The Abano pass: the road to Tusheti, and why it’s only open 100 days a year

By Prof. Giorgi Pkhakadze, MD, MPH, PhD · 15/09/2026

Updated 17 October 2026

Tusheti is the north-eastern corner of Georgia: a high region of valleys, tower villages and summer pastures on the far side of the Great Caucasus watershed, bordered by Chechnya and Dagestan. It is reached by one road, from the village of Pshaveli near Alvani in Kakheti, over the Abano pass. The pass is at 2,850 metres. The road is gravel and mud, one lane wide for most of its length, cut into the side of a gorge with no barrier between the wheels and several hundred metres of air. It opens when the snow clears in June and closes when it returns in October. In between, it is the only reason anyone sees Tusheti at all.

The road

From Pshaveli the road climbs through beech forest, then above the trees into a landscape of scree and meadow, in a long series of switchbacks with the Stori river far below. About two hours in, at a hot spring beside the road that gives the pass its name — abano means bath — the last vegetation is left behind. The final climb to the pass is the steepest, on a surface that can be dry gravel or running mud depending on the week. At the top there is a shrine, a wind, and a view north into a different country: the valleys of Tusheti descending in green steps, with the ridges of Dagestan beyond.

The descent to Omalo, the main village, is another two hours through the Pirikita and Gometsari valleys, past the first towers. The whole crossing from Kakheti takes four to five hours for seventy kilometres. It is done in 4×4 vehicles by drivers who know every corner, and it is not done at all in rain or after dark.

Why it stays closed

Snow on the pass lies five metres deep by December. The road authority sends machines in late May or June, and the Tush — who winter in the lowland villages of Alvani and Zemo Alvani, with their sheep — go up the moment it opens, to the summer villages and the pastures. In October, with the first snow, they bring the sheep down again, tens of thousands of them, along the same road, over four days. For the eight months between, Tusheti has a few dozen residents, a border post and no road at all.

What waits on the other side

Omalo with its Keselo towers; Dartlo in the Pirikita valley, the most beautiful village in the Caucasus, with towers, a church and a court of judgement where the elders once sat on stone seats; Shenako and Diklo near the Dagestan border; shepherds’ camps, sheepdogs, eagles, and a silence of a kind that has gone from most of Europe. Guesthouses are simple and the food is cheese, bread, khinkali and the mountain beer the Tush brew for their festivals. Nobody who has driven the pass forgets it, and most come back.

See it with GTour

The Abano pass is day one and day four of the Tusheti four-day expedition, in a 4×4 with a driver who has crossed it hundreds of times.

This story in Georgian — ქართულად: shenidasveneba.ge

Quick answers

Where is Tusheti and how is it reached? Tusheti is a remote high region in the north-eastern corner of Georgia, on the far side of the Great Caucasus watershed, bordered by Chechnya and Dagestan. It can only be reached by one road, running from the village of Pshaveli near Alvani in Kakheti over the Abano pass.

How high is the Abano pass and what is the road like? The Abano pass sits at 2,850 metres. The road is gravel and mud, mostly one lane wide, cut into a gorge wall with no barrier, and the full crossing from Kakheti to Omalo covers about seventy kilometres in four to five hours by 4×4.

Why does the word 'abano' matter for the pass's name? About two hours into the climb from Pshaveli there is a hot spring beside the road, and 'abano' means bath in Georgian, which is where the pass gets its name. This spring marks the point where the last vegetation is left behind before the steepest final climb.

Why is the Abano pass only open around 100 days a year? Snow on the pass lies five metres deep by December, so it is impassable for most of the year. The road authority clears it in late May or June and it closes again when snow returns in October, leaving Tusheti with only a few dozen residents and no road for the other eight months.

Who are the Tush and how does the road affect their life? The Tush are the people of Tusheti who winter in the lowland villages of Alvani and Zemo Alvani with their sheep. When the pass opens they move up to their summer villages and pastures, and in October they drive tens of thousands of sheep back down over the same road across four days.

What can visitors see once they cross the pass into Tusheti? On the other side lie Omalo with its Keselo towers, Dartlo in the Pirikita valley with its towers, church and old court of judgement, and the villages of Shenako and Diklo near the Dagestan border. Visitors also encounter shepherds' camps, sheepdogs, eagles, and simple guesthouses serving cheese, bread, khinkali and Tush mountain beer.

How can travelers experience the Abano pass with a guided tour? GTour offers a four-day Tusheti expedition in which the Abano pass crossing forms day one and day four. The trip is done in a 4×4 driven by someone who has crossed the pass hundreds of times, since it is never attempted in rain or after dark.