Didi Abuli
A volcanic peak.
Sarah Murray from South Bend, IN, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Yasuhiro Kojima — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Yasuhiro Kojima — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sarah Murray from South Bend, IN, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Sarah Murray from South Bend, IN, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0
Paravani is a volcanic lake on the Javakheti Plateau in southern Georgia, between the Abul-Samsari and Javakheti ranges, about 28 km east of Akhalkalaki and 89 km southwest of Tbilisi in a straight line. The lake lies at 2,073 metres and covers 37.5 square kilometres, yet it is shallow, no more than 3.3 metres deep. Small rivers, snow, rain and springs feed it, and the Paravani river flows out of it towards the Kura. Its surface freezes in winter with ice up to 73 centimetres thick, and it is a well-known fishing spot. The wide blue lake spreads across an open grassy plateau, with the volcanic peak of Didi Abuli and mountains still snow-capped in early summer behind it. Small villages and stone houses are scattered along its shores, and cows and sheep graze in flowering meadows. Visitors stop on the road between Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda for views and photos, walk the shores and fish. The plateau is cold and windy even in summer, and it is open country with no shade.
A volcanic peak.
Cows and sheep.
Fishing.
Javakheti Plateau, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Georgia
June and July.
A jacket for wind and cold.