Infinite Horizons

Well-rested, we intend to head to Lake Levanisee today and do some hiking.

However, this plan also went awry; there is a path that is sometimes used by shepherds, but it is in terrible condition. Despite having a four-wheel drive, we give up after about a quarter of the distance and continue on foot.

We are greeted by an endless, dreamlike, wild landscape, and we constantly have Didi Abuli, the highest mountain in the Lesser Caucasus, in our sight.

We enjoy the peace and solitude until we finally arrive at Lake Levanisee.

There, a mounted shepherd is currently herding his sheep over the hill.

He spots us, rides down to us, and warns us about the dogs; we should not go in a certain direction. After Google Translate failed to work despite having the Georgian language downloaded for offline use, it turned into a wild conversation and gesticulating until we were somewhat sure about which direction we could safely take.

About an hour later, another shepherd approaches us and warns us about another direction we absolutely must not go. He speaks a little English and only said, 'Dogs.' Dangerous Dogs!

Of course, we had read about the very dangerous shepherd dogs, but unfortunately, we had forgotten to bring the pepper spray as a contingency plan at home. Then we see the camps in the distance and understand that we need to navigate around them carefully, as the dogs seem to defend their territory vehemently.

Matloba, dear shepherds, we would certainly have wandered into such a camp and would probably not look so fresh and lively now!

With a slightly uneasy feeling, we arrive at a minuscule lake, I would rather say a waterhole, and after 4 hours of hiking, we decide to rest here and then turn back. And we plan to take the exact same route back to avoid being torn apart!

Except for the two shepherd dogs, we haven’t encountered a single soul, and it was a dreamlike feeling to enjoy the openness and absolute tranquility of this unique landscape.