Georgia - Abano Pass

After we managed to cross the border to Georgia the number of possible destinations were endless.
When looking for a spot to take the Mountain Bikes for a spin I read about a region called Tusheti, which lies in the far north of Georgia, close to the Caucasus. It comprises a few scattered remote villages with Omalo at its center and high mountains with hiking trails all around. Sounds perfect!
The trick, however is to even get there in the first place. What separates Tusheti from the rest of Georgia is the infamous Abano Pass. Listed as one of the most dangerous roads in the world and the highest unpaved road in Europe it made us question our choice for a few minutes. Nevertheless, the weather was supposed to be untypically warm and dry the next few days and Hans is still in great shape so why not at least try it, right? And boy were we in for a treat!!

The road took us up 2000m of elevation, climbing more switchbacks we could count through the most beautiful autumn scenery you can imagine, with leaf colours changing from green to yellow to a firery red just before we left the forest. After a 4h drive we reached the top of the pass at nearly 2800m. While the drive was really doable in the perfect conditions we had, we can imagine how dangerous it must be when it’s wet (the numerous crosses marking deadly accidents were sad evidence!)
Tusheti was no less spectacular. As we arrived off season we had the whole valley almost to ourselves. The tourist information provided us with info about hiking trails, but first we took a closer look at the old villages with their ancient stone buildings nestled into the valleys.

Oh and the 4x4 driving fun didn’t stop at the pass. Moving around in the valley felt like being on a 4WD practice course!

On the second day we did a lovely ridge walk of approximately 5h with amazing views over the snow covered peaks of the Caucasus, followed by a short hike on the third day. Since the weather was supposed to change for the worse on Friday we made our way back towards the pass on day three to conquer the Abano Pass once more early Friday morning. You better know how to engine break otherwise you’re due for new break pads afterwards.

I have a feeling that our hunch to drive to Tusheti might have brought us to one of the most beautiful parts of Georgia!Read more