Our tour included a visit to Ushguli, a tower village, and a stop at Lover’s Tower in the Mestia area in 4-wheel drive cars. Mehmet hired two models to dress in traditional clothing (above block) to pose, and to thus add color to our shots. I thought it was interesting to see our local guide to use her iPhone in selfie mode as a mirror for the model to check her hair (lower left), and for Mehmet (our tour guide) to prop himself in the crook of a tree for his own photos of the event (upper right).

Georgia is very religious (Georgian Orthodox Christian being overwhelming majority) country, so it is not surprising that we keep finding beautiful churches to photograph.

Of course, every town has its own market for the locals to purchase food and dry goods.  We often stop in these to get a look at a slice of life for the townspeople, and to capture images of them going about their daily lives.

There is a local home-made alcoholic beverage called cha-cha which is quite popular, and presented in reused water or CocaCola bottles.  We decided to buy a small bottom from the woman top-left, as she offered a sample. This stuff is 90 percent alcohol, and tasted like it was vintage last week…  After one night to imbibing part of the bottle and waking up to a headache, we left the remainder in the hotel room when we checked out…

Most of these small villages and towns have many buildings that have fallen into disrepair with significant deferred maintenance.  Some may call them an eyesore while others call them charming. However, they make for fascinating photographic subjects.

Let’s finish with some random images we took around Mestia in the Caucusas mountains.  Captive bee hives (upper right) dot the landscape, and are the source for honey in the markets, plus pollination for the numerous fruit trees in the area. Upper left was Ushguli, a village populated with dozens towers built 800 years ago to defend against frequent invaders. Upper middle was a view outside our hotel window. Bottom two were images of the local market, while lower-right shows our local guide again, with her love for daisies.