Lechkhumi tours – Off the beaten track

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Lechkhumi is the smallest of the Georgian regions – so small, in fact, that many Georgians don’t even know about it, or forget somehow that it is is a region. Lechkhumians fume when people mistake their region for being a part of Racha, Svaneti, Imereti, or even Samegrelo; proudly they proclaim that they are none of the above, that they are from Lechkhumi, whose name deserves to ring as loudly as that of each of its more famous neighbors. I don’t disagree; from my very first visit here, I sensed very deeply that Lechkhumi was a particularly special place. Over time, it has become my heart in Georgia – the place I came back to the most often became the place where I bought a piece of land and started building a house. Your financial support, by taking tours with me, helps build that house, and if you will come back after some years, you will have the opportunity to be my guest.

Lechkhumi consists of three river valleys, one town, and a few dozen villages. It is full of mists, cliffs, fruit trees, grapevines, and chestnut forests. Mountains ring it round, enclosing it from all sides. In its very center rises Khvamli, the holy mountain, the massive limestone cliff that can be seen from half of western Georgia. In the legends they say that Amiran, the Georgian Prometheus, was chained to that cliff in the days of ancient heroes, and that Queen Tamar’s treasures were hidden in a cave here after her death. Those who visit Khvamli may find astonishing truths in place of legends – caves have indeed been discovered here, full of millennia-old pottery and carved with ancient astrological symbols. Because of the prominence of its peak, the view from the top of Khvamli is one of the finest in all of Georgia, despite its relatively low elevation; a clear morning will offer a view of the Black Sea on one side and Mounts Elbrus and Shkhara on the other.

These days Khvamli is easily reached by a car road, but there are three other mountainous areas in Lechkhumi that are a delight for hikers. The Askhi Massif, topped with a vast and dreamy plateau full of industrious cheesemakers, dominates the sky in the direction of Samegrelo. Towards Svaneti, the steep and forbidding Lechkhumi Ridge offers great adventure and stunning panoramas for those who dare to follow its narrow and sometimes nonexistent trails. The jewel of Lechkhumi is Akhalchala, a name all locals pronounce with reverence and longing. Akhalchala is a day’s journey up, either by foot or a good jeep; it is a large meadow running with streams, surrounded by a horseshoe of Lechkhumi’s highest peaks, where a collection of wooden cottages have been built. It’s rustic accommodation, and chilly at night even in summer, but it is a paradise for free spirits, full of pure air, clear water, strong smelling evergreens, and majestic maples. I personally don’t think there is anywhere else, not in Georgia and perhaps the whole world, which is so magnificent.

Lechkhumi also happens to be the finest wine region in all of Georgia for semi-sweet wines. The microclimate nourished by the walls of mountains hosts a few endemic grape varieties that are grown nowhere else; Usakhelouri, a semi-sweet red wine produced only in the village of Okureshi, is the rarest and most valuable wine of Georgia, and Tvishi, a PDO of the Tsolikouri grape, is one of Georgia’s most renowned white wines and its only naturally semi-sweet white wine. Other Tsolikouris from Lechkhumi dance with light fizziness, and the Ojaleshi from the areas around Orbeli and Tsageri is deep and flavorful. Lechkhumi’s vineyards are small, and its villagers, lacking resources, frequently just sell their grapes to large wine companies who proceed to ruin them; however, there are increasingly more and more local wine cellars producing outstanding vintages. But even a humble Lechkhumian village family, just producing for themselves without any commercial pretenses, invariably drinks wine far superior to nearly anything you can find in a fancy Tbilisi boutique, and such kinds of homely visits are typically the best possible way to experience what Lechkhumi has to offer.

Lechkhumi’s rivers, the Rioni and Tskhenistskali, carve deep and mystical canyons through the hills, full of pomegranate trees and beneficial herbs. The villages mostly cling to the hillsides, far above, while in places a small floodplain opens up, such at the main town of Tsageri. Besides all this, Lechkhumi contains lovely, simple medieval chapels, sparkling waterfalls down mossy cliffs, astonishing rock formations, easy panoramic trails through the rustic hill villages, dramatic ruined fortresses, wild streams running with trout, four endemic varieties of wheat, and holy linden trees that have stood for as long as a thousand years. And that’s not even all of its secrets. Come visit. Lechkhumians are equal parts hospitable and proud folk. They know they live in paradise and they are always thrilled to welcome a visitor to it.

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

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