I planned to hike near Tbilisi for a whole weekend.
And with some friends we booked a house in the mountains for that.
Sadly, the weather forecast said there would be rainfall in our chosen location, so we had to scrap our plans.
We booked a tour to another hiking spot where the weather should have been better.
We climbed to the Ninoskhevi waterfall, which is in the eastern part of the country, three or four hours away by car.
This was our final destination. We were lucky not only that the weather was great for a quick hike, but also that we were early enough to take photos without people in them.
We started near the parking lot at 41.87186, 46.23845 with a group of nine, including our guide.
Because we had people with different levels of hiking experience, and especially because four of us had cameras, we were not in a hurry to finish.
The information stand with the map of the route. There is actually another trail that follows the river the whole way, and we saw at least one person climbing to the top of the waterfall. So the map shows only the most popular route.Horses. Of course there will be horses near a mountain settlement.The start of the route is where a lot of people camp near the Ninoskhevi river.There is a lot of space available for camping. There are also some restrooms and covered gazebos. But there is no centralised sewage system, so you can imagine the smell.Near the beginning the river is rather wide, but still a fast mountain river.You need to walk around and across the riverbed. But there are always fairly comfortable logs laid out. And something to hold on to.I was told this bridge was not here some years ago. Nevertheless, it was safe enough to cross the river without any trouble.The sunlight coming through the leaves of the forest makes nice scenery for trying different camera settings to get a better sun flare.Sometimes you get a magnificent view of the local mountains. As you climb, the mountain view is mostly replaced by forest and the rocky walls of the gorge.Overall I would say the route is easier than most hiking trails near Almaty. It has nice switchbacks for climbing the most difficult part, and tries to stay as steady as possible.As you get closer to the water sources, the forest gets greener and greener, with more vegetation.A meta-photo. As we had several people with cameras, we occasionally all stopped to catch a nice view of the nature, or of the other people in the process.More of the greenery around the small streams.As you come near the waterfall, the amount of green starts to look more like a jungle. I had a similar experience hiking in the mountains near Chiang Mai in Thailand.There was a feeling that almost every hummock was oozing water.Ninoskhevi waterfall appeared around the bend. The sound of water falling forty metres was audible long before that. But seeing it was a whole other experience.The view of the whole gorge with Ninoskhevi waterfall.Another view of the waterfall.
Near the waterfall the water droplets were everywhere in the air, so the gear was getting wet very quickly.
We stopped for a small picnic, looking at the wonderful scenery while lying on the big rocks by the river.
The way back down was quite fast, and without any new views.
And four hours later we were back in the city.
