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Mestia is in the Svaneti mountain region in northern Georgia,about 20kms from the Russian border. It's a little off the tourist trail but well and truly on the hiker's trail. The taxi we had organised the night before arrived early and we arrived at the bus station to see the Mestia bus beginning to load. The interesting thing about the 18 passengers was that they were all tourists. And the 2nd bus that they called in to cope with the demand was the same. After a couple of hours we reached the mountains. It was a steep, windy and relatively slow drive and we finally arrived in Mestia around 1pm. There was no doubting that this was a tourist/hikers town, which in winter turned into a ski resort. All year round activity. Our accomodation was basically a B&B in the heart of town. Huge room and very nicely finished. Other than hiking the other feature of this area are the Svan towers, which were built for defensive purposes between the 9th and 13th centuries. There are about 175 still standing. After a walk around town and a couple of beers we headed out to dinner. We picked the right place. Rooftop location and a 6 piece Georgian band that pulled a great crowd and provided fantastic entertainment. On a mountain top overlooking Mestia is a cross which has a well hiked trail to it. We had thought about heading up there but then looked at the climb. A 900 metre vertical climb over a 4km trail changed our minds. Instead we opted to go about a third of the way to a lookout which provided a great view over the town and down the valley. The scenery here was amazing. An exceptionally steep valley, a glacier fed river, small villages dotted along the road and numerous snow capped peaks, many of which are 4000 metres or higher. The sort of view that you can sit and gaze at for hours. We did for quite a long time. Another night of drinking Saperavi (a variety of Georgian red wine) and listening to the same band from the night before was a nice way to end our couple of days in the mountains. Tomorrow we start making our way towards Turkey.
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