Horseback riding tour Tusheti

Arrival to Tbilisi. Transfer from the airport to your hotel.

9.00 am Drive from Tbilisi over the Gombori Pass to the wine region of Kakheti with a short stop at the Telavi Bazaar. Continue via Alaverdi and Pshaveli on the adventurous pass road to the Abano Pass and further on to Omalo, the main village of Tusheti, where you will stay in a nice local family hotel. Duration of the journey 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. with many small breaks and stops along the way. Route from Tbilisi to Omalo about 200 km

In the morning you will receive your horse. Today’s ride serves to get to know the horses and is not very long as an introduction. But at Shenako there are beautiful canter routes along the meadows and pastures of the Tushetian four-legged friends. In Shenako you will see one of the few Christian churches in otherwise quite pagan Tusheti, looking at a pagan temple (Khati) with animal antlers in the near distance. In Diklo, the houses have the beautiful typical wooden balconies that became fashionable in the 19th century, when after the arrest of the North Caucasian freedom fighter Shamil, people didn’t have to pay so much attention to the defensive functions of the houses. After lunch, the ride goes through the woods to the Old Diklo Fortress, which stands high on a rock, difficult to conquer, directly on the border with Russia and offers breathtaking views – to Chechnya to the left and to Dagestan to the right. Route length 12 km. Overnight guest house in Diklo.

Beautiful day ride from Diklo via Chigo to Dartlo. At Chigo there are many large flocks of sheep with the huge shepherd dogs. The horses are not in the least disturbed by the barking dogs. Behind Chigo you pay a visit to the shepherds and get some insight into their hard life.
Dartlo is a famous and large village with many fortresses and defense towers, which has been restored with World Bank funds since 2010. Traditionally, the main enemies of the Tusches of Dartlo were the Dido (Tsez) people of the northern mountains. Mutually they attacked each other regularly and stole cattle, women and made prisoners work as slaves. The traditional Tushetian defense towers protected against these raids, from whose loopholes one could defend oneself well and which offered safe protection for the families and sometimes for the cattle for days or weeks. The highest and most famous fortified towers in Tusheti are in Dartlo and Parsma. Until the 1930s, the right hands/arms of the killed enemies hung on the Dido as trophies on the defense towers as a deterrent. Route length 16 km Overnight stay in a family hotel in Dartlo.

First you ride up to Kvavlo in the inaccessible summer village, where one could defend oneself better in the summer months with the frequent raids than down in Dartlo. Here you can enjoy incredible views of the surrounding rugged mountains and gorges. The ride now crosses over to the neighboring village of Dano, which was known for the wildness of the local tusche. Also the famous Tusheti folk singer Lela Tataraidze is from Dano,

From Dano you descend to the village of Chesho, where you can canter on meadows, but also cross smaller rivers on horseback several times. Rest at Chesho, beautifully situated in the bend of the Pirikiti Alazani river. Rode over 5 km to Parsma, a powerful and famous village, where no road leads to this day. On the old defense towers you can see letters in Arabic script carved into stone as well as petroglyphs from pre-Christian times (sun wheels, man and woman schematic). Here you can begin to feel the meaning of the saying “Once upon a time, long, ancient times…”. Overnight stay near Parsma in the small town of Basso, which consists of 2 houses and a fortified tower. Route length 17 km

This riding day leads from Parsma over a bridge over the raging river to the high Nakaicho Pass (2950 meters), which connects Gometsari and Pirikiti Tusheti. The nature here is very different, there is a lot of forest, few people and the valley at Tusheti Alazani river is very quiet and almost deserted. You can watch hunting falcons and, with a bit of luck, the giant vultures. In winter this valley is completely deserted and only the bears hibernate here. There are even said to be leopards in these remote mountains. Route length 15 km. Overnight in Jvarboseli.

Ride to Bochorna, which is the highest year-round inhabited village in Georgia at 2345 meters. This is where the old family doctor, Irakli, lives, who runs to Omalo in an emergency in winter to treat illnesses there. In severe cases, a helicopter from Tbilisi is called by radio. In Old Omalo you can visit a reconstructed Tushetian tower house. In the afternoon you have to say goodbye to the horses, which you must have grown very fond of. Route length 15 km. Overnight in Omalo

Return via the Abano Pass. On request, bath in the hot mineral healing spring of Abano. You shouldn’t stay in the water for more than 30 minutes, because the water refreshes the body and tires it at the same time. Return to Tbilisi via Kakheti around 18.00. Route from Omalo to Tbilisi about 200 km. Overnight in Tbilisi.

Transfer to the airport. Departure from Tbilisi