By Nikola Marinko · EIA Project Manager, WTP Mestia, Georgia, 2017-2018 · Updated October 2026 · 8 min read

From January 2017 I was EIA Project Manager on WTP Mestia for Ludwig Pfeiffer, a $10.2M ADB-financed water treatment plant at 1,400 m in Upper Svaneti. A year of working under those mountains is the only reason an unmarked valley pointing at Elbrus ever became a weekend plan. It takes a 4x4, colleagues who know which track the snowmelt took out, and a ridge you have been staring at from site for months.

The story follows the Enguri River up from Zugdidi and turns north where the Nakra joins it. The gravel track runs through pine forest and at times straight through the river, until a landslide wipes it out and the driver has to turn the jeep around on almost nothing. From there we climbed on foot from around 2,500 m, holding on to tall grass, with one rule we did not bend: turn back at 3:30 PM, whatever the map said. Elbrus never showed itself. The Caucasus Range did, all of it, and that was more than enough.

This is not a tour-bus valley. Base yourself in Mestia, start early, go with a capable 4x4 and a driver who knows the terrain, carry topographic maps on your phone, and keep to the turnaround time.

WTP Mestia project · Mestia · Tetnuldi · Khvamli · Field stories

Nakra Valley, Svaneti - A Jeep, a Landslide and the Search for Elbrus

FIELD STORY