Ushguli village, Svaneti, Georgia.
This is a look at the village of Ushguli, probably the highest permanently inhabited village in Europe, if Georgia counts as Europe.
2017 - Georgia Hike (Mestia to Ushguli)
This was by far one of the best trips I've ever had! Seven of us escaped the heat in Dubai towards the end of June 2017 to do this promising 4-day hike between the town of Mestia and Ushguli. Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. If you haven't visited the country of Georgia and like to hike, I fully recommend this trip as it offered beautiful landscapes, glaciers and historic villages; this place was timeless!
At the end of each day we were able to find accommodations within the villages with a chance to eat the local foods which was quite welcoming after a long days hike. This hike is very popular and we had the chance to meet many people from various countries also visiting Georgia to do this particular hike. We were like one big family after a while as you started to see the same faces after a while.
I have to take my hat off to my wife as she was over 3 months pregnant during this hike. We had already planned the trip and booked our flights when we then found out she was pregnant. She was a little slower than usual, but she finished the hike like a champ.
Cameras:
Camera: Sony HDR-AX30
Go Pro Hero 4 (for the time-lapses)
Phantom 4 drone by DJI
Journey from Ushguli to Mestia, Georgia
USHGULI, THE MOST REMOTE VILLAGE IN GEORGIA
Ushguli is in the far, mountainous north of Georgia 6 kilometers from the Russian border.
It is nested in the Caucasus Mountains.
There are four villages that make up Ushguli, Svaneti, one of the region’s most remote outposts and Europe’s highest permanent settlement. The road from Mestia to Ushguli is by far the most dangerous in Europe, with steep dropoffs, narrow greasy winding road far above the fast running rivers below. Fraught with avalanches, mudslides and water washouts, this road can be treacherous.
The people of Ushguli are tough and taciturn, speaking an archaic Georgian dialect and practising a version of Orthodox Christianity owing much to earlier beliefs, Svan cultural identity is distinct. Isolated by an annual six-month winter, until the early 2000s Svaneti remained a lawless place; blood feuds and banditry were widespread. Georgians even ridicule Svans as unsophisticated (although, sensibly, they do it quietly).Stymied by its remote location, Ushguli had long endured a terminal decline, as harsh conditions combined with instability to drive depopulation. However, as Georgia has emerged from post-Soviet chaos, security has returned to Georgia, including Svaneti.
In Zhibiani, one of the larger villages, ancient Svan defensive towers overlook the winding lanes and wandering livestock. Substantial stone buildings of two storeys, upper floors fronted by enclosed wooden balconies, lie in varying states of repair.
Marekhi Nijharadze’s, (longstanding local resident) house is in good order though, with Soviet symbols recalled in decorative fretwork. She invites Alex, my Georgian guide and me inside.
“I came here as a midwife,” she laughs. “Life was very different in the 1950s. I was the only medic. I had to extract teeth and even perform small surgeries. There was no money, no transport and the road to Mestia was terrible. It wasn’t what I was expecting but I wanted to help.”
These days Marekhi runs a guesthouse; beds stand wherever there’s space, while an extension to make room for more is clearly underway. In an original bedroom two significant fissures track across the wall – scars from the 1987 avalanche which saw half Zhibiani’s residents pack up and leave.
“Just 50 people remained – everyone was trying to escape,” she says. “Finally, tourism has brought them back.”
Despite its rough and ready nature, for centuries Svaneti proved a safe and remote repository for art and learning, usually under the protection of Orthodox monasteries. On a hill overlooking Zhibiani, against the backdrop of Shkhara’s snowy 5,000m massif, Lammeria monastery remains home of the Bishop of Upper Svaneti.
Past a shepherd dog the size of a pony is the entrance, where a bearded and robed monk appears and rings a peel of three bells. He opens the door to a tiny 10th century chapel and motions us to enter, lighting a candle before we take a seat.
“I was supposed to come for a month,” he says.
Not everyone in Ushguli is so straightforward. Surrealist artist Pridon Nijharadze also lives in Zhibiani, leading a reclusive existence and giving few interviews. He’s rumoured to be an awkward and eccentric character; but Alex knows Pridon’s nephew, who’s willing to make an introduction.
We walk along narrow alleys, past abandoned Russian trucks and silently wandering cows, to a half-stone, half-wooden building. At the top of a flight of steps, a whiskered elderly man eyes our approach – Pridon, as it turns out. “What do you think of the positions held by Stalin and Roosevelt after the Tehran Conference?” he demands by way of introduction. Happy with Alex’s reply, he invites us into his studio, to tell us about his past. “In the 1970s I studied in Tbilisi, but they couldn’t give me anything,” he says. “What I wanted to paint wasn’t allowed.”
