“When I started university in Tbilisi, my classmates still had these stereotypes about Pankisi being unsafe,” says Fatima, who works as a tourist guide when she’s back home in Duisi. “I had to explain to them that that time is long gone. This is a very peaceful place. That’s what I love about it.”
As part of a cultural walking tour of Duisi and Jokolo villages, Fatima leads me up a steep trail to a crumbling old watchtower with sweeping views. Around 3km wide, the vivid green valley contains a string of villages along a river. Cows wait at the front gates of intricately carved wooden houses with rows of windows on the upper floors that let in the gentle spring sunshine.
Around the villages, sheep-dotted fields climb into forest-covered hills. To the north, I see the snow-capped peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. Out of sight, to the south, are the sun-drenched vineyards of Kakheti, Georgia’s biggest wine-producing region.
“People here love the outdoors. In summer, we take picnics up the mountain or go horse riding in the hills,” Fatima says. “I don’t think I could ever live in the city, coming from a place like this.”
I could understand why. Pankisi Valley feels idyllic. After the last village, the road simply stops; the end of Georgia marked by a wall of mountains. I feel like I’m at the edge of the world, wrapped in a cosy coat of green hills and blue skies. The friendliness of locals adds to this feeling of comfort. Children run up and ask, in perfect English, where I am from, and show me tricks on their bikes. Adults give me cups of herbal tea and gesture directions at me whenever they think I might be lost.
Eloise Stark“A lot of people who visit Georgia want to experience the country’s legendary hospitality. Pankisi is one of the places where you can still find that,” says Emily Lush, the creator of Wander-Lush, a travel resource for Georgia. “In terms of the culture, the traditions, the cuisine – there is nowhere else like it.”
As Sufi Muslims, the Kist population has different traditions from Georgia’s mainly Orthodox population. Spiritual music and rituals are an integral part of everyday life, and the food and language of the valley are also distinct, brought across the mountains by Chechen migrants who settled in the valley in the early 19th Century.
And yet, despite the valley’s unique culture, it hasn’t been easy to attract tourists here. This isn’t due to remoteness. Pankisi Valley is just a two-and-a-half-hour drive north-east of Tbilisi and less than 20km from the town of Akhmeta, which attracts many tourists due to its winemaking.