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=== North towards [[Svaneti]] ===
This road travels through Zugdidi, Jvari, Khaishi, Dizi, and a slew of small villages before you get to the administrative capital of Upper Svaneti region - Mestia.
You will need to walk north out of town, past the ''mashrutka'' station that is west of the city square and near the medieval-looking tower. After walking the gauntlet of taxi and ''mashrutka'' drivers, continue another kilometre or so through a residential area. The road will dead-end and you will turn left and walk on and over an overpass until you see the road sign for Mestia (136 km) pointing you to the right (north again). This is the road that travels all the way through Svaneti and back down to Kutaisi. Once you start walking north on this road, any place to begin hitching is as good as the next.
The traffic that travels this road makes it a little difficult to catch a ride. Many of the cars are stuffed with people because going between cities and villages in Svaneti is a whole day's outing. As with most places in Georgia, a little knowledge of Russian or Georgian is helpful, but not necessary. If breaking the ride up into segments is necessary, the larger towns on the road are Jvari, Khaishi and Mestia. Many of the locals are likely chipping in money for petrol, so if you are traveling travelling free then make sure to clear up any expectations for gas money in the beginning.
The road between Zugdidi and Khaishi is mostly paved with numerous rough sections. The road north of Khaishi is much more rough with some sections still being constructed. Even with the road in such poor condition, all kinds of vehicles still make the trip. Cars, SUVs, vans, lumber trucks and marshrudtkas ''marshrutkas'' all slowly crawl along. The traffic gets naturally thinner as you climb higher into the mountains.
{{IsIn|Georgia}}
[[Category:Georgia]]
