'shroomin' in th' Forest, 1, Mestia, September 2010

 Our hosts' son Giorgi knows all the best local mushroom places, amongst many other things, which impresses my wife.  Usually steep mountainsides which get little sun but enough rain.  After a good sprinkle or downpour, off the 3 of us trudge with our bags, to find the silently-emerged treasures.  Alone, I would die of poisoning, but the family also knows how to test, as well as which kinds to avoid altogether.  NB I make no claims about what is edible or not in these and all other mushroom photos - pick at your own risk!

Interesting Facts about Mestia, No. 4

In centuries past, when Georgia was being invaded by: Persians, Turks, Arabs, Huns, Mongols, Greeks, Chechens, Avars, Russians, indeed anyone who was anyone at the time in this part of the world, the monarchy sent the national treasure to the most inaccessible part of the country for safekeeping.

Most of that treasure is still... here, where it was sent, in Svaneti.
Mestia's museum is the best example of this policy, full of amazing things, especially chased silver and gold icons.  Whether you're "religious" or not, the collection is well worth looking at for its sheer splendour.  There's also a set of four mountain goat horns from one animal.

The View from Here, mid-September 2010

 One of the best balcony views I know of is mine (top, & reflected middle).  Bottom - view of the house which is hosting Lali & me, almost completely destroyed by fire 3 years ago, still being rebuilt.  The fellow in the tan coloured trousers is the man of the house, his daughter looking on from the balcony, and Lali's & my room is the pink section.

Interesting Facts about Mestia, No. 3

(This one's common to much of Georgia, but worth including and highlighting.)
Mestia has NO organised garbage collection.
What can't be burned in people's home stoves, or fed to the livestock, is dumped, preferably into the river or simply onto its banks.  I have heard rumours of hefty fines in other, larger Georgian cities for littering.  Fine idea IF you have someone collecting your rubbish and taking it somewhere for you.  A couple of weeks ago I saw a street cleaner manoeuvre his wheelbarrow full of plastic, glass and other trash, and send the whole lot flying off the bridge into the magnificent torrent far below.  The banks are already covered with the stuff, spoiling any views or photographs.  Not his fault!  He has no alternative except to remove it from Svaneti altogether by the bagful, if he even has a car!  So, bring on your littering fine.  But fine yourselves first, government, for not allowing people any other way of handling things.

The "Sighnaghizatsia" of Mestia, mid-Sept. 2010

 "Sighnaghizatsia" is a play on the word "signalizatsia", which means an alarm system in Georgian.  Sighnaghi (have to love those two "gh" consonants) is a magnificent old town in eastern Georgia which recently got the facelift treatment, courtesy of President Saakashvili.  You may like or hate its pretty new pastel colours.  Mestia won't have the same look - here, stone and wood finishes are de rigeur - but the idea is the same, to revitalise the community.  New road all the way down to Zugdid (currently 3 hours away, soon to be 2); new town centre, renovated ski resort, etc.  Lots of noise from 24/7 trucks, and plenty of rock dust, but we hope a great result.  Now, just gotta settle that scandal of many workers not being paid on time or to the amount of their contracts... And make sure the stone cutters all wear masks and ear protectors... And make all construction workers wear hardhats... And about that single-use skating rink which reportedly cost 80k euros for a certain VIP's visit...?  Well, I suppose that no multi-million dollar project like this one is entirely free of its intrigues.  PLEASE make the result worth it!
Middle shot - my host family's hotel is at far right.  When I first visited Mestia 11 summers ago, it was the burnt-out shell of the Police Station, and the family were looking for investors to help them buy and do it up.  Finally, it's open now, and getting its own refinishing by decree.  OFF with that light pink exterior, this ain't Sighnaghi!  ON with the stonework!
Bottom shot - some people prefer old cracked paint as a finish.  I know I do.  But I'm weird that way.

Interesting Facts about Mestia, No. 2

Mestia, pop. c. 2500-3000, has the largest collection of watchtowers of any community in the world.  (Please prove me wrong if you can; I count about 40 from my bedroom window.)

Koruldi Lakes, above Mestia, 12/9/2010

Left of centre in the top shot is Karl, my walking partner for the day, on what looks like crazy-dangerous sand but is actually nice knifelike teaspoon-sized bits of slate.  Their very sharpness makes them slide very little, even at such angles.  But as the way got more and more vertical, and the rock more and more rotten - coming away in my hands, all that sharpness digging into my palms and filling my boots - I decided to stop, no more than 3 or 4 metres from the place from which Ushba would re-emerge (middle shot).  What made me turn back?  2 thoughts:  1) this is getting very risky for my level of experience, and 2) I'm not single anymore.
The bottom shot has our vehicle for the day and Ushba's twin peaks, just to the right of which is the slate hill which defeated me. This time.

Interesting Facts about Mestia, No. 1

This town has given me more Soviet-era coins (various denominations of kopeks and even the odd ruble), picked off the ground, than anywhere else in the former USSR, and I've been around that territory pretty well for the last 18 years.  I can't imagine why HERE.

Koruldi Lakes, above Mestia, 12/9/2010

Described by one recent visitor as "Hardly lakes at all - more like ponds... not worth the trouble".  (And trouble it was - 1.5 hours of very rough roads in an old Soviet-era Vilis 4x4.)  But to a photographer a real gift, natural reflectors of the already magnificent scenery.  This blog's header panoramic photo is from the same lakes, the same day.  Near these lakes, hidden by an interposed hill of slate, Ushba's twin peaks brood hugely.  More soon on my attempt to scale that hill and see the monster up close.

And... Happy Birthday Gill, hope you have a great one, Lali & I are thinking of you massively today!

1st Day of School, Mestia, 15/9/2010

Incoming 1st-grade children dancing at the impromptu opening of School No. 1 in Mestia, where I'm the native English teacher

Views of the school itself and the English classroom, complete with maps of Germany in German and the UK in Russian - at least it gets the warmth of the morning sun

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