PHOTOGRAPHY: Cattle Drive in Tusheti in Octobre 2010. By Ralph Hälbig (flickr.com)

Sheep, cattle, horses, dogs, campfires, mountains, meadows, sun and rain, hail and snow: See the marvellous beauty of pure life on the road over the mountains with Tushetian shepherders in Autumn 2010

Tusheti lies behind the chain of the Greater Caucasus Range in the northeast of Georgia and is the homeland of the Tushs. Twice a year the Tushetian people change the pastures for their sheep, goats, cows and horses. In the spring they move from the southern steppes in Shiraki on the Azerbaijani border crosswise through Kakheti to the north and then over the 2870 m Abano-Pass into their homeland mountain villages. On juicy meadows in rough mountain air they manufacture excellent cheese, manage their herds and maintain centuries-old traditions. At the end of September after the crop of potatoes and before in the high mountains the first snow falls again the herders break down their camps, load their horses, donkeys and trucks and drive the herds over daily stages from 20 to 30 km back to Kakheti. Apart from our regular journeys to Tusheti in the summer months we offer this adventure journey only for one date in the autumn 2010. The participants will experience grandiose landscapes, Tushetian hospitality, solitude and an adventurous course with the herds by horse or by foot over the chain of the Greater Caucasus Range. Tusheti is an Eldorado for nature friends, riders, adventurers, sport fishers, photographers, journalists and artists. more: kaukasus-reisen.de