meters, in walls made of bare stone...

This is probably why we decided to try Tusheti life for ourselves and decided to spend the night right in the tower.

After waiting for darkness, we threw our backpacks out the second floor window and set up a tent inside. The feeling, of course, is indescribable. The tower we chose is located at an altitude of more than 2400 meters above sea level, surrounded only by mountains and small villages, “diluted” by expensive, but rather poor hotels for European tourists. What a divine sunset you can see while sitting near the tower, or watching the sun from the window of such a house. How distant and detached you feel when you are in a small room in a stone building. The main thing is not to turn on the flashlight in the tower at night, otherwise they will think that the war has begun. Of course, there are hotels below, stylized as Tusheti towers, where all the amenities are available. The cost of one night there ranges from 20 to 50 dollars. A tent city awaits the bravest ones near the village of Zemo Omalo. But even spending the night in a tent cannot compare with the moment when you climb out of a second-floor window at three in the morning because you need to go to the toilet.

We didn’t see any grocery stores here, but in each village there are several restaurants with national Georgian cuisine. They say that the khinkali here is some of the best in the country. The national cuisine of this region is limited mainly to vegetables and lamb. Sheep are bred everywhere here in large quantities; they can be seen in almost every clearing.

It is amazing that with the development of technology, the Tushetinians decided to take advantage of the wonders of progress in the form of solar panels. However, there is no electricity here, there are no power stations, and using generators is too expensive. Solar battery in this case, it is a very rational solution, despite its initial high cost. Also, don’t expect to find internet in these places, although you can get weak internet in some places. Mobile Internet from Georgian operators. By the way, mobile communications here are very unstable due to weather conditions and poor technical support.

But isn’t it wonderful to be away from civilization and feel far, far away, to get out of the notorious comfort zone! Feel yourself in the past and appreciate what you have in the present: when you live in modern house, with solid walls, water, electricity. Here, observing the peculiarities of almost medieval life, you begin to really appreciate what you have. But isn’t this the main thing in life?

Text: Irina Shapoval

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