“I demonstrated against the Soviets when they banned the Georgian language. They put me in an asylum, took my blood, gave me drugs. I’ve had health problems ever since.”
A group of Aussies descended on Ushguli recently guided by Georgian local Maka Tsertsvadze.
An absolute stunning place.
Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia. Shkhara Glacier.
Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia. Shkhara Glacier.
Video made with Mavic Pro and iPhone 6s.
Watch in 4K quality.
Hiking in Svaneti (Georgia) - Ushguli to Mestia
Every year we, Wald & Don, decide to leave our luxury life behind and camp in the most remote and beautiful area’s we can find. This year fate and google maps had brought us to the amazing Southern Caucasus mountains of Georgia, or to be more precise: the Svaneti National Park. Starting our trip in Tbilisi we immediately got familiar with the weather in Georgia around May. It can be sunny and warm in Tbilisi but cold, rainy and cloudy in the Caucasus mountains. This resulted in the cancellation of our dream flight over the mountains from Tbilisi to Mestia. So no inspection from the plane but instead a long ride by car taking us via the E60 until Zugdidi and up the mountain road to Mestia.
Once in Mestia our trip really started by gathering some information about the conditions in the mountains. Soon we realized that the chances of us completing our 4-5 day hike from Zeskho to Ghebi would be very challenging. It turned out our intelligence gathered from a reliable source in The Netherlands didn’t turn out to be so reliable. The mountains where still covered with snow, even the lower areas. We decided to go to Ushguli and see it with our own eyes with a backup plan ready in case everybody was right. After hitchhiking with a very nice older couple that was telling us beautiful stories about the area, their house, their view on the Russian Georgian conflict, traditional Georgian sausage making etc. etc. we arrived in Ushguli. Unfortunately they were only speaking Georgian and Russian so I can’t share any more details of the conversation.
In Ushguli we stayed at Guesthouse Angelina. In Geogia every house can be turned in to a guesthouse with a friendly smile, but Guesthouse Angelina was had something special: Angelina and family. She provide us with the live recordings used under our footage. Thanks for that and good luck with your singing career! Next to that the accommodation, food and of course the dogs where amazing. They also convinced us to forget about our Zeshko – Ghebi adventure and alternatively choose for the hiking routes that would lead us back to Mestia.
This turned out to be a very good alternative as well. Although we spent less nights out in the woods and more nights in the comfort of a family home, we experienced the real Georgian mountains and the hospitality of the people living there. Snowy days and frozen limps where followed by a burning sun but always with these massive peaks in the background. It was a beautiful trip combining one of the oldest cultures in the world and also one of the oldest landscapes of the world!
Who knows we will be back some day to complete the Zeshko – Ghebi hike... Please let us know if you did it or if you can recommend us any other places we should definitely go to!
Music:
Live recording of miss Angelina & her little brother in Ushguli
Jack Savoretti - HOME
Nice place to stay in Ushguli:
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Visiting USHGULI, the hidden gem of Georgia
It took us only one day to hitchhike from Tbilisi to the region of Svaneti in Georgia so we took advantage of all the free time to visit one of the most remote village of the region;Ushguli. Luckily for us, hitchhiking there turned out to be super easy.We got picked up by a family from Israel who was also going there. We quickly fell in love with the ageless towers and old houses of this village.It felt like a place where time had stood still.The day after, we took a hike in the mountains surrounding the village of Mestia to go visit a huge glacier that brings water to the valley.
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All filmed on a canon 700D and gopro hero
Mestia to Ushguli Trek in Svaneti, Georgia (Caucasus)
This is the 3rd day of the trek where we started in Adishi Village en route to Ushguli. The hike required crossing glacial waters with rapids which went as high as my thigh. Quickly we had to climb up the ridge on a steep slope to be up close with the Adishi glacier seen in this clip. Gorgeous trek in Svaneti region to experience the Caucasus in Georgia.
Upper Svaneti, Georgia
A trip through Georgia's Upper Svaneti, August 2011
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Ushguli - The highest village in Europe [4K] | Georgia
Discover the highest settlement in Europe, Ushguli.
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driving from ushguli to mestia, georgia
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Ushguli - Mestia, Svaneti - Georgia
Part of the way from Ushguli to Mestia in Svaneti, Georgia on the truckload of a police pickup truck
Ushguli, a Medieval Village in Repunlic of Georgia
Visiting Ushguli. a well preserved medieval village, is going back in time.
