Svaneti

A region reported as troubled by thieves and violence on the roads.

All we really saw was cows. Lots of cows. In the road. Completely unflinching and unflappable. Everywhere.

Round a corner? Cow. Over that crest? Cow. Down that steep hill and onto the bridge? Many cows all just lying there. Just inside that extremely dark tunnel coming out of sunlight so you can't see for a second? You got it. Cows. Staring you down. Daring you to hit them and make an almighty mess. Fearless. Stupid.

Anyway, the landscape was gorgeous, under 3000+m mountains, with waterfalls every 5 klicks or so, and hillsides completely thick with evergreens.

Our friend Will joined us in Batumi, flying in from Istanbul. He has been with us the last three or four days, and has now departed to go off to Karabakh to explore a ghost town, evacuated by the Azerbaijani government 15 years ago to forestall it being a staging point for invasion by Armenian forces, and never since repopulated.



Canon EOS 40D, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM.