One of my favorite things about hiking in the mountains around Mestia in the Svaneti region of Georgia was the number of animals I encountered along the way – especially cows! I found these guys enjoying the view high up on Mount Mestia, just before I reached the top.
The high mountainous region of Svaneti in Georgia is the land of the Svans – a culture that has existed in Georgia since the 2nd millennium B.C. and a people who speak a 6th century dialect of Georgian that most others in the country can’t really understand. Defensive towers that date as far back as …
> Mestia is one of those still slightly hidden, hard to reach places in the Republic of Georgia, located high up in the mountains in the region of Svaneti. To get there, I had to take an overnight train from Tbilisi to Zugdidi, followed by a three hour marshrutka (mini-bus) ride up winding mountain roads. …