By Ia Kverghelidze

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When gazed upon from afar, the sharp-peaked mountains of the country of Georgia are soaring and grand. Unseen within their rocky confines, however, lie isolated and amazing sights inaccessible to most outsiders. Located at the Western Asian / Eastern European frontier and bordered by the Black Sea, Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, little-known Georgia is the site of the truly off-the-beaten-path mountainous regions of Svaneti and Tusheti, two raw, entrancing and rough-and-tumble provinces of well-established age-old traditions that give real meaning to hospitality.

This is a two-part article. Part one presented the unique qualities of Svaneti, while part two, below, details the wonders of Tusheti.

In the traditional Tushetian game of 'Distance Jumping', people jump over a felt cloak. Jump the farthest and the cloak is your prize.

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Posted under General, Georgia, countries, local tips

By Ia Kverghelidze
.

When gazed upon from afar, the sharp-peaked mountains of the country of Georgia are soaring and grand. Unseen within their rocky confines, however, lie isolated and amazing sights inaccessible to most outsiders. Located at the Western Asian / Eastern European frontier and bordered by the Black Sea, Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan, little-known Georgia is the site of the truly off-the-beaten-path mountainous regions of Svaneti and Tusheti, two raw, entrancing and rough-and-tumble provinces of well-established age-old traditions that give real meaning to hospitality.

This is a two-part article. Part one, below, presents the unique qualities of Svaneti, while part two, details the wonders of Tusheti.

Ushguli is the highest village in Europe, towered over by Mt. Shkhara, the highest peak of the Georgian Caucasus Mountains

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Posted under General, Georgia, countries, local tips, whl.travel newsletter

Clean Breaks, 500 New Ways to See the World (read a review), published in August 2009 by Rough Guides, is a full-colour guide of the authors’ handpicked choices of the world’s best hotels, tours and activities run by people who are passionate about what they do in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.

Hiking through paddy fields in Thailand, you will definitely feel like you've made a clean break from your regular routine. Photo courtesy of Rough Guides

Needless to say, there’s an inspiring overlap between the authors’ motivations and the whl.travel vision, the latter being to locate and promote the kinds of small, grassroots travel initiatives that, over time and with the support of travellers, are positive steps toward improving a place, and help shape it in a caring and sustainable way.

To illustrate this, the following links take you to abridged Clean Breaks excerpts (in black) paired with mentions (in blue) of the further resources in select destinations available through whl.travel. After all, it is our shared belief that readers inspired by Clean Breaks are the kinds of people who see the value in traveling with whl.travel.

• Fair Trade Holidays in South Africa
• Treks through Villages in Nepal
• Jungle Lodges in the Amazon
• Green Luang Prabang, Laos
• In Search of the Real Fiji
• Explore Borjomi-Kharangauli National Park, Georgia
• Dive at Bunaken, Indonesia

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Posted under Brazil, Fiji, General, Georgia, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, countries, responsible organisations, responsible travel, responsible travel news, whl.travel newsletter