A weekend trip from Kutaisi to East Georgia

East Georgia was and still stays unpaved place for me, mountain chains, beautiful lakes, and locals life culture of Adjara and Samtske-Javakheti is still less know even for most Georgians, this area is indeed a hidden gem of the country, less known for public and I kind of keeping it as a sweet cake after a good dinner

There are many interesting places in this region and if you want to shoot them all at once you have to consider at least a week (10 day is better) to visit them.

You have 3 access sites in this region from the Georgia (one from the Turkey by crossing Vale) they are from Samtskhe-javakheti, Adjara and Imereti, roads in this region are from bad to no roads (most probably this is the reason why this side of the country is still less know). this means you need a car with high ground clearance too visit all popular places, but with good 4*4 car you can add some extra places to your checklist

For our journey we had only 2 days and our planned trip was like this: Kutaisi > Sairme > Zekari pass > Gorderdzi > Beshumi > Zarzma > Rabat > Green monastery and then back in Kutaisi through Borjomi, Surami via E60 road

The first step in our checklist was Sairme. This famous resort is literally lost in the mountains, It is the biggest resort in Europe and South Caucasus. The green cover consists of 60 hectares, and it is the only resort where four different eutherapeutic and one thermo spring are coming out, and is possible to cure many diseases.

Zekari pass is one of my favorite places, first I visited this place back in 2003 and afterward I was visiting it many many times, by car, by bike and by foot. Untouched nature, green mountains, and hills hidden in white clouds are leaving unforgettable memories

Lodidziri – is small and magnificent village before the Goderdzi,

Beshumi – true reason for our trip is a resort located in Khulo region, 2000 meters above sea level, 120 km from Batumi which takes about 3 hours to reach. The coniferous forest making Beshumian an excellent resort for those who suffer from chronic respiratory diseases and/or bronchial asthma. The resort is open from mid-June until early September. There are many cottages and summer houses available for rent, prices start from 10 lari based on the configuration of the cottage, breakfast, cold and hot water.

Infrastructure is not very well organized, there is no central sewerage system, no water and natural gas