Mountain Adventures: Tusheti

Hey all! I have been kind of busy with a million things, so I'll try to catch up with what I've been doing since GLOW camp this summer.

After GLOW camp I gained two new site mates in Sagarejo. I'm no longer by myself! Angelina works at our local youth house with the teenage leader group and Catherine works as an English teacher at one of the other schools in Sagarejo. Kinda crazy to think that I'm the senior volunteer now. They are still growing accustom to living in Georgia and I can all too well understand their frustrations with the culture at times. It's nice to have someone nearby who gets your quirky American tendencies  and won't judge you for it.  I'm excited about the coming year and what we can achieve together here in Sagarejo.

Speaking of achieving, I finally visited Tusheti, an awe-inspiring part of the Georgian landscape and one of the country's  most picturesque places to see. Tusheti is located on the northern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountains and is known for its picturesque views, and for its isolation. The single road into the Tusheti region is very dangerous and is only passable four months out of the year. Tusheti's road is so dangerous in fact, that it can only be navigated by a skilled local driver and his four wheel drive jeep. Sounds exciting, right? I tried to put my parents at ease by sending them the Tusheti: World's Most Dangerous Road episode. Not sure if it worked or not but I figured if Hugh Bonneville from the TV show Downton Abbey could do it then so could I.

Tusheti was breathtaking and indescribable to say the least. Guided with two drivers, eleven of us set out on our adventure into the mountains.  In order to safely traverse this perilous road, we decided to give our car the name Brunhilda, Manned by our fearless driver Lado, we slowly spent a good portion of the day driving up into the Tusheti Park Region. The views on the way were amazing while the roadside drops were lethal. We set up camp that night in the outskirts of Omalo, a small town on the other side of the mountain pass. Over the next few days we hiked to a number of the local villages and castle ruins that litter the countryside. We felt so small compared to the mountains around us. During the day we enjoyed homemade khinkali, wine and khachapuri and then at night we feasted on our camp site concoctions. My description of this place simply will not do it justice so I've just decided to show you its splendor through pictures.

Enjoying Homemade Khachapuri

Just sitting on top of the world

 

Fun Car times