Nazy Kurashvili was the first to encourage travellers to make it those extra few kilometres to Pankisi Valley. She opened the area’s first guesthouse, Nazy’s Guesthouse, in 2013. She then spent years convincing the Georgian Tourism Ministry to include information about Pankisi Valley on their website, and invited foreign ambassadors to the guesthouse to show them the area. In 2018, she set up the Pankisi Valley Tourism and Development Association to help others start tourism businesses.
AlamyLittle by little, word got out about this picturesque valley. Pankisi was featured in Lonely Planet’s 2020 Georgia, Armenia & Azerbaijan guidebook, and tour companies such as Intrepid Travel began including it in their itineraries.
Today, hundreds of tourists visit Pankisi each year – and there is plenty waiting for them when they arrive. Visitors can join horse treks or hikes into the mountain and visit heritage houses, historic churches and mosques. They can take cooking classes in Kist cuisine or join felt-making workshops. The village of Duisi has a small ethnographic museum and hosts the weekly Sufi dhikr ceremony. The nearby Batsara Nature Reserve is home to one of the world’s largest and oldest yew forests, where rangers can organise hikes and birdwatching excursions.
“Tourism has played an important role in breaking down the negative stereotypes that surround the valley,” says Lush. “Most importantly, tourism has given people a chance to speak for themselves.”
One woman who has seized the growing opportunities in the valley is Khatuna Margoshvili, who spent several years working abroad to save enough money to open a guesthouse back home. “I love hosting people,” she tells me. “Some just stay in the garden. Others want to explore. And lots of them want to learn how to cook.”
Eloise StarkKist cuisine, like its culture, is a mix of Chechen and Georgian influences, with ingredients drawn straight from the valley: homegrown vegetables, local cheeses and honey. The most popular dish is zhizhig galnash, a pasta-like dough served with melt-in-the-mouth lamb and ground garlic. Another favourite is khinkali, traditional Georgian dumplings, except here they are stuffed with nettles rather than meat.
Back at Nazy’s Guesthouse, the table is laden every night with Kist dishes as well as jugs of locally brewed alcohol-free beer made from rosehip. Dinner is a communal affair. Guests sit around a long table and share stories from the day’s adventures: hikes through ancient forests, horse treks up past the snow line, cultural tours or cooking lessons. Many guests extend their stays to have one more night tucked away in the valley. Just a little bit longer to relax, ride a horse, fold a dumpling or pour another glass of rosehip beer.