The Great Caucasus

 Apart from the usual blisters and getting lost, today’s hike offered few droll signs (normally doing my  humor work  for me) and just your ordinary spectacular scenery.  So (mercifully for the reader) I will let the pictures speak for themselves for once- 

Hiking in the Caucasus requires a certain style shall we say   Red bootlaces are almost de rigeur-

I always try to fit in. I think a lot of people took me for a local. The Svaneti region of Georgia is famous for its medieval stine towers which you see in all of the villages  it is kind of like they could not afford real castles so they settled in these poor man versions-

Stayed in a very nice Inn last night in a village in the Caucasus. It was basic but super clean and comfortable. Had beer and then dinner with 2 young (late 20s) Danish guys who were way fun- very intelligent and quite well informed about US politics.  One of the things i love about this kind of travel.

  But then  I got the bill for my stay in the Zhabeshi guesthouse this morning and was aghast at the price gouging -

Room ($18), dinner ($11), breakfast ($6), 2 beers and bottled water- $4 for grand total of about $39  Yeah there was a lot of food but I left in disgust at the ridiculous prices  wish I hadn’t had that 2nd beer 

Mestia

 All it took was a mere 8+ hour drive over some of the worst roads this side of Bolivia or the Silk Road in Georgia s cheapest rental car to get here but I made it more or less one piece.  Haven’t seen that many cattle in the road since I was in South Africa. It was like Georgia meets Texas  (ok a bit of a pun). 

Situated in the far northwest of the country hard up against the highest mountains in Europe and in the Caucasus, Mestia is kind of a cool town. Sort of a (very) poor  man’s Chamomix or Aspen or maybe Bariloche without the lake. Clearly a hiking Mecca as everyone has the gear except for the restaurant waiters.  Not sure what’s up with them.  

As a little compensation for the endless bumps, potholes, landslides and super aggressive Georgia drivers, the scenery  particularly towards the end of the drive, had its rewards -

The Svaneti region is famous for these small medieval towers which dot the hillside here-(more about them later)

My Guest house looked pretty rustic but was actually quite nice inside.   however I have discovered that Georgians generally don’t believe in sheets at least top ones

I had the Svaneti national dish for dinner which seemed like pizza without the cheese or tomato sauce-

A dream come true for my cheese hating friend Craze Adams but a little too spicy for my taste  

4 days of trekking ahead  

Georgia On My Mind

 With the connections and late flights, it took most of my vacation to get Tbilisi. I leave tomorrow to ensure I get back by August. 

Tbilisi is an interesting city  it seems a curious mix of the Middle East, Europe, Russia and Georgia (whatever that is)    Having been invaded multiple times including 3x in the last 30 years, they don’t seem to like Russia very much however-

On the plus side, English seems widely spoken here  Graffiti is also popular tho not always family friendly  

Their architecture is quite varied but my city tour guide said that balconies are very important here and nearly every house has one-

Ancient Eastern Orthodox churches abound with some as old as the 5th century -

I did find one ancient restaurant which stretches back into the mists of recorded time-

You have to give them credit for knowing how to fit in  

There’s also one mosque here as apparently the Soviets were not especially fond of religious houses in

All my life I have searched for the very best pizza and I have discovered you just need to fly 6000 miles to get it.  How do I know?  Well all you need is to read-

And this morning, well, I was a bit jet lagged and so was looking for a good sized cup of coffee.  How big exactly?

After that, I appreciated this, tho it isn’t really my style while traveling (or perhaps most of the time)-

I am not sure my emotions have inspired anyone to much beyond annoyance  

Still, Tbilisi is a fascinating, clean, safe feeling and pretty city that once sat on a spur of the Silk Road even tho flavor was apparently only discovered in 1979

A Rainy Sail; End to this South America Chapter

 My last day in Rio and South America ended with a somewhat rainy boat tour around Rio’s harbor and a fog bound Christ the Redeemer visit. On my walk to take the train (2nd time, hoping for clearer views) up to Christ the Redeemer, I past by this pretty view of Sugarloaf Mtn and some of the harbor-

The weather for the boat tour started well enough, but it clouded and then rained some-

And apart from a stress filled taxi ride to the airport where most of the city’s 13 million residents seemed to headed that evening (with a good half dozen vehicles broken down at strategic spots just to make it interesting), that was it for my latest South American adventure.  It encompassed some beautiful, stunning and unique sights, from Northern Patagonia-

To the vineyards and high Andes of Mendoza-

To the Salta region of Northwestern Argentina

To the high road (4200 meters) over the Andes between Argentina and Chile-

To unique San Pedro de Atacama in Northern Chile-

To even more extraordinary Easter Island

And it was on Rapa Nui where I finally found a place that gave me a halo

And finally to what I think is probably the most magnificent natural setting of any city in the world, endlessly colorful Rio-

I also met and enjoyed the company of many people from around the world who were also touring, including, beyond the natives, people from the US, Canada, Britain, France, Ecuador, Columbia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Poland, Netherlands, South Korea, Italy and Slovakia (and maybe one or two others I have forgotten).  The people always add to making the journey special and memorable and it is so heartening to find people everywhere who are willing to go out of their way to help you, particularly natives.      

As some have requested, here are the final results of my uber scientific 'man on the street poll' of people’s view of Javier Mellei, the new Argentina President dedicated to free market principles:

    Young people in Argentina seemed to favor him heavily, particularly young men

    Many said they felt they had to take a chance on a significant change after so many decades of decline, though they didn't trust any politicians or have much faith in them 

    Older people seemed less inclined toward him and were more worried/scared of the change he is bringing

    Women, particularly older women (but some young ones too), did not seem to like him

And a single American women I met who was engaged in post graduate studies blamed him for the poor Argentina economic performance of the past 80 years, notwithstanding the fact he had only been in office a couple of months.    

Thanks for reading.