“A highland townlet “.
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Where is Mestia?
Mestia is regarded as a highland townlet, nestled high in the Caucasus Mountains in northwest Georgia.
Despite its small size, the townlet was an important centre of Georgian culture for centuries. Containing a number of medieval monuments, such as churches and forts. It is also a tourism centre for mountaineering and hiking.
Getting there
Our journey from Batumi to Mestia was by minibus. Pasting through some amazing landscape with turquoise lakes.
Our accommodation
During our time in Mestia, we chose to stay at the Guesthouse Mountain View. A basic clean room, with a private bathroom and a shared lounge area.
Places of interest
It was always our intention to go from Mestia, further into the mountains to Ushguli. Having arrived quite late, after an exhausting journey. A hot shower and food was the only thing on our minds.
We wanted to eat at Cafe Laila it had very good reviews. On arrival they had live music and were full, so we had to find an alternative. We ended up eating at the Old House Cafe. Something that Guy would later regret.
The following morning Guy was feeling terrible. Having had an upset stomach most of the night, he was feeling bad. The weather had turned as well. Gone were the previous weeks’ nice sunny days. It was now cold, wet and miserable.
Despite all of that, we were going to push on. Going into town, we enquired about transport to Ushguli. Because it is further up in the mountains, it’s only accessible by 4×4. The drivers wanted 200 GEL per vehicle. A vehicle being able to seat 6, that still worked out at 66 GEL round trip for both of us.
Everywhere was shrouded in rain clouds, Guy was feeling ill, the temperature was expected to be around -4 degrees, it was time for a coffee and a think. Soon it became apparent, from overhearing other experienced hikers. That it was really not the weather to be going up to Ushguli, so we decided not to go.
With there being nothing else to do in Mestia. We made the decision to move on to our next destination, Borjomi.