After completing a big round trip through Upper Svaneti at a relatively fast pace, we are longing for some peace and quiet and head back to Mzia’s campsite. We relax for six whole nights with our wonderful host, wash what feels like all our laundry, including the bed linen, and carry out a few minor repairs on the camper. The time has now come for us to think seriously about our future travel plans. We know that after Georgia and Armenia, we have to decide where to go next. I share our thoughts on this in the following blog entry.
After a week of relaxation, we turn east and drive into the sparsely populated, mountainous region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, where we camp for a few days in temperatures above 30 °C by a cold mountain stream, go on short hikes in the mountains (as far as high temperatures permit it), and let the quiet mountains work their magic on us.
After about a week up here, we head south over the Khikhata Pass to the peculiar town of Chiatura. During the Soviet era, the town became an important center for manganese mining and quickly developed into an industrial stronghold. From the 1950s to the 1980s, socialist urban planning, cable car systems for transporting workers, and an economy geared toward mining shaped the townscape and everyday life. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Chiatura experienced massive economic and demographic decline. The withdrawal of the state, the deterioration of infrastructure, and the lack of diversification led to unemployment, migration, and profound social change. Traces of this era are still visible today: the iconic cable cars, many of which have been decommissioned or replaced, but some of which have been refurbished and turned into tourist attractions, and the remaining industrial facilities bear witness to the city’s former importance, while the laborious transformation process is shaping Chiatura’s role in post-industrial Georgia. A truly exciting and unusual city!