Tusheti to Khevsureti Trek via Atsunta

Your guide and a 4x4 driver pick you up at 7 am. The first part is easy tarmac east through Kakheti to Pshaveli, at the foot of the mountains. From there the road turns to gravel and climbs in tight bends to a high saddle, the Abano Pass (around 2,850 m), and drops into Tusheti. Allow three to four hours for this last 70 km or so, with stops for the views and for your stomach. You arrive in Omalo, the main village of the region, in the late afternoon. If there is light left, walk up to the restored Keselo towers above Upper Omalo. Dinner is at the guesthouse, often with Tushetian guda cheese and khinkali, followed by a briefing on the route.

A gentle first day to loosen the legs. The path leaves Omalo and descends through pine and birch to the Pirikiti Alazani, then follows the river upstream on a farm track with several short climbs. Your bags travel on the horses, which meet you in Dartlo. Dartlo is one of the best preserved villages in Tusheti: towers, stone houses with wooden balconies and an open-air council place where elders once judged disputes. In the afternoon you can climb to the abandoned hamlet of Kvavlo above the village for a view down the valley, or simply rest on the guesthouse terrace.

Today you head deeper into the Pirikiti valley, where the villages grow smaller and the herds larger. You pass Chesho and walk under the towers of Parsma, which cling to a slope above the river. The track crosses side streams that can be fast after rain, and the horses carry anyone who prefers dry feet. By mid-afternoon you reach Girevi, a scatter of houses and a border police post. Your guide registers the group and your passports there. The crew pitches the first camp in a meadow near the village, and the cook serves dinner in the mess tent.

Leave the last houses behind and follow the young river towards its source. The path winds through high pastures where Tush shepherds graze sheep all summer, and you may be offered fresh cheese at a summer hut. The valley narrows and the peaks of the main ridge close in. Camp tonight is in the Kvakhidi area at roughly 2,600 m, the last good level ground before the climb. Use the afternoon to rest, drink plenty of water and sort your layers for tomorrow, because the morning starts cold and early.

This is the big day. Set off by 6 am and climb steadily on grass, then loose scree and, in most summers, a snowfield near the top. The guide sets the pace and the horsemen lead the animals on their own line. From the saddle at about 3,430 m you look back over Tusheti and forward into the deep valleys of Khevsureti. The descent is long and steep, with stony zigzags and a couple of stream crossings where the horses help. Camp is on the Khidotani side, near the checkpoint where the border police look at the permit from Girevi.

An easier day down the Andaki valley, through birch woods and past hay meadows. You pass the near-empty village of Ardoti, where only a few families spend the summer. In the afternoon Mutso appears: a cluster of defensive towers and houses stacked on a rock spur high above the river, partly rebuilt in recent years. Climb up to the ruins with your guide and look at the stone burial houses on the slope below, where by tradition plague victims went to die. The last camp is pitched by the river near the village, and the crew prepares a farewell dinner.

The final walking stage follows the Argun downstream on a dirt road, so it is fast and easy. The horsemen say goodbye here and set off back towards Tusheti. Shatili comes into view at a bend in the river: about sixty stone houses and towers joined into a single fortress, where families once lived through winter sieges. Spend the afternoon exploring its lanes, roofs and passages, and visit the small local museum if it is open. Tonight you sleep in a guesthouse inside or beside the old village, with a hot shower at last.

A 4x4 collects you after breakfast. The road climbs out of the Argun valley to the Datvisjvari Pass at about 2,680 m, then twists down to Barisakho and the Aragvi. Further south it becomes tarmac and joins the Georgian Military Highway near Zhinvali. A stop at Ananuri fortress breaks the journey and you are back in the capital by late afternoon. If you fly the same night, allow a buffer: the Datvisjvari road is unpaved and can close for a few hours after heavy rain.