On the way to Svaneti

A stop on the shores of the Black Sea where the black sand is described as ‘magnetic sand’, driving through Poti, a seaport which has lost its former importance but where Tako’s mum has fond memories of childhood and Tako of childhood holidays, where they still have a home which, in its day must have been magnificent. Having lived here for a few months recently, Tako remembered the honey cake shop and that was our evening snack before setting off for Zugdidi where we would spend the night.

What a find that guesthouse was! On Booking.com it attracted interest because of its Spanish name ‘Casa di Khasia’ and the price was ridiculously reasonable – just 100lari (about £30) for an exceptional suite of rooms and a superb breakfast in lovely style.

We were later to discover that the owner is the founder of a local NGO working with displaced persons, so a double success as this was someone Tako had been hoping to meet though she hadn’t expected it to be on this trip.

We had time to go into the local town, Zugdidi, to pick up a few things and change some money before setting of to find a place which was to be a surprise for me. The same brands on the shelves and the same 2 for 1 deals!!

And then off to the surprise. Initially, I really thought we were on a wild goose chase and Tako was taking me to a dead end on an old cart track but on she went confidently driving down an unmade-up track which seemed just to be going deeper into the valley. Then she pulled the van into the shade of the bushes near the river and said ‘OK, we’re here’.

We had arrived at one of the many places in Georgia that has reminded me of Thailand for on their land Marika and her husband have built a mini historical park showing the development of housing in the area from early times. It’s called Sisatura and is about 11km out of Zugdidi. Old houses in this area were raised above the ground so avoid damp so it really is very reminiscent of Thailand.

There were some interesting pieces of equipment in the nineteenth century house, too. Can you spot the baby walker? The Christmas tree (still used today by many families but must be burned after the season is over)? And what do you imagine the third image here shows? There were different ones for boys and girls!

Not only did Marika and her husband show us around and take delight in ensuring we understood the authenticity of all they had collected, they also fed us like royalty from the ‘shot’ and coffee when we arrived to the full scale meal before we left

By this time it was nearly 4p.m. and we had a fair few miles to go. I had no idea how tricky some of the roads might be , nor of the amazing views that would bombard me from all angles.

First, though, we stopped to visit the Enguri Dam – one of the highest arch dams in the world. The figures about the amount of water and such like were beyond my comprehension, but when we drove along the banks of the reservoir later I got some idea of its capacity.

And the drive began in earnest….

This was just the beginning.

Despite various hazards – cows, missing bits of road, crazy drivers and all the usual concerns on mountain roads – we were on track to arrive at a very special place before the light failed. We managed it – just! To find yet another amazing welcome, more food, a lovely warm fire and a heated bedroom with another gorgeous view of the High Caucasus to wake up to.

So we had arrived at a destination I’d heard a great deal about, to meet people I’d heard a great deal about. We had great difficulty finding the coordinates for our location at one point during the discussion: I think we may even have ended up deciding we had the wrong name for the settlement.

Even though I didn’t understand any of the conversation, it was clear that I was welcome and that they were proud to share their home with us for a night. Currently, the younger woman is dealing with all the housework and the management of their farm herself as the rest of the family are all away for various reasons, the older lady (she’s in her mid-eighties) feels increasingly useless but there are still parts of the cheese-making process she makes sure she does herself as she would demonstrate next morning. A really lazy morning for me lay ahead after an extremely good sleep!