A Swing Above the Clouds in Mestia, Georgia; Ushguli, Europe’s Highest Village [Lee Hwan-joo’s Self-Funded Travels]

[Financial News] We stayed overnight in Kutaisi at a place called Hotel Memoire, where breakfast was excellent compared with other accommodations that generally served poor food. Georgian cuisine mainly features wheat-based foods such as bread, dairy products like cheese, and some meat dishes, but it falls well short of Korean food. For example, khinkali, a dumpling-like dish that you are bound to try at least once in Georgia, was far worse—even at a well-regarded restaurant—than Korean big-brand frozen dumplings (bibigo) heated in a microwave. After breakfast in Kutaisi, we headed to our next destination, Mestia. It was about 220 km away, and although we set off after breakfast, the drive took around six hours. Our accommodation felt like a hostel run by a grandmother, with photos of travelers from around the world who had visited hanging on the walls.




Although we were still in Georgia, Mestia’s old buildings had a completely different style from the places we had visited before, making it feel as if we had arrived in another country. The stone towers (koshki) dotted around the village made us feel as though we were in a town from a game set in the Middle Ages. Several Svan towers were in fact built here between the 9th and 12th centuries to defend the village against foreign invasions. They are typically square pillars, three to five stories tall (20–25 m), that narrow slightly toward the top. The top floor has openings that serve as windows.
For our first activity in Mestia, we planned to tackle a trekking route to see Chalaadi Glacier, but the August sun was too hot, and we were worn out from the earlier Juta trek and our tight day-to-day schedule, so we decided to give it a miss. Instead, we visited Mount Zuruldi and Hatsvali Resort, which are accessible by car.
After driving to the cable-car station, we first took a ski lift up to the middle of the mountain. As we drove up the winding hillside road, we occasionally saw people trekking with backpacks. Considering the weather and physical demands—and especially the time available to travelers—it seemed like too much for someone on a short trip. After transferring from the lift to the cable car, we easily reached the summit of Mount Zuruldi, at 2,348 m above sea level. Unlike Korea’s picturesque mountains, the vast, towering green mountains wore white cloud caps. There was a café with an outdoor deck at the summit. Some tourists had beer, but we opted for the 1.5-liter bottle of water we had brought with us.






After coming down from Mount Zuruldi, we drove again to nearby Heshkili Viewpoint. We had stopped there spontaneously, without making a plan, but for its scenery alone, it would rank among the top three places in Georgia. It is a famous spot among travelers for getting the perfect photo and unwinding. The “Heavenly Swing,” where tourists line up, sits at the edge of a high mountain ridge 1,900 m above sea level. Swinging your legs while seated can make for a photo that looks as if you are flying into the clouds. As I reclined on the hillside ridge, stretched out my legs and looked down at the green ranges of the Caucasus valleys, I couldn’t help thinking, “This is what travel is all about.” The sky was so clear it looked as though it had been painted blue with pure, untainted color, and my companion rested with their head on my right arm.
We were tired from the long drive that day, so we had kebabs at a nearby Turkish restaurant. The meal was a simple combination of chicken and lamb skewers with white rice, but by Georgian standards, it was a pretty good showing. Instead of wine, we finished a bottle of Georgian beer. After dinner, we took a walk along Mestia’s main road and had shawarma at a place called Gios Doner. Shawarma is the local term for a kebab in which meat is wrapped in thin bread.






On our second day in Mestia, we joined a trek to nearby Ushguli through a local one-day tour program. We had a rented four-wheel-drive vehicle, but the road to Ushguli was rough, so we decided to use a local vehicle instead. It took about two hours to reach Ushguli with around 10 other tourists.
Ushguli lies in the highlands of the northwestern Caucasus Mountains, where you can see year-round snow, and is also famous as Europe’s highest inhabited village. It sits at an elevation of 2,100–2,200 m and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as one of Europe’s highest villages inhabited throughout the year.
The highlight of the Ushguli trek is a glacier hike to Mount Shkhara (5,193 m), Georgia’s highest peak. The route starts in the center of Ushguli village and goes to the point where the enormous glacier tongue begins below Mount Shkhara. The round trip is about 18 km and takes five to six hours on foot.
After looking around the drop-off point in central Ushguli, I realized near the start of the trail that I had lost my wedding ring. I asked a restaurant employee at the drop-off point, and fortunately another employee had it on their finger and returned it to me. Before the trek, I had put the ring on the table while applying sunscreen and then forgot to put it back on. After getting an earful, I kept the ring on for the rest of the trip, even when I showered.
The beginning of the trek was mostly flat and not too difficult. Some travelers started their treks on horseback. After walking for a while, it seemed we wouldn’t have enough time to reach the glacier viewpoint. As we turned back from the halfway point, two men from European countries who looked well over 180 cm tall passed us. I greeted them and asked how they were, then looked at photos of the glacier at the trek’s final destination.






When we returned to our accommodation, it was too early for dinner. We drove to the “Usakhelo Road (viewpoint).” Usakhelo Road is an off-road stretch leading to a viewpoint in Vashlovani National Park, a remote national park. The unpaved road was difficult to drive, with plenty of rocks and dirt tracks. A rickety suspension bridge spanning a fast-flowing, ocher-colored stream in the valley made a strong impression. The route continued past the bridge toward Chalaadi Glacier, but we just took in the nearby scenery and returned to our accommodation.
For dinner, we went to a small restaurant called Vichnashi, which had good reviews on Google. We ordered the cucumber and tomato salad and grilled pork we had eaten on our first day in Georgia, as well as a dish called ostri, which people say tastes like Korean kimchi stew. As the reviews suggested, it was good value for money. The highlight of a trip to Mestia and Ushguli seemed to be the challenging treks, but because of our stamina, we could only get a small taste of trekking. Even without trekking, though, we were able to enjoy Georgia’s magnificent natural scenery and the cityscape that seemed to recreate the Middle Ages.




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