Imereti tours off the beaten track

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Imereti is the quintessential West Georgian province, with a name that literally means “the land on that side” – it’s the first place you see when you cross the low mountains of the Rikoti Pass coming from Tbilisi. It’s a land of attitude, goofy humor, and indulgent gastronomy, and its broad and diverse landscape encompasses everything you could imagine – dense forests, swift rivers, stark canyons, fertile plains, and spectacular mountain panoramas. Imereti’s capital, Kutaisi, is a proud and ancient town which calls itself the second city of Georgia (although rampant overdevelopment in the seacoast city of Batumi has caused it to be overtaken at least in official statistics). Regardless of titles, Kutaisi boasts the best-preserved and most coherent architecture of any Georgian city, the most interesting natural setting, and the cheapest airport, making it a very attractive place to use as a base for traveling around West Georgia.

Imereti is a very large province. Its north, around Tskaltubo and Tkibuli, is mottled and karstic, full of caves, underground rivers, and other kinds of geological surprises that can be (carefully) explored by amateurs with only minimal equipment. Tskhrajvari, the Nine Cross Mountain, towers over the dense forests, and the mystical Rioni valley closes in on itself to approach the holy mountain of Khvamli. In the east, the limestone landscape continues through a windy plateau around Chiatura and Sachkhere; here, serene and scenic villages renowned for the best bean soup recipes in Georgia contrast with steep, forested canyons, and more tragically with the lifeless scars and spoils of manganese mines which now compete with the famously crumbling Soviet architecture for aesthetic destitution. To the south, the dreamy, lush, rolling hills around Vani and Baghdati, replete with vineyards of endemic grapes and warm mineral springs, give way to one of the most spectacular ridges of the Lesser Caucasus, a true navel of the world where a clear day will show, in every kilometer, perhaps the finest panoramas to be found in all of Georgia. And in the west, the flat Colchian plain, once a vast field of oaks and now full of industrious farmers, carries the mighty Rioni River to the sea.

It sounds like a lot. It is a lot. I haven’t even mentioned half of it. Imereti is, just by itself, one of those parts of Georgia that’s impossible to take in all at once. It rewards the dedicated, those who don’t stick to the day trips from Tbilisi or the top ten recommendations of the guidebook. It satisfies the decadent, those who love the fine flavors of a well-spiced bean soup, heavy cheese pastries fresh from Grandma’s oven, salads of young wild thorns, sauces of wild foraged blackberries, and richly fermented local black tea. It entices the adventurous, those who turn off the beaten track to explore Tsutskhvati’s natural caverns or the waterfalls of Khani’s near-deserted valley. Imereti is not just a place; it is a spirit waiting to welcome you home.

Feel free to get in touch if you would be interested in fully customized Imereti tours with me!

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