His next stop is Dilijan, which is called "the Switzerland of Armenia". There a just a couple of homes and businesses at the main intersection--and a scattering of houses with steep tiled roofs through the forest. Yes, quite pleasant after 9 days in the arid south... but Switzerland? Not the metaphor that comes to mind.  
He grabs something to eat and the heads up the winding road looking for the "heart" of town . Along the way he finds a mix of wooden mountain style homes sandwiched between ugly half built concrete building--and some modern steel and glass structures. No real "heart" of the city though. There is one cool little alley behind the main road up the mountainside that looks like its been restored to its true traditional Armenian-mountain look. The houses are mainly stone with wooden balconies jutting out. Quite nice--but clearly just fixed up for tourists.
See, what makes Switzerland special is that the the homes and gardens are beautiful--not because they're fixed up for the tourists--but because people there just like to keep their homes and gardens beautiful. 
He sits on a bench to figure out what he should do next. A couple of guys approach him asking if he needs a place to stay. They tell him he can stay with family for 6 Euros--which sounds almost too good to be true... but the look honest, so he goes with them to check this out.
Sure enough, they take me to a large home with a beautiful view of the valley and forest from the balcony--and sure enough, it's 6 Euros, no strings attached . Ok, so Switzerland might be more beautiful, but with a 6 euro a night stay in a mountain chalet, Dilijan has won him over.
Since there doesn't seem to be much to see here in town, I decide to follow the road on north, where there should be a couple of towns. Who knows? Maybe I'll like this area so much I might even do another Superhike here!
Dusk is nearing as he wanders the winding road up the mountainside. Some houses are well maintained, others are falling apart. Obviously there is still poverty here, but somehow the landscape makes it seem more liveable. 
Not wanting to retrace his steps, he tries to to follow a trail straight down the steep mountainside to the road below. The trail vanishes and he finds himself blazing his own trail in the darkness, down terrace farm plots and thick woods... hoping Armenians aren't as trigger happy towards tresspassers as Americans are!
Luckily he makes it down to the road safely, and heads back to his peaceful chalet for the night.
The Guardian Angel
The next morning the Traveler is in no hurry to hop on a minibus to his next town . Instead he heads out on foot to immerse himself in the countryside. So, in the cool of the morning he sets his sights east, taking the road to Vanadzor, where he finds that Dilijan is not just a scattering of mountain chalets, but a full size town complete with Soviet style apartment blocks and an austere communist era war memorial.
He continues on as the road follows the bottom of a narrow river valley, looking for any trails or interesting places to wander around along the way. Finally he come across a little bridge and a picnic area on the other side with a barking dog defending it. Looks like there is a trail on this side, so he decides to follow it, getting away from the dog as quickly as possible.
He walks a little ways, then turns around to see the dog following behind him silently. He immediately goes into defensive mode--swinging his guitar around as a shield. But no, the dog is not planning on attacking him, instead it passes him... runs forward a little ways until there's a fork in the path. There the dog waits for the Traveler, then takes the path to the right .
Suddenly the Traveler realizes what's going on... the dog is GUIDING him! Sure enough... a little ways forward, there's a fork in the path, and it waits for him, then shows him the way. Later they reach a muddy bog area, and the dog goes slowly ahead of him hopping from dry spot to dry spot, looking back to make sure him following, then continues on.
 And the adventure continues. The path heads straight up the steep mountain side, and after a while the Traveler feel tired and sits down to rest. The dog comes back to him, making a whimpering sound, circling around him... seems to be very concerned about the Traveler's well being, pushing him to keep going on...
The Traveler is amazed. Why is the dog doing this? I am not his master. There's nothing the dog is getting out of this. Does the dog just have this instinctive duty to help and guide traveler's who come across his path? How did this instinct evolve?
After weeks of studying the human species, today it's the canine species that has fascinated the Traveler.
Not wanting to climb the steep slope any farther with no clear destination the Traveler heads back down again . Instead hea heads back down to the bottom of the gorge where he finds a bridge to cross back to the main road
And here, it seems the dog realizes his duty is done... he has led the human back to civilization. And just like that it turns around and leaves. Without even asking for a tip.  
Riding with the Jehovah's Witnesses
The Traveler continue on down the road, still trying to figure out what just happened. Guide dog or not, I do think I'm just going to stick to the road for a while, he decides.  
There's something soothing about experiencing a country on foot, rather than hopping on a bus to get from one city to the next. He wonders, what if I just walk all the way to my next city? He remembers walking from town to town through the Ararat region... and along the base of the Caucasus mountains in Azerbaijan. Somehow reaching a town on foot felt so much more meaningful than just having a machine shuttle him from one place to the next. Each town felt like his own personal discovery. A once in a lifetime event.
He gets a crazy thought . What if I just keep on walking from town to town? From country to country... region to region? On and on until open sea or vast desert blocks his way?
Suddenly a van pulls over and some smiing, well dressed folks offer him a ride.
Think quick. That endless walking thing... or a chance to interact with people. He decides to accept and climbs aboard, suddenly he feels a bit self conscious about his sloppy attire and body odor, after walking much of the morning, in contrast with these folks that look like they're dressed for a wedding or something.   
A middle aged lady speaks to in English. After they make their introductions, she presents the group.
"We're Jehovah's Witnesses, we're going on a mission."
Immediately stereotypes pop into his head. Jehovah's Witnesses