Goderdzi is the quiet cousin of Georgia's famous passes. It crosses the Meskheti range, also called the Shavsheti, at about 2,025 metres, connecting the green, humid coast of Adjara to the dry, high plateau of Samtskhe-Javakheti inland. The change in a single morning is startling. Coming from the Black Sea side you ride through steep tea-country hills, dense beech and spruce forest, rhododendron thickets and fog, and then you pop out onto open alpine meadows where the air is thin and cold and the sky is wide.
The road has long had a reputation for being rough, and sections were unpaved for years. Much of it has been improved in recent times, but conditions vary, and it makes sense to ask locally before you set out. Expect some tight bends, a few potholes, tractors and cows. Weather changes fast; the western slope catches much of the moisture from the Black Sea, so fog and rain are common, while the eastern side is often drier and brighter. Winter closes the pass under deep snow, and it is generally best from early summer through early autumn.
The area around the summit is wild and beautiful: grass slopes covered with wildflowers in early summer, summer pastures dotted with shepherd huts, and in the distance the ridges rolling off in layers. Goderdzi also has a ski resort, which gives a few cafes and hotels in season. The villages on the Adjaran side, such as Khulo, have a mostly Muslim population, a legacy of the Ottoman centuries, and the old timber houses and small mosques sit among terraced hillsides.
For fuel, do not count on anything at the top. The east side has Diokhnisi and the larger town of Akhaltsikhe not too far beyond, while on the west you can resupply in Khulo or Keda. Fill the tank at either end. If the weather is clear, spend a few minutes at the pass for the view, and eat whatever the local cafe offers, usually good bread, cheese and a strong tea or coffee. It is not the most famous pass in the Caucasus, but it is often the one riders remember most fondly because it was empty.