Music: Days Are Long by Silent Partner, YouTube Audio Library
Ushguli, the most remote and STUNNING village in Georgia
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Following the Flaminia rally in Georgia. Location: Mestia and Ushguli
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Georgia Ushguli Offroad Mercedes 310 D 2WD - Fighting Uphill
Offroad Extreme with our Campervan going uphill from Lentekhi to Ushguli, Georgia, upper Svaneti. Earthucation World Tour 2016
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Trekking from Ushguli to Mestia, Svaneti, Georgia. 2016. Поход из Ушгули в Местию
Октябрь 2016. Ушгули-Ипари–Брод–Адиши–Жабеши–Местия. 53км.
October 2016, Trekking from Ushguli to Mestia (Reversed from default route). Svaneti, Georgia.
Маршрут был самый попсовый — местия-жабеши-адиши-ипрари-ушгули. Но, почему то все идут из Местии и потом в Ушгули нужно искать машину и пытаться забить ее людьми, что бы дешевле. (Машина стоит почти 100$ за 2 часа по подубитой дороге, считаю что они офигели). Так вот, решили заброситься в Ушгули и идти в цивилизацию — Местию. За 5 дней мы оказались такими одни. 98% встречных туристов Израильтяне. 100% из них идёт налегке с ночевками в гестхаусах по дороге. (Хотя встретили двух девочек, у них были палатки и спальники, но не было ковриков, сказали что не смогли заснуть ночью вообще и ночевали дальше в гестах). Мы же шли с полной выкладкой, палатки, еда, газ и все вот это. Честно сказать, даже не могу сказать, было бы лучше идти по гестам или с палатками. Мы остановились на одну ночь в гесьте и в общем я бы не смог столько пить каждую ночь, но это совсем другая история.
Было ли холодно? Задолго до отъезда думал что если днём +20-+24, то ночью в худшем случае будет +10. За пару дней до отъезда все же погуглил погоду в Местии и увидел заветные +3 ночью. Сел на измену и выклянчил у @vyrd тёплый спальник, который хоть как то спасал ситуацию. Все равно каждую ночь пару раз просыпаешься из-за того что замёрз. Одну ночь спали недалёко от ручья и судя по обледеневшей части палатки и замёрзшей траве вокруг, температура опускалась и ниже нуля. В первую ночь у всех отмерзли носы и проступили сопли. Во вторую закидывали тёплые камни с костра в предбанник палатки. В третью спали в теплом гесте после чачи с вином. В четвертую просто на безветренном холме и было норм.
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Ushguli,svaneti
ულამაზესი უშგული
Ushguli Georgia
The historic region of Upper Svaneti in Georgia
Ushguli (Georgian: უშგული) is a community of four villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Recognized as the Upper Svaneti UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Compared to somewhat more developed towns like Mestia, Ushguli has been saved by its particularly inaccessible location, which helped preserve the villages' timeless feel.
Ushguli is located at an altitude of 2,200 metres (7,200 ft) near the foot of Shkhara, one of the highest summits of the Greater Caucasus mountains. About 70 families (about 200 people) live in the area, enough to support a small school. The area is snow-covered for 6 months of the year, and often the road to Mestia is impassable.
Georgia - Ushguli
Georgia - Passing through
FREERIDE AND SKITOURING IN SVANETI with Tetnuldi, Ushguli and Hatsvali near Mestia
A land like a fairytale and one of the best freeriding and skitouring we ever experienced.
Svaneti, which is located in the main ridge of Caucasus, near Ushba and Elbrus, offers a lot of different and interesting terrain for splitboarder, snowboarder in skier. From Mestia, the biggest town in Svaneti, you can travel to the two ski resorts of Svaneti: Hatsvali and Tetnuldi. Especially in Tetnuldi are endless options for great freeriding, we will show you in this video. It is mostly alpine terrain there.
Hatsvali is the perfect spot for treeruns and pillow lines as it is located way lower than Tetnuldi.
From Mestia you can also travel by car to Ushguli within two hours. It is a very old village and the highest in Europe and located within endless possibilities for skitouring. On top of the mountains there, you will see the highest peaks of Georgia like Shkara and even Elbrus in Russia.
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FROM MESTIA TO USHGULI – Trekking in Svaneti | Graded with FilmConvert
Some impressions of our hike from Mestia to Ushguli in Svaneti (Georgia)
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