“The Long and Winding Road” (Simon & Garfunkel)

Having finally liberated Penelope, we continued the 25km up to Mestia – to give you an idea of the road, it took us about 1 ½ hours! The scenery was absolutely amazing, although the heavy low cloud was making seeing it a little difficult… The crew took pity on us and decided that we should stay in a guesthouse for the two nights we were in Mestia rather than camping (I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that Pete’s swag was completely waterlogged!). So we had beds (albeit with the Georgian version of mattresses – it was a bit like sleeping in a semi-soft bowl), and hot showers and, as it turned out, enough food to feed a small, but hungry, army several times a day. One thing our stay in Mestia reinforced about Georgia is that they are a faultlessly generous people, and that none of us could live there or we would be the size of a house! Breakfast consisted of a feast of fried eggs, fried potatoes, noodles, cake, pastries, tomato and cucumber salad and countless cups of tea and coffee. Lunch and dinner were both similarly feast-like! And then there was the wine – home brew, sold in 2 litre bottles, a little bit of an acquired taste, but I persevered and got there in the end! The weather meant that our first day which was to be hiking was instead a quiet wander round town, and up a siege tower. Families used to build siege towers into which they would retreat when the village was invaded or when they fell out with their neighbours. We saw a traditional old style house, where the animals slept on the ground floor, and the people above. Must have been a very fragrant experience. The contrast between museums in Georgia and those in the UK or western Europe could not be more significant – there was a distinct lack of ropes, “do not touch” or “no flash photography” signs, and health and safety appears to be virtually non-existent when it comes to ladders and staircases, other than to warn us that 10 people should not get on one wooden staircase at the same time. Given the way it squeaked and rocked when just one of us was on it, I think that was valuable advice indeed. We also went to a museum where the guide described virtually everything as “very unique” and “very interesting” – very true of the book that they have on display that dates from AD897. By some small miracle the next day dawned with some sunshine. Most of the group headed off to get into the “jeeps” (a slightly glamorous title for the equivalent of a very basic, very old, very Russian, but very strong VW campervan) to head up a “road” (again, a glamorous title for what amounted to a dirt track, complete with waterfalls, glaciers and rock slips that we had to cross) to the highest populated village in Europe (depending on whether you consider Georgia to be part of Europe which, for the sake of this fact, I do). It was about a 2 and a half hour drive and was an amazing experience not just for the scenery, but also for the fact that the jeeps are able to navigate the road. What was also amazing was that at the village there were pigs (and piglets – cute!) and cows wandering around all the houses, most of which sported rather large satellite dishes. I guess with 7 months of snow a year they have to find something to entertain themselves! We had lunch at a nice lady’s house and for the massive sum of 1.5 Laris (approximately 60p, or A$1.20), we had a feast which was topped off with the most amazing sponge cake and sour cherry jam. After lunch we wandered towards the second highest mountain in Georgia, and watched as two mad Englishmen (yes, they were part of our party) had a snowball fight, one of whom was wearing shorts! The journey back down the mountain was made less stressful by the fact that we were able to get out of the van before going across the rock slip section (video hopefully attached). Our stay in Mestia was lovely, and the hospitality we received was amazing. The police were worried about the security of the truck outside the guesthouse, so they insisted that it be parked in their compound so that they could keep an eye on it. The guesthouse owners plied us with unbelievable quantities of food and drink, and everyone was very friendly. Apparently there are big plans to develop Mestia, including putting in a ski lift and clearing some ski runs – hopefully the spirit of the town remains.