USHGULI
The road to Ushguli is more of a dirt track that clings desperately to a mountainside. The glacier-fed Enguri River thunders down a deep gorge, frothing and seething. Waterfalls snake down steep gradients in silvery trails. Conifer trees stand firm and straight, occasionally allowing the crisp mountain breeze to flirt with its leaves. Snow-capped mountains do what they have been doing since time immemorial - watch benignly over this mysterious region known as Svaneti in northwestern Georgia. The essence of which has been preserved in Ushguli, Europe’s highest inhabited village. Koshkis or defensive stone towers from the medieval ages dot the village. Stoic reminders of times when invasions and blood feuds were common. Almost 20 to 25 metres tall, these towers typically have four or five storeys that are connected to each other by narrow staircases. Towers that act as a dramatic pause in a hauntingly beautiful landscape.
The road to Ushguli isn’t really a road. It is a gateway to a fabled land.
