Don Curry intentionally keeps the program light on some days. This is the case in big cities or in areas that are particularly prone to bad weather. For Mestia, his plan consisted essentially of two points: a cable car ride and a tour with Xerra up to the Koruldi Lakes high above the city. Both only made sense with good weather; the forecast didn't look promising, and the probability of rain increased significantly from noon onwards.
Breakfast was waiting for him with a more than abundant table. He could only eat a very small part of the many different delicacies. What was unusual for Don Curry was that there was a whole carafe of "Kompot" for him, a homemade juice made from preserved fruits, at least one fruit belonged in the carafe; in this case it was pretty delicious apricot juice. After this optimal start to the day, the first disappointment followed promptly: the cable car was completely out of service. Don Curry had to cross this item off the list. So he drove to the other end of Mestia, where the trail into the mountains was supposed to begin.
On the way there, he passed relatively close to the medieval church of Mestia, which he hadn't visited yesterday. Maybe he would be lucky and find it open today. Don Curry preferred to park on the main road to spare Xerra the narrow old town alleys of Mestia. This proved to be a good decision in several ways. On the one hand, he spared the vehicle, and on the other hand, he became even more aware of typical Swan village life. In a side street, a stately mother pig trotted along with 8 piglets. Suddenly, the sow threw herself to the ground and offered her offspring a small snack in the middle of the street. They didn't need to be asked twice, but greedily pounced on the milk sources. Don Curry was fascinated as the piglets sucked in two tiers: one lay flat on the ground with legs outstretched to reach the lower teat, and the sibling lay directly on top of the lower piglet, thus gaining access to the upper sources of food. The teat was also occasionally changed, perhaps they produce different flavors; in any case, it resulted in a lively crowd and sucking. After a few minutes, the sow ended the feast and trotted away. Only now did the piglets notice Don Curry, looked at him interestedly, and two of them took a few hesitant steps forward, but then quickly followed their mother. Better safe than sorry!
In the meantime, Don Curry overtook the family outing and found the desired church, but - as feared - it was firmly locked. Swan churches don't look like much from the outside. They appear as simple rectangular houses and do not even have a tower. It was only in later times that an open bell tower was usually built next to the church. The real treasure that Don Curry had set his sights on, are the exceptionally high-quality frescoes that have been preserved in this area of Georgia. But without a key, he couldn't get to them. So he drove on until he found the start of the trail. Right from the beginning, it led quite steeply uphill and was interspersed with deep mud in many places. If fresh rain would come in the afternoon, the trail could quickly turn into a slippery slide. Don Curry didn't feel like it. But then what? All his plans had been thwarted.
He saw that another trail led out of Mestia, which followed a relatively flat river course. This route also had its challenges, but slipping was not a major issue. At the end of the trail, Don Curry ended up in a well-visited parking lot. A suspension bridge led slightly above over the wild, foaming mountain river. Curiously, Don Curry took photos of the bridge and of course had to try it out himself. On the other side, he saw a signpost pointing to a glacier - 2.8 km away. The path was quite uphill, but easy to walk on. So Don Curry just continued. His hiking shoes and rain jacket were ready in the car, but he didn't want to go back now either. Initially, he walked through a kind of enchanted forest with old trees, ferns, wildflowers, and moss-covered rocks. Then the narrow path followed a second mountain river, partly directly along its bank, where the water rushed past like a primeval force. At some spots, Don Curry was hit by the ice-cold spray of the glacier river, finely dispersed in the air. He shivered in his sweat-soaked shirt. After this longest stage, the ascent to a scree field followed. And suddenly Don Curry saw the glacier, still some distance away, but clearly recognizable. A majestic sight! By now, even the sun was starting to show a little, so Don Curry could warm up and his shirt could dry. Some other hikers continued a bit further towards the glacier, but Don Curry didn't think they would have a better view from there. Don Curry returned to Xerra along the same path and over the suspension bridge.
On the way back to Mestia, it started to drizzle for the first time. Don Curry decided that after this strenuous hike, he deserved some refreshment. In Café Laila, he chose a table inside this time and ordered the most famous specialty of Svaneti: Kubdari, a type of Khachapuri with meat filling; no minced meat is used, but diced beef, well seasoned and mixed with onion pieces, is placed in the dough flatbread. Don Curry chose carrot salad as a side dish. In the meantime, the weather turned into a steady rain, and Don Curry retired to his room. In the evening, he felt a little hungry again, so after the rain stopped, he went to the center of Mestia. At Café Laila, all the tables were occupied, so Don Curry went to the adjacent hotel restaurant Seti. The menu was almost identical to Café Laila's, but the culinary level was far from reached, as Don Curry quickly noticed. However, the Seti had live music on Saturday evening: five young men performed contemporary Svan or Georgian folk music. However, Don Curry was fighting increasing tiredness and left the unexpected concert fairly soon.
He was glad to have embarked on this spontaneous hike. It turned out to be the unexpected highlight of the day, complemented by the delicious Kubdari. The weather forecast for tomorrow promised no improvement. The probability of rain remained quite high throughout the day. But Don Curry would leave Mestia tomorrow; maybe Ushguli would have completely different weather...
