AN AUTUMN VISIT TO KHULO


You know summer is over when Georgia’s Black Sea beaches begin to thin out, locals return to work with darkly bronzed skin, and only a few straggling international tourists are left on Batumi’s boardwalk. As cooler air rolls in and the leaves slowly begin to turn, Adjara still has much to offer. Heading inland from the coast, in less than half an hour the mountains begin to rise up around you. The main road from Batumi through mountainous Adjara is narrow and winding, taking cars precariously around blind corners fitted with dingy mirrors.

On my trip last week, in a low-to-the-ground rented Prius, my sister and I started the journey around 7 pm. For about an hour, we marveled at the views – mountains draped in dark green trees, a mix of evergreens and leafy oaks and beeches, peppered with the yellow of early autumn. Clusters of houses perched impossibly on peaks, and rivers rushing below, the color of black tea with milk. Then we lost the light. For the next hour and a half, we crawled along cautiously, holding my breath at every turn, but finally we arrived in the small town of Khulo – our destination for the night. Khulo is one of the most beautiful settlements in the area, and a great place to stay for a couple nights as a base to explore mountainous Adjara.

Along the road from Batumi to Khulo, there are dozens of sights to visit, some that can be experienced in a stop along the road, like Dandalo Bridge, Makhuntseti Bridge and Waterfall, or a tasting at Ajarian Wine House (as long as you’re not behind the wheel!). Other stops deserve a little more time, or even a full day’s worth of hiking, like Otolta and Kaviani Fortresses, and several Medieval stone bridges. Southeast of Khulo is the dramatic Khikhani Fortress, which you can reach with a four-wheel-drive car or by hiring a driver from the town center. Another stunning nearby spot is Green Lake (Mtsvane Tba), on the road towards Akhaltsikhe.

In Khulo, the main attraction is the Soviet-era cable car, a narrow, rusty yellow box, that connects the center of Khulo with the little village of Tago across a wide valley. The views from the cable car are stunning and, if you can stomach it, the operator will open the door during the ride so you can take clear photos. While most online resources say the cost of the cable car should be only 20 Tetri per ride, they charged my sister and I 2.50 GEL each for a round trip – whether prices changed or the operator wanted to make an extra buck on some foreigners, I would have happily paid considerably more for the experience! In Tago, there isn’t anything to do apart from enjoy a cup of coffee and some homemade sweets in the courtyard of the first house off the cable car, which the owners have turned into a small café. You can also take a stroll through the village and see what life in Georgia’s isolated high mountains looks like. Of the 80 houses in Tago, about 15 of them have been shuttered, abandoned by their owners, who moved away in hopes of escaping the economic and environmental hardships there.

There is one restaurant in the center of Khulo, and a few guesthouses. We stayed in Guesthouse Armazi, a cozy, comfortable home with gorgeous mountain views. The family that owns the guesthouse lives on the first floor, and took excellent care of us – which I see as the primary advantage of staying in a guesthouse! Standing on the upstairs porch with a cup of hot tea, next to bunches of drying tobacco and beans, I caught my first whiff of fall and had brief flashbacks of a former life in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. It was perfect.

While in Adjara, don’t forget to sample the region’s unique dishes, mostly dough and dairy – borano, sinori, achma – and Turkish inspired desserts like halva and pakhlava (yes, also adjaruli khachapuri, but that one has really been beaten to death – I’m sure you’ve tried it before!).

Khulo would be a wonderful place for a romantic autumn weekend getaway, before the weather gets too cold for hiking, as the nature is main attraction. If you visit in the winter, though, the Goderdzi Ski Resort is nearby – but you’re need a strong 4x4 to get there yourself from Khulo.

Leaving Khulo, if you have a 4x4, you can go east to Akhaltsikhe. The stretch of road between Khulo and Adigeni is horrific, but manageable at a slow, steady pace with an experienced pair of hands behind the wheel. If you happen to be driving, for instance, a Prius, you’ll have to double back to Batumi, but the views descending from the mountains into the Black Sea are so stunning, you might want to do it just for fun!

By Samantha Guthrie