Into the enchanted valley of waterfalls

Our accommodation #8 on the tour is Sveta's Guesthouse in Martvilli. Again, there are separate beds, so no cuddling here. However, Sveta is an excellent hostess, proudly showing us her garden, 2 pigs, 2 geese, a pheasant, many chickens, and her milk cow! We harvest some corn together, which she prepares deliciously for us in the evening, accompanied by homemade wine from her husband David - and it is indeed quite tasty!

For our day trip in Martvilli, we decide against the Martvilli Canyon, as it is said to be very touristy, and we’ve had enough canyons already. We want to hike into the valley of waterfalls, starting at the Balda Monastery. Motivated, after about 30 minutes, we reach the Kargha Waterfall. Very beautiful! After that, it gets wild; it has rained a lot, the rivers are rushing, and we have to take off our hiking boots several times to cross the river. Typical of Georgian hiking trails, the path is not really maintained, and we struggle forward, with the vegetation becoming wilder and more overgrown. It must rain quite often here, as many trees, bushes, and stones are completely covered in moss.

Ultimately, we arrive at the main goal of our hike: the Oniore Waterfall. It plunges over 50 meters into the depths, and it is very impressive. We take a break in a covered hut, but unfortunately, it starts to rain more and more. But we are not easily discouraged! Besides, we are at the furthest point of our round tour; turning back wouldn’t help, plus the southern route is supposed to be much cozier.

We come to the last waterfall: Toba Waterfall. With a drop height of 234m, it is the highest waterfall in Georgia. It's just unfortunate that you can't see it properly because part of it starts in a cave and it cascades down in several stages. Nevertheless, it looks impressive how the water shoots out of the cave. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my drone. We set off on the long, rather monotonous journey back to the car; due to the rain, all the roots and stones are very slippery, so we can only recommend this hike in good weather.

Sveta had another tip for us: Sulfur Spring Nokalakevi, a sulfur bath.

After this long hike, it suits us perfectly, and we make the half-hour drive there.

For 10 Lari, you can take a sulfur bath in the open air, only protected by a few trees. Of course, we didn’t think about swimsuits, so we just go in our underwear and later use our hiking pants to dry off.

A highlight is the natural sulfur sauna; you simply sit on a tree trunk, and hot water splashes onto your back from behind. Genius - warmed up again, we went for delicious food and then back to Sveta, who is already worried about where we might be and is waiting for us with the corn.