#hatsvali

[travel-the-world-now-45]

Hatsvali ski resort

[travel-the-world-now-45]

[gunsn8-blog]

[nataliewritesthings-blog]

❄❤️❄❤️❄❤️#winterwonderland #fairytaleplace #winterforest #afterthesnowfall #magicalforest #mestia #hatsvali #georgia #winter2018 #beautiful (at Tetnuldi & Hatsvali Ski Resorts)

[dkorobtsov]

#Hatsvali sky-lift in #Gudauri ski resort, #Svaneti. Nothing to do around at the moment but views are just fantastic. Ride on the sky-lift is probably a best way to enjoy autumn colors, little bit freezing though. #GeorgiaTravelMoments (at Gudauri Ski Resort)

[thegeorgianhost]

[thegeorgianhost]

Heaven on the Earth

[chunhsiangtseng]

Hatsvali, Svaneti, Georgia (‪ჰაცვალი)

Day 5

We wanted to take it easy on our first day in Mestia because we were exhausted from our 9-hour train ride and our 4-hour marshrutka ride. We still wanted to do a little bit of hiking since we were already at this beautiful, beautiful region. WE WERE IN THE CAUCASUS… How cool is that!! We went to the tourist center to ask for info - workers at the Mestia Tourist Center were very rude. We were in shock because all the other tourist centers we’ve been to, the workers had all been extremely helpful and friendly. Anyway… they recommended us to hike to Hatsvali - apparently, it’s a 2-hour hike there and back, or so we thought. Ps. In Mestia, the tourist center does not provide maps. If you want a map, you have to buy it at the souvenir shops.

My partner and I are both not hikers. In fact, we don’t hike at all. We quickly found out that Hatsvali was actually 8 kilometers away from Mestia - much longer than we expected. We did walk up the road for cars though. If I am not mistaken, there is a hiking trail to Hatsvali (I could be wrong because we never actually found the trail). It ended up taking us 2 hours to hike one way. Luckily, the gorgeous, stunning view made this hike very rewarding.

Once we got to Hatsvali, we saw the ski resort. We were contemplating if we should actually take the ski lift up to the top because we are both terrified of heights. We stood outside for a good ten minutes, then we decided, “Why not!? We are already here!!”. Not going to lie, I was absolutely terrified the whole way up. I grabbed on the handle for my dear life, and at some part of the ride, I had to close my eyes. Embarrassing!!! The view we saw from the ski lift however was out of this world. My pictures can not do this picturesque place any justice.

On the top of the mountain, there was a nice restaurant with a nice terrace. We sat at the terrace to enjoy the stunning view and some wines... tough life, right? Coincidentally, we ran into an Israeli couple who we have previously met at Tbilisi Train Station. We had a great time with them and learned some interesting facts about Israel. 

I guess I could now say we went on a 16-kilometers hike. Did I mention 16k? I mean 16k, seriously!! lol

*Ski Lift Round-trip - 5 lari