Georgia: Javakheti Plateau
Javakheti Plateau in southern Georgia doesn’t look like Georgia at all. It’s a highland plateau that is above 2000m/6000ft of elevation and is an alpine steppe – flat and endless with a few cone shaped mountains. It looks and feels more like Mongolia or Kyrgyzstan than Georgia. It’s tucked in a corner of the country bounded by Turkey in the west and Armenia in the south. It’s desolate, empty, but very fertile black volcanic soil. The plateau has many lakes and wetlands (6 largest lakes in Georgia are here), and the water doesn’t really flow anywhere but rather staying here in this cold steppe. The views are truly panoramic and broad. There is only one more or less sizable town here – Ninotsminda – and it’s famous for hundreds of storks almost on every pole.
