Svaneti is probably the most famous region in Georgia: whenever you ask someone here what to visit, they will definetly include it in the list; they would also add that it is the most beautiful and dangerous place in the country. Knowing this, the wish to visit the region has always been high and finally we managed to do it. The trip, however, seemed hard since the beginning: getting a plane is terribly hard – or at least, so it seems by calling people – and going from Tbilisi would be too expensive and tiring by hiring a car. With a mess in our heads, and with a lot of people warning us about the danger on Svaneti mountains, we finally found out what the best solution was: just taking a normal Marshrutka to Zugdidi, spend a night there and take another Marshrutka to the Svaneti capital Mestia. No need to get a 350 € tour, no need to rent a car, no need of anything: simple public transport would have allowed us to go in this mysterious place.
So we are three, me, Mzia and Zhana, ready to go: the good thing is that there are relatives in Zugdidi, the capital of Samegrelo region and the town where the Marshrutka to Mestia goes from; the even more good thing is that, despite it was late night when we arrived there, a traditional georgian-gaumarjos table was ready to welcome us in the region I like to define the Sicily of Georgia; the bad thing is that, as would happen in Sicily, the food is much, very very much; the worst thing, anyway, is the climate in Zugdidi: hot, hot and more hot, with an humidity probably higher than 100%. My sleep was anyway quite good thanks to the fan that they kindly gave me – as the guest – to refresh a little bit the room. In the morning is time to take the Marshrutka, which should take just 3.5 hours to get to destination.
Along the road I got a bit disappointed: there’s an huge reservoir in Samegrelo, a sort of big lake surrounded by mountains, but after that the panorama is not as good as I expected. It is indeed wonderful, but after my visit to Shatili last year I cannot say that is the best I’ve seen so far. Perfectly on time, about 5 hours later we finally arrive at our destination: Mestia, the capital of Svaneti. It looks like the guesthouse we booked is not in the center, but in the end of Mestia – which sounds like the end of the World: when the Marshrutka stopped in the center we felt like we jumped back in time, 50 years ago without any De Lorean at 88 mph. It was simply awful: I really can’t find any other word to describe the town – or village.
