Svaneti | Clune Gap Years

Shdugra Waterfall Walk

26/09/2025

A non driving day. Yay!
But J may have preferred that as we walked 13.5km with a very steep up and then down. Not bad for 78. 😙

*We didn’t make it as far as the waterfall as the way markers turned from red (intermediate) to black (difficult). Discretion the better part of valour.*

A popular walk, so we met quite a few people. The standard question here ‘where are you from?’ is more interesting than in Europe. As well as Belgium and Spain. Two from Belarus. A Russian couple living in Armenia since the start of the war with the Ukraine. And a Ukrainian couple living in Moldova … since the war with Russia. I would just love to have chatted and asked inappropriate questions.

*And a nosey cow had his nose through our door … Corrie grumbled.*

Mestia Towers

27/99/2025

Brr 6C outside when we woke. Lots of layers. Jez only warmed up on the 40 minute drive to Mestia, the capital of the Svaneti region.

We saw a number of defensive towers on the way. Then I climbed one with 7 floors. J doesn’t like heights so he stayed on the second level with Corrie, who can’t do ladders. The ladders were mostly made from Silver Birch branches. Very rustic and a couple were vertical. One definitely wobbled as I climbed. The last one popped out through the roof. So fab views of other towers and the town.

*The tower I climbed with a house and holiday accommodation on the plot*

The Svaneti Museum was disappointing. Sanitised and didn’t cover the turbulent regions history or many traditions.

*The most interesting artifact was a male leather belt with a purse, tinderbox etc*

We decided against driving the track to the start of the waterfall walk … rain was forecast and I’m still scarred from the road from Hell in Turkey. We went for an ordinary lunch and decided to start the long slow road back south. We picked up French and Australian hitch hikers, with the warning that we would be slow and bumpy. In the event, the descent was much quicker than anticipated and the rain held off. We dropped our passengers in Zugdidi and looked for a parking for us. We didn’t fancy Zugdidi centre, and there weren’t many options on P4N, so we pressed onto our lovely riverside spot in Kutaisi. 5.5 hours driving. So another non dry day!!!

25/09/2025

I knew it would be a long drive, which is why we drove a chunk yesterday. But first we stopped at the Enguri Dam, that we could see from our parking. Soviet construction started in 1961 and it was completed in 1987. Only 7 years later, it was inspected by Hydro Quebec (why them???) and found to be in a ‘rare state of dilapidation’. The EU granted €9.4 billion and a further £136 million in EU and bank loans to make it, the power station and exit to the Black Sea safe. The Russians also left nuclear waste. The built relays which were supposed to join up with another uncompleted dam. Unmarked pairs of cylinders in the mountains, two pairs safety recovered but one pair was found leading to injury and eventual death December 2001 … Lia Incident. Another pair still out there.

The dam is the 9th highest dam in the world. 5 of the highest dams in the top 10 are in China. The tallest is Russian built in in Tajikistan… hope they did a better job! The tallest in Europe is in Switzerland.

The water goes through a tunnel under a mountain to the underground electricity power plant. This is in Abkhazia … ceded from Georgia in the 1992/3 war so relations aren’t good. Yet the power station supplies 45% of Georgia’s electricity. Apparently it is jointly managed.

*In the tourist film the mountain sides were covered with hoists and pulleys … this is all that remains*

*We could see our parking from it – the grassy area in front of utilitarian blocks of flats*

Only 90 km, but the road into Svaneti was being largely rebuilt, narrow and bendy. I rarely got into 4th gear and never 5th or 6th. It took 4+ hours. And we have to return this way. It followed a river and when I could glance up, it was stunning. I didn’t even have a drink as I darent take a hand off the steering wheel. The road was built in 1934. In one place, a digger resided permanently to remove landslip. It was rebuilt in 2011 and work underway now.

The Svaneti region was isolated and pretty autonomous before the road and Georgian independence. It has its own unwritten language with 4 dialects. Own laws and rules … feuds continued until recently. There are about 275 defensive towers, which protected hamlets. Similar to the Mani in the Peloponnesus. Being so isolated, it has preserved its heritage and traditions.

Snow covered 8 months of the year. We’ve seen glaciers. In 1987 avalanches destroyed many homes and killed 80 people. Russia relocated 2,500 people. Being so isolated, criminals used it as a safe haven. Georgian Special Forces carried out anti criminal operations in 2004 … improving safety. The info I read did not say eliminating them! We will try not to offend anyone!

It is truly stunning. We drove up from Becho as it is less touristy than Mestia. And closer!