Svaneti has been on my must-visit list while in Georgia. It is a beautiful mountainous region, with interesting food and a fiercely independent culture. The entire region is a UNESCO world heritage site. 
I went with a crew from our IOD (Individual and Organizational Development) group - smart young folks with a lot to offer the world when they move on.
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A fellow PCV and I took the night train from Tbilisi to Zugdidi. Not a bad way to travel - first class was $21 roundtrip.
Then we took the marshutka three hours up to Mestia. I do want to mention how lovely the guest houses are in Georgia, in the villages especially. At this one the owner was a doctor who retired early from Tbilisi and came back to her in-laws home to run the house. She gave me a wonderful jar of tremali mureba. This is heaven - tangy not yet ripe plums in a sugar sauce. She was delightful and we had a full run of the house and kitchen. Also it is a great way to meet other travelers. I stayed with 2 Poles, an Israeli girl and her boyfriend from Wyoming who now lives in Israel, and two Australians.
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| beautiful view on the the way to Mestia |
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| We had a small traffic jam while the bulldozer came to clear the rock slide |
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| Svan-Ski Guest House was just wonderful and had a great location |
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| Hiking up the glacier in Mestia with PCV David |
Mestia was beautiful and sunny the first afternoon, so we took the opportunity to hike up to the local glacier. 
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| This was an actual avalanche, in the center of the picture here. Amazing, loud. First the rocks came down, then it looked like a waterfall, but with snow. It went on for about 60-90 seconds. |
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| Mestia by night! |
Quoting from the UNESCO nomination, "The mountainous region of upper svaneti occupies the upper reaches of the lnguri river basin, between the caucasus and svaneti ranges. The only road through it runs along the river gorge. lt consists of several communities, each in turn composed of several villages. lt is a region of rich natural resources, such as minerals, metals, timber, wild fruits, abundant game, etc." (We all laugh because one never sees wildlife in Georgia...odd)
"The characteristic landscape of Upper svaneti is formed by small
villages, dominated by their church towers and situated on the mountain
slopes, with a natural environment of gorges and alpine valleys and a backdrop
of snow-covered mountains. The most notable feature of the settlements is the
abundance of defense towers, especially in Mestia and the frontier villages, such as
Ushguli.These towers usually have from three to five storys and the thickness of the walls decreases, giving the towers a slender, tapering profile. Their upper floors are exclusively defensive in function, serving as platforms for observation and for storing and throwing projectiles.
The houses themselves are usually two-storyed and between 80 and 130m2 in ground area. The ground floor is a single hall with an open hearth and accommodation for both people and domestic animals, the latter being separated by a wooden partition, which is lavishly decorated. They only use this in the winter. A corridor annex helped the thermal insulation of the building."
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As you can see, the livestock can live below and stuck their heads out I guess to eat from the trough. Above that is a flat landing, for sleeping. You would stay nice and warm, I guess.
The head person sits on this 'throne/chair'. Another 'couch' was for the men, and another for the women. Under the oven was the place the chickens hung out. :-) Amazing how many of the clan could live like this all winter. The upper floor was where they lived in the summer. We also saw a dumb waiter where they can drop things down to a fruit cellar to keep cold in the winter without going down there all the time. And we saw a tunnel that goes from the house to the defense towers. We are told that wealth is recognized by number in the 'clan', land and number of towers.On Day 3 and 4 we stayed in Ushguli, which is located at an altitude of 2,410 metres (7,910 ft) near the foot of Shkhara, one of the highest summits of the Greater Caucasus mountains. About 200 people live in the area, enough to support a small school. The area is snow-covered for 6 months of the year, and often the road to Mestia is impassable. It was sunny when we went on our 3 hour marshutka ride but clouded up the second day.
  water from the mountain streams, even in the high mountains! Notice the stream running right under the outhouse. On the bright side, at least they have men and women rooms!  |
| Ushguli with my buddies. Next, wrapping up service and setting up processes to continue my work... |
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| And the prettiest picture of an outhouse I have seen in Georgia! |
