Bakhmaro

Bakhmaro sits at around nineteen hundred metres on a ridge in the Guria mountains, and it exists only in summer: several hundred wooden houses on stilts and posts scattered across alpine meadow, most of them shuttered and empty from autumn to early summer, filling for a few weeks when families come up for the air, which has a long-standing reputation for helping respiratory conditions because of the mix of mountain and sea influence. The village has no real centre and no proper roads. Its fixed event is a horse race held in August, run across the meadows and drawing riders and crowds from across Guria and beyond, which is when Bakhmaro is at its busiest.

What you actually see

• Wooden houses on posts - the summer village scattered across meadow.
• The August horse races - riders and crowds on the open ground.
• Alpine meadow at 1,900 metres - the ridge the village sits on.
• Sea and mountain air - the climate the resort was built for.

When to go

July to September only; the road is impassable and the village empty outside that. A day or two. The horse race weekend in August fills everything.

Honest expectations

The road up is long, rough and slow, and four-wheel-drive is close to necessary. Accommodation is simple and books out for the races. There is no infrastructure to speak of, no shops of consequence and unreliable power. Weather turns quickly.

Nearby

Chokhatauri is north-west; Gomismta lies north along the range.