Week-long horseback expedition. Megrel Golden Fleece (Special Edition)

Day 1 - Arrival in Georgia
This is the day for the group to assemble. Each participant arriving on this day is collected from the airport and taken directly to the hotel in Kutaisi. It is best to plan a flight to Kutaisi, from where our expedition departs. In case of flights to Tbilisi, we will help with the transfer to Kutaisi. Once all participants have arrived at the guesthouse Hostel Kutaisi by Kote, a welcome and inclusive dinner awaits us. You will enjoy delicious Georgian cuisine and natural wine! 

Day 2 - Askhi
After breakfast, we set off for the mountains! We drive along a scenic route, overlooking Okatse Canyon and a roadside waterfall. The road will take us about 1.5-2 hours. We will stop at the last major market on the route, where you can stock up on the necessities. On site, in the village of Kulbaki (yes, that's the name of the village!), a picturesque centre with fishing ponds, a wooden house awaits us. We are hosted by friends, native inhabitants of these mountains. The area has belonged for generations to families bearing the Gasviani surname. On the other side of the mountains, the Nachqebia family has settled, which inevitably means that this is the family territory of our Kote, who leads you to horseback adventures in this part of Georgia. There you will meet our partner endurance team from Kulbaki Horse Trails: Giorgi, Irakli and Lasha and you will feel at home. 

Waiting for us will be horses already saddled and prepared for the expedition. We will assign each horse according to ability, height and weight.

We have about 4-5 hours ahead of us on the trail, but we are going 'light' - we will return to our resort and home in the late afternoon. Our main objective for the day is to reach the pass below Mount Aschi, at an altitude of 2050 metres. We have about 1,050 metres of climbing to do through meadows, beautiful forests. With every turn we are getting higher and higher! Further on, we reach a rockier and rockier section of the trail that will take us to the start of alpine-type glades, but it doesn't end there! We have a final climb up to the pass on limestone stones to cross. Then a picturesque clearing will open up in front of us. There we will stand for a stopover and an off-road lunch. We have some time to rest and, above all, quietly admire the panorama of the whole area. We then set off on the return journey. On the first rocky section we will bring our horses. On the way, it is worth looking at the rocks and stones. You can see clear layers on them - more than 100 million years ago the sea was skimming here. Along the way, we will try to visit a local shepherd making the famous megrel cheese Sulguni. We'll descend to level ground where it's possible to move at a brisker gait. In the late afternoon we will arrive at our base camp, but before that we can stop, bathe in the river and jump into a waterfall. In the evening we will sit down to dinner together. A delicious feast and a fun evening awaits us.

Day 3 - To the black rocks 
We will have breakfast in picturesque surroundings at Green Lake. We will then proceed to our horse base. Our horses, saddled and prepared for the expedition, will be waiting for us. Tents, food, carrimats and water will be carried by the pack horses. 

The route of this day will take us about 5 hours. The aim of our crossing is to reach a rocky valley with black rocks, filled with green glades, where we will camp under the stars. We set off along a mountainous trail, used mainly by local shepherds and woodcutters. The route is varied and demanding in terms of fitness, with difficult climbs through the forest and over rocky terrain, during which we climb while leading the horses. We call the first section of our route Georgian Alaska because of the scenery. We have about 15 kilometres to cover, partly on foot. There is no civilisation, no range, no buildings, just a few shepherd's huts. Along the way, the surrounding flora will change several times as we go along. The horses know the area very well, they work for the local shepherds on a daily basis bringing down the cheeses produced there from the mountains. In their free time, these mountain glades are their unlimited pasture. The horses easily negotiate the rugged hills and rocky trails. They are not tall, but there is tremendous strength in them! On this day, we have one particularly difficult climb through the forest with horses in tow, requiring good fitness. We have about one kilometre of trail to go and 300 metres of elevation gain. Beyond the forest, alpine glades and a valley will open up before us! We will cross the whole thing on horseback to pitch our tents and prepare our bivouac at the end of it. We will spend the evening over dinner admiring the picturesque sunset. At this altitude (2,500m), no trees grow and no campfires can be made, so we take ready-made food with us. The rocky slopes of the valley will serve us as a "fence" for the horses grazing in the glades. A night with countless stars in the sky awaits us. 

Day 4 - Lake Lebarde
We will have breakfast in a beautiful setting. We will saddle the horses for you and prepare you for the expedition. Today we are going lightly. Some of our team will stay in camp guarding the tents. We will take you to our main expedition objective, Lake Lebarde at an altitude of 2500 metres. There is a strong approach to the start, part of which we will complete on foot with horse in tow. The approach leads from the valley to the pass. We take off from an altitude of 2500 metres and climb to 2800 metres! The walking distance is less than a kilometre. Further on, apart from the rocky, pedestrian sections, we cross the valley and the glades mainly on horseback. Any hardships of the trail will be rewarded by beautiful views of the endless mountains of the Megrelia region! At the lake we will stop for a stopover and rest. Then, through the same valley and pass, we will return to our camping camp, where dinner will be waiting for us. We will cover about 10 but not light kilometres on horseback that day. 

Day 5 - Day of return to Kulbaka 
In the morning we will have breakfast, roll up our mountain camp together and prepare the horses for the road. We have another 5 hours or so of crossing ahead of us, along the same route. We must return to our base camp in Kulbaki. We set off again along mountain paths, often very narrow and picturesque. The views will please the eye every step of the way, but it is also important to look underfoot - the route is not easy. Halfway through the day we will stop for a stopover, and in the late afternoon we will arrive at our base camp at Green Lake. We will sit down to a solidly set table to sample delicious regional dishes. 

We will then pack into the cars to move to the second of our rally bases. After about 3 hours of driving, we will arrive in Ushguli via the route through the Zagaro Pass, the highest point of the Svaneti Loop (2700 metres). In Ushguli we will stay in rooms in a family guesthouse. Ushguli is an unusual place: it is one of the highest inhabited villages in Europe, even in very harsh and severe winters.