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AutorenbildAmadeus Huber

Ushguli & the Shkhara Glacier

Much has changed in the years since my last visit. The road up to Ushguli is now mostly tarred, only a few recent landslides covered or destroyed some sections. A few kilometers before the four small villages belonging to Ushguli, sounds of construction and lots of working vehicles crossing.

Chazhashi is the second last village and historical center. It owns more then 200 historical buildings such as Svan towers, churches and residential houses.

📍 Chazhashi, Ushguli

 

The upper village then changed very much. New built houses around the road still in progress, restaurants and even a small shop.

The old part lies pretty untouched still, which is beautiful to look at.

📍Upper village of Ushguli

 

The weather changed from clear sky to heavy clouds on the way up from Mestia, but the temperatures are just perfect with about 17-20 degrees. We're getting seriously hungry, so we're heading up to the Lamaria church to eat Aoife's bread which she baked this morning. It's just phenomenal!

📍Lamaria church, Ushguli

 

The view from up the church is spectacular. It's hard to decide where to look at. The romantic village behind you, soft, overgreen hills with little streams of water at your side and eventually the massive caucasus mountains in front of you.

After lunch, we really wanna see the glacier. I'm thrilled to take the road which we didn't manage last time, althou after just a few meters, it becomes clear, that from now on, it won't be such an impossible mission anymore - a new road also here, not the little path, half covered by the river anymore. None the less, it is a lot of fun and the landscape is highly dramatic!

Ushguli is one of the touristic hotspots of this country, which isn't a surprise. Compared to the still little number of travellers (exept russian tourists), they come to visit the glacier in numbers, since it's easily reachable by shuttle busses and a decent hike. Just like in my memories , most of the visitors are from Israel or China. After leaving our car at the shuttle bus parking (a field next to the river, covered by trees) we start our 1 hour walk up to the land of ice. Immediatly, nature explods in colours and diversity!

The alpin part of Georgia is often compared with Switzerland, which is obvious. There's a lot of similarities but also differences. For example the green trees just next to a glacier or the size and diversity of the flowers!

Again i find it hard to keep my eyes focused. Far sights, the glacier getting more near every step. Those flowers in every shape just in front of you. Or the increasing number of wild dogs following us.

 
 

Just like every glacier i saw more then once in my life, the Shkhara vanished between my visits. It is now laying only further up and the amount of water shooting out the wall of ice is massive.

We still manage to get near, just far enough to be safe of the rocks tumbling down every now and then.


Shkhara Glacier

Some impressions of this bizarre and yet beautiful place.

 

By now, we are temporary owners of about five dogs, and after that hike, a short nap is priority.

Since we're not very much about selfies, we constantly lack of pictures from the two of us together. This time, we took the expense to ask someone to do it for us ;)

On the way back, we decide to drive back to Ushguli and set up camp near the church where we saw a few campers standing together before. We expected it to be a more or less official spot for van travellers, so we thought, it is a good idea to stand compact to not disturbe the locals too much. When we arrived, we were alone and had space enough to choose. We want to stay for two nights, which is why i set up more or less the whole equipment.

Just when i finished, a small pick up truck came driving up. He needed access to the raw planks of wood near our van, for his house, as he said. He didn't seem very happy about our presence. I was sorry and told him, we would leave, but he eventually told us to stay for a night. We didn't feel well with it, so i helped him and his wife to load up some of the planks. When i came to the idea to give him some lashing straps (i carry a whole box of them with me in the van), his facial expressions turned from cloudy into a big smile. I have no idea, how he imagined to drive those huge, oversize planks on his tiny pick up over that rocky field.

Anyway, he told us to stay as long as we want then, gave me a warm hand shake and wished us a good night. It didn't take another houre for him to show up again for another load. He probably said to himself "free help and straps, that's a once in a life chance to finish the job earlier" and went off to load double as much as before. After we finished and secured the big load, we eventually called it a day and said goodbye.

 

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