Beyond its beautiful culture, cuisine and landscape, Georgia has been scarred by conflict since the

collapse of the USSR. Two separatist conflicts led to the forced displacement of hundreds of

thousands of Georgians, another civil war nearly split the country in two, and the country was

invaded by the Russian army in 2008. Today, many Russians and Ukrainians have come to escape

war while the government bows to Russia, freezing its EU accession pathway after sham elections.

It is with this in mind that I took my Fujifilm X100V and an oversized backpack to solo travel

through the country to understand the legacy of conflict in the country, from the Russian border to

Stalin’s birthplace and refugee camps.

I began my trip in Tusheti, only accessible during the summer through a long deadly road at close to

3,000m altitude taking you to the Russian border. Thanks to the impenetrable mountains that

surround it, this region has long been a shelter in times of conflict and thus retained a distinct cultural

identity. During the Chechen wars, the region became a shelter for insurgents fighting against Russia.

Today, the relations with Chechnya are extremely tense, and border guards frequently patrol the area

to control hikers and prevent accidental border crossings. Testament to this region’s imperviousness to

change is the man who hosted me during my stay: a retired border guard, staunch admirer of Stalin

yet extremely hostile to Russia.

This led me to visit Gori, Stalin’s birthplace. The town also witnessed intense combat in 2008. Here

the medieval Gori Fortress overlooks the Stalin Museum, where his legacy is praised unequivocally,

his birth house encased in a Soviet neo-classic porch alongside a life-size statue of the dictator – the

last in the country. In the Museum of Fighting Fame, the few visitors are presented with Russian

rockets and photographs of local heroes of the 2008 war displayed alongside artefacts from the 2 nd

World War. Walking down Stalin Avenue, the tragic history of the town is felt in the facades riddled

with bullet holes and shrapnel impacts. Pictured here is one such façade where bullet holes are the

canvas to a mural by Georgian street artist Gagosh depicting the bombing of the city and the

creeping borders of the separatist republics expanding overnight, robbing people of their orchards

essential to the local economy.

I then headed West to the former spa town of Tskaltubo whose Soviet-era sanatoria and hotels have

been abandoned and repurposed into accommodation for tens of thousands of refugees from the

separatist struggle in Abkhazia nearby. After fleeing the ethnic cleansing committed by Abkhaz

separatists, they found shelter in the abandoned hotels. After three decades, those who continue to

live in these crumbling buildings are now facing eviction as the chairman of the ruling party –

billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili – buys these buildings to renovate them and turn the town into

Europe’s spa capital. For the second time, they are forced to leave their homes, some having been

born in these repurposed hotel rooms.