I had the enormous privilege of spending two winters in Ushguli, Georgia and Europe’s highest village at about 2200m, starting in 2007. It went like this: I was still single, and had traveled there several times prior with my Svan blood brother and Georgia-door-opener, Nodar Aprasidze. Then my new friend Peter Nasmyth, who first visited Georgia way back in 1988 and has done many spectacular things here, said to me, “Tony, just DO IT.” So I did.
I asked my host family, Dato Ratiani and Nanuli Chelidze-Ratiani, about spending a winter with them in the village. They said, “Sure, come on up!” I asked them to give me something useful to do as I’ll have free time 24/7. After some thought, they got back to me: “Tony, we get a lot of tourists to the village because of its uniqueness. But no one here speaks any English. Why don’t you teach it to our whole current population of schoolchildren, for a start?” (51 of them from grades 1-12.) I said OK, and we made it work, an hour a day after school and also on Saturdays. Although I have no formal education past high school, at least English is my native language. So I became an unknowing precursor of TLG, Teach and Learn with Georgia, then-president Mikheil Saakashvili’s program to bring English teachers everywhere in Georgia.
I spent very little time preparing lessons, as we were starting from zero and I’m not the best planner. But we stuck it out for two amazing winters (when the children have no farming or tourism activities to occupy them) and eventually, after TLG formally got under way and gained the attention of the Ministry of Science and Education, Ushguli also started incorporating English properly into its curriculum.
The other 23/7? I had all the time in the world to walk around, take photos (1st winter on 35mm film, 2nd having switched to digital), meet people, and get to know how the folk of Ushguli made it through their long, deeply snowbound winters. They’re ready, let me tell you. Avalanches, rockfalls, cut off for months at a time as we were? Pffft.
I had already ascended to Queen Tamar’s Summer Fortress on numerous occasions by the time I moved to Ushguli. It’s so named because, high above the village, it’s supposed to be accessible only in summer, as opposed to her Winter Fortress, far below it. But I took that name as a challenge. Eventually I did go up it in full winter too, having checked with my host family for avalanche risk. Going up was through nearly waist-deep snow, but so worth it for the views. Descending was, due to the steepness, a series of a few 3-4m strides/slides, 10 times faster.
The Fortress gives, on good-weather days, views not only of upper Ushguli spread out down there, but also of Mts Lamaria to the right and Shkhara, Georgia’s highest mountain and source of the Enguri River, at center. If Shkhara isn’t visible due to cloud, I consider the 45-minute trudge up hardly worth it, and often have had the luxury of waiting for better conditions. Take note! A day trip to Ushguli is not enough for this magnificent little place, it deserves more!
On my last trip to Ushguli, a few weeks ago, Dato also told me that there are firm plans to renovate the Fortress, which sorely needs it. Of its two main towers, one is complete, the other has less than half remaining. It’s a daunting task, given the location, cost, and needs for workers and materials. But one I cheer for. Just DO IT!
BLOG by Tony Hanmer
Tony Hanmer has lived in Georgia since 1999, in Svaneti since 2007, and been a weekly writer and photographer for GT since early 2011. He runs the “Svaneti Renaissance” Facebook group, now with over 2000 members, at www.facebook.com/groups/SvanetiRenaissance/
He and his wife also run their own guest house in Etseri: www.facebook.com/hanmer.house.svaneti
