Mestia, Georgia

I woke up at 09:00 today, showered, dressed, and got ready to hit the ski slopes; although, before exiting my hotel room, I had a cup of coffee and some biscuits. Once ready, I grabbed my Canon Powershot and walked south, toward the Hatsvali Ski Resort, located up the mountain, eight kilometers away from Mestia. I crossed the Mestiachala River and was taking photographs of the town with all its medieval towers when I noticed the batteries were almost out of power; this happens every time I use the Powershot after letting it sit for a while; the batteries drain while in the camera and the result is every time I want to use the Powershot, I need to buy new batteries; it happened in Thailand, it happened in Lebanon, and now it has happened here. So, without any replacement AA batteries on me, I walked to the nearest store to buy some, but they didn’t have any. Then, instead of going store to store in Mestia hoping to find AA batteries, I decided to take a chance and bring my DSLR camera skiing with me. I returned to the hotel room, exchanged cameras, and then proceeded up to Hatsvali Ski Resort, crossing the Mestiachala and the Mulkhura Rivers on my way up to the mountain. I then followed the road, with its three switchbacks, through the forests and snow, and sometimes on a very slippery pavement. After walking for two hours up hill, I reached the quaint ski resort at 12:15. I then rented some used and abused ski boots, skis, and poles from the shop up there, which is run by a cranky old man. Then, I bought the ski lift ticket and proceeded to have fun. The resort only has one ski lift and three pistes with approximately 2400 meters of groomed slopes to ski or snowboard down; however, there are some off-piste trails through the woods for the more adventurous. I was glad just to have the chance to ski again before winter comes to a close. Also, despites clouds covering most of the peaks, the views of the Caucasus were spectacular from the mountain. At first the snow was as hard as ice (even at 13:00), but once the sun came out and the daylight heated the snow, it became more pleasant to ski on. I ended up spending about five hours skiing on the mountain before the lift closed at 17:00. I then returned the equipment, put my shoes back on, and then walked back down to Mestia. The ice that had been on the pavement before had now melted and there was no more slipping around. It took an hour and a half to reach Mestia and once I did (at 18:45) I walked around to find a restaurant; I tried one, but they lacked half the dishes on their menu, so I returned to the restaurant I ate at the first night in town. For dinner, I had barbecue veal with onions, khachapuri filled with a type of cheese, water, and beer. After dinner, I bought some juice and snacks and returned to my hotel room. Then, I grabbed my tripod and walked back outside, to the other side of the Mestiachala River, to take some nighttime photographs of the town and its medieval towers. After taking some photo, I returned to my room, drank the juice, and went to sleep (setting my alarm for 05:00 in order to catch a bus to Batumi).