Of Cities and Mountains (Part 2): Shatili, Georgia

On our trip to Shatili (and around Tbilisi) I learned a lot about driving in Georgia. For example:

·         Two lanes equal enough space for three cars;

·         A leapfrogging method is used for passing cars that are backed up, but this does not appear to be very effective because the car you passed will inevitably pass you after two minutes;

·         Honking should also be used as much as possible and at seemingly random moments;

·         Honking means more than “watch out”, such as “get out of my way”, “you are too slow”, “I am going to pass you so do not turn”, “Hey, Friend!”, and so on;

·         Seatbelts are optional, unless you are in the front seat;

·         And cars do not break for pedestrians, but will break for cows.

I found it better to just not watch. This was actually beneficial because I could focus on the beautiful landscape during our journey. Our destination was the village of Shatili on the recommendation of Reed’s friend/driver and his wife. They said “It is a very special and beautiful place, trust us!” And since we trust them, we agreed to go.

The village is located in Upper Khevsureti, one of the mountainous regions of Georgia. While it was only about 75km/50miles away, the drive took about four hours partly because of the slow climb and curving roads of a mountain, but also because of the road itself which was mostly unpaved, narrow, and rather treacherous at times (this made the Road to Hana in Hawaii look easy).

 The first major feature we passed was a giant reservoir for one of the rivers (sorry, no photos -- I was trying to ignore the fact that we were driving right on the edge of a cliff). It reminded me a bit of Scotland because it looks like the hills just rise up out of the water. The area was flooded in the not-too-distant-past covering a small town. Apparently when the water levels are a bit low, the top of the local church begins to appear. Not today though, there was plenty of water and it was beautiful!

"I gotta go, we got cows!"

Most of the journey was a typical mountainous ascent: switch backs, narrow curves, pulling over for other cars to use the road, changes in vegetation. Reed and I observed that unlike the Rocky Mountains, these hills have vegetation growing all the way to the top. There are plants that thrive on every level, which make the mountains really beautiful. There are also a huge variety of beautiful, colorful wildflowers which grow all the way up, as well as wild herbs, and a plant that looks like giant rhubarb.

Shatili

After about four hours of passing through the hills, seeing an occasional house (some of which appeared to be abandoned), and breaking for many cows, we arrived at our destination. Unlike the lower habitations and many of the other regions of Georgia which have traditionally used wood for constructing their homes, Shatili used dry-stone construction with just a bit of mortar in some places. This may not seem very impressive at first glance, but then when you learn this collection of houses date to the 12^th century and have been nearly continuously occupied since…it is incredible. Along the journey we saw many other stand-alone houses built like this. There were also many towers that sort of appeared across the landscape too, which were erected for signaling in case of invading armies (think Lord of the Rings when they light the fires in the towers which are seen by another tower who lights a fire in theirs quickly, and so on).

Stone signaling tower from the nearby area. 

Reed exploring Shatili. 

A cow enjoying the shade inside.

We had some lunch next to the river flowing nearby, walked around for a while, and then made the four hour trip home again. The scenery was lovely, the village incredible. It was a worthwhile trip, just leave the driving up to the Georgians.