Devi Asmadiredja leave Germany for the sake of huts in Chechnya

Devi Asmadiredja leave Germany for the sake of huts in Chechnya

Devi Asmadiredja spends his time as a housewife in Germany, but then her husband told her to pack up and leave the country.

He ended up staying at a secluded cabin in the mountains of Chechnya and Georgia Pankisi valley, after traveling 3,000 km (2,000 miles)

A number of tourists who have visited this valley, know him as the smuggling of narcotics and weapons, as well as a place to stay one of the leaders of the Islamic State (IS), Abu Omar al-Shishani.

But for Asmadiredja Devi, a remote part of the mountainous region of the Caucasus is a place of refuge.

Four years ago, she lived with her husband and three children in Germany. But in early 2011 of a sudden her husband said that he no longer loved her and told her to leave the house.

The husband ordered her to go to Pankisi to study the Chechen language, the language of his ancestors.

"He knows that I can speak it, he thought I would come back and teach," he said

"I have never traveled before," she said after her husband bought a plane ticket and gave him money to eat.

He said that it was interesting and a chance to escape from her husband. But leaving her three children aged five, eight and 12 years are the toughest decisions.

"It was very difficult. I can not sleep every night without them," he said. But he had no other choice.

Do not know anyone

Asmadiredja arrived in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia by climbing a series minibus or marshrutki heading to the village of Duisi, the first village he went through before five other villages.

He said that he did not know the local people, and then he met someone and ask people who can teach the Chechen language.

Within 20 minutes, he got a lesson and free accommodation arranged by local families.

He learned the language quickly and the local community gave him the name that is derived from Khedijat Khedi [Khadija], the name of Muhammad's wife.

But not infrequently presence invites suspicion, either as a foreigner and a woman traveling alone. "They thought I was a spy Russia," he said.

He does look different from the appearance without a veil with seven tattoos, including a traditional Indonesian dagger in his left leg and right caucasian dagger.

After receiving pressure from one of the Wahhabi mosque imam, his host said he had to go and moved to the other Kist family, which now he refers to as "my mother" and "my brother".

Kists family, are descended Georgia Chechnya who moved to the valley in the 19th century.

Having lived for 18 months in the village, her husband called and told him that he had been moved, so he does not need to go home.

Then he moved to the mountains, and lived in a hut in the cowherd - simple building of stone without a heater, electric, or water.

But he has a cell phone and a solar-powered battery.

Two months Asmadiredja survive by relying on the feeding of the herders who crossed the mountains and drinking water.

fall in love

Although he lived in harsh environments, but solitude and life in the mountains was a blessing for him.

"I fell in love with the mountains," he said. "I've never seen mountains like this before, people and extraordinary light."

He said he only ate a little and warmed themselves by walking into a number of other remote villages such as Khevsureti, Tusheti, and Georgia.

He said he did not have any money so had no choice but to walk.

Asmadiredja who had just mastered the Chechen language, he is now able to speak the language of Georgia after the herders taught tush and Khevsur origin.

He memorized the maze, the path from Pankisi to the mountains, after he injured his ankle and lost, with no food and only drink water from the river during the 12 days before the passersby found. "It was very close," he admitted

Another challenge comes from the local community, some herders pursued aggressively. They have not see women and women who live alone as Asmadiredja, very attractive to them.

Asmadiredja showed sharp timber to expel the intruder but sometimes he fought to face the aggressiveness of the herders. Then he returned to the village after a long stay in the mountains.

got a job

A German travel agency offered him a job as a guide pedestrians through the Caucasus with a salary of $ 100 per day, there are a small tourist infrastructure and some of the locals speak English or German.

"I have to open a bank account," he said, laughing

Other Asmadiredja friend gave him a used camera after hearing his interest in photography and he began exhibiting photographs of Pankisi in a number of galleries in Tbilisi. "I'm not an intruder, people know me," he said

Early next year, for the first time Asmadiredja will show their works in the international arena, at the Embassy of Georgia in Indonesia.

But his return to the village feel oppressive. "I'm not a Chechen, Kist, even Georgia. I was born in East Germany. I need freedom. I am an independent woman, who does not need permission to go anywhere. In the tradition of Kist you have to follow your parents. I need time to alone, [in place] where nobody knows. "

In March last year, his friend told him about a small cave hidden in Samtskhe-Javakheti province south Georgia. Then he immediately went, only armed with camping stoves, sleeping bags, and as well as fruits and nuts.

But the arrival of two local cattle herders to change their lives, they forced him to return home, but he refused.

I thought 'Why do not they leave me alone? "" They asked him if he liked khinkali - traditional meat Georgia. "They left me and half an hour later they came back with the khinkali and wine."

One of the Georgian shepherd, named Dato, visit her every day and ask for her phone number. Finally he gave it and started to touch.

They plan to marry later this year. But the ceremony was not held legally due Asmadiredja status is still married to her husband who was in the German Chechnya. But the adoptive family has planned a traditional feast Pankisi. "I never thought I would have a love like that," he said.

He knew that he could not live with him in various caves and huts, the distance that separates the house in Pankisi and mountains far enough, so she encouraged her husband to learn to drive, so he could work with him to guide tourists.

'My house in the mountain'

Even now, Asmadiredja, 45, realized how much he had left. Two children, each aged nine and 12, who initially lived with her husband, is now being treated at the orphanage. With different partners, he also has a teenage son, a daughter who lives with her father.

Asmadiredja sent a letter to his children on a regular basis, but they did not reply. He was tempted to go back to Germany and demanded custody of her children, but she does not have a guarantee that he will succeed.

"I have a life here," he said. "This life has absorbed much of my energy. To go back to Germany ... maybe I'll get my kids again, maybe not, but even if I get them, [perhaps only for] a few years, and for that, I should release all? I can not. Maybe I'm selfish, but I've been building my life here. My name is known as a guide, photographer. Why do I have to release it all to life with the assurance there? "

Mountains, he said, is the original home. "In my mountain free." (BBC)