Travel to Abkhazia

Something happens to me in August, I have a desire to taste the “forbidden” fruit that has been haunting me all year, ripening to the end, and I can’t help myself. Last year, this desire took me to Lake Keli, and now my heart is already drawn to Abkhazia.

The whole year of studying and fiddling with the map paid off. I chose a place that, in my opinion, would be the safest to visit. Safety is good, but I also wanted the place to be beautiful. I had never seen Abkhazia with my own eyes before and I wanted to experience the feeling of admiration for Abkhazia of the older generation. The route has been drawn up. I am going to Svaneti, to Chuberi, I have to follow the Memuli River gorge and climb to Memuli Lake, the next day I will cross into Abkhazia, visit the lake, which is located on the left side of the Sakeni Gorge, overlooking the peak of Gvandra, and return to Memuli Lake.

Getting from Tbilisi to the last village of the Chuberi Gorge is not so easy, but fortunately for me, “Kuji” was going to visit the Tskhvandiri Lakes and I asked him to accompany me, because we both had the same transport route. Having left on the evening of August 24, by dawn on the 25th we were already at the end of the Chuberi Gorge, as far as it was possible to reach by minibus. The swollen Nenskra had washed away the road and we started walking from the approaches to the village of Tita. I walked with “Kuji” to the Memuli summer farms, where our paths were to diverge. We had lunch together and I set off alone along the Memuli Gorge trail. The group of hikers asked me questions: Where was I going? Why was I going alone? What should I see? Was I not afraid of walking alone? I told him everything I knew and everything I knew for sure, and now I continued walking alone. I would definitely climb Lake Memuli, but I wasn't sure if I would dare and be able to cross into Abkhazia. To my surprise, the trail was quite wide at first. The steep climb and the heat were wearing me down, but I was prepared for such difficulty. I knew from the map that on the first day I would have to climb from 1,100 meters above sea level to 2,750 meters. The trail continued to amaze me.

It was a beautiful walk, except for the climb. The path was so well-maintained that a thousand thoughts ran through my head as to what could have caused it. I soon found the answer, lost in these thoughts. I reached the shepherd's house in a meadow in the middle of the valley. The host met me there and treated me to a delicious soup, the taste of which reminded me of my entire childhood; then he explained to me where the path led, and I continued on my way. Surprised by the existence of the path and happy to meet the shepherd, I was once again filled with a sense of gratitude towards these people. It is thanks to the shepherds that people wandering in the mountains still find well-trodden paths.



I slowly made it through the first day and by the end of the day I came across some young ibex that had almost arrived at Lake Memuli. I have been traveling for years and this was the first time I had come this close to an animal. By the time I got my camera and took a picture, the ibex had “rescued themselves”. I barely managed to take pictures from a distance as the older ibex were checking me to see if I was threatening their young.

The last section was particularly difficult, and I was so tired that I soon fell asleep. Before falling asleep, I glanced at the pass through which I was supposed to cross into Abkhazia.

Having slept well, I took a good look at the surroundings the next day. The lake offered a beautiful view of the Chuberi Gorge and the peaks of Svaneti. The lake itself disappointed me a bit. It looked blue in secular photos, but when I met it, I saw it as it was.

I wasn't too discouraged, my main destination was in Abkhazia, and I started preparing. It became clear in the daylight that I could easily overcome the pass, and, encouraged by this, I decided unequivocally that I wasn't going to retreat because of the difficulty of the terrain.

I took everything out of my bag, leaving only the necessary things and a little food. I had to be light, if I needed to escape, the weight should not have prevented me. I climbed the pass calmly, I was in the territory controlled by us and I felt "relatively" safe. Having climbed the pass, I began to conduct detailed reconnaissance of Abkhazia with my camera. The 300 lens helped me here too, and not a soul was visible until the end of the gorge.

I went down happily, but I still moved carefully, I could always run into a tent/post that was hidden behind a hill or a boulder. I slowly walked down the valley, now I had to turn left and the danger was increasing. I had been moving on the territory of Abkhazia for two hours. The deeper I went, the more nature amazed me. I checked my mobile phone and the app informed me that the last climb was taking me away from the lake. I was already at the end of the climb, I was running like a fox towards the lake, I didn’t want to be met by someone at the lake after having walked such a long way and have to turn back. I walked carefully towards the lake, no one was visible at first glance, I looked around, no one was visible, finally I looked into the valley that overlooks the lake and when I saw no one there either, my joy knew no bounds.

Pampered and calmed by solitude, I gave myself over to enjoying the beauty of the lake. The lake was amazing, blue like the sea and babbling like a stream. I approached it from all sides and enjoyed the view of the lake from all sides.

It's a place where a man could camp for a long time, but I didn't dare to do so much and I didn't have the equipment. Hopefully, I'll soon set up camp and head down the valley with a roar, and I won't have to suppress my emotions and remain silent because of fear. I wouldn't be able to resist this beauty, exhausted by the place and emboldened by loneliness. I was going to leave at 4:00 PM, but at 5:00 PM I could barely force myself to leave.
I had to cross the pass before nightfall. Full of impressions, I set off on the back road. The sun was slowly moving towards the horizon, and the rays of the sun pouring into the valley gave the environment a special beauty. On the way, I look back and say goodbye to the valley, which I will always want to see. I hope to return soon and this time visit this place through the central entrance.