En route to Svaneti, Georgia

I know, these are all out of order from the whole last trip to Svaneti - the first ones I showed were from the last day, and now I'm showing ones from the way up there... whatever.

This is a bus stop in rural Samegrelo.

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

Herself at my favourite photo-point for Murqmeli, the lowest hamlet of Ushguli. Pause for a quick photo in the rain, then carry on to Tamar's Summer Tower, while thunder & lightning crashed around us. We got soaked; but she still loved it. What a woman.

A door made from an old traditional grain-threshing board.

Herself at the top of the watchtower of Lamaria Church.

And a view down onto the same church from a window of that tower.

Ushguli, Svaneti, Georgia

4 more from the early October tour with Someone.

Feeding Time

Ratiani Family with Someone

Ushguli from the watchtower of Lamaria Church

Lamaria Church door

Rebuilding after Fire, Mestia, Svaneti, Georgia

Dali and Shero and their house after the fire some months ago. They're hard at work returning it to a state fit to be lived in. It was basically a total loss, though thank God no one was harmed. But the family escaped at night with what they were wearing.

Mestia, Svaneti, Georgia

More from Mestia. The middle shot's a favourite angle which I need to get the lighting right on.

Mestia, Svaneti, Georgia

Internet at home is back at last! Nearly 2 weeks without it reminded me how much I use the thing - not hours per day, but some time each day for sure. We switched to a different ISP in the end, while the other 2 battle it out and lose us customers. Their loss.

Top 3 - Mestia scenery.

Bottom 2 - Home/museum of Mikheil Khergiani, celebrated son of Mestia, mountaineer who died doing what he loved but much too early, in the Italian Alps.

Mestia, Svaneti, Georgia

All from the visit earlier this October.

The artist's cat.

A sample of the artist's son's work.

The artist and his own work.

Fall foliage, Mestia.

I still don't have internet back at home yet, so reduced to occasional surfing in other locations. Warring internet serive providers, you're not doing your country any favours, ra!

Mestia, Svaneti, Georgia

Top 3 - details from a carved wooden door.

Bottom - sorting out my book collection back in Tbilisi - 8-900 books or so...

Etseri, Svaneti, Georgia...

Top: Sergo the Reaper

Next: Watching paint crack, a favourite pastime

Bottom 2: You've heard of James & the Giant Peach perhaps, but Sergo & the Giant Tomato?! It weighed in at 1.2 kg...

Internet sizmari (nightmare), Georgia

Several days now of no internet at home and in a significant part of Tbilisi, with rumours of an ISP having gone down. So I'm accessing it from a friend's house tonight. And a warm welcome to the first visitors to the blog from Jordan and Bangladesh, countries 91 and 92!

Today's photos are from my recent 25th tour of Svaneti - from Kurashi, top part of Etseri village. It has a purportedly 9th-century church with an 11th-century gospel, all of which I saw for the first time. The 3rd photo is a small copy of the wheel used to torture St George. And the bottom is a house in Kurashi.

Interlude 3: Enough Already!, Georgia

Okay, so we get this, right? Buffer zone gets abandoned by occupiers, people return to selective chaos - some houses targeted for bombing or burning, others next door untouched. Fruit ripening on the trees, few people daring to pick it with fears of active mines uppermost. I'm not going to speculate on whether it was Russians, or Ossetian or other mercenary groups primarily responsible. But the damage remains. There was lots of new building going on as well, as we drove towards Gori from the main highway - grids of hundreds of houses for refugees/IDPS who have nowhere to winter. The people returning to their ruined houses and as-yet untouched UXO (unexploded ordnance) are understandably upset at how long restoration of normality is taking and will take. But I have to say that I'm impressed, comparing the current situation to what I saw of refugees after the earlier civil wars (early 1990s) of Georgia from 1999 onwards. We must just continue with this momentum - foreign observers ensuring some accoutability will help with that, I think - until things are as normal as possible for as many people as possible once more. That's what it's about, the people.

Interlude 2: More Wake of Destruction, Georgia

A few further images from yesterday's jaunt to the horror scene: dash in, click click click, chat a bit with shell-shocked survivors and returned IDPs like good concerned visitors - but please, God, could it make a difference from our comfortable lives to their unbearable ones? At least, more than losing some sleep over what we've seen and heard and then "recovering" and getting on with normal life, could our little trip actually improve their lives, even a few of them? Otherwise, count me out next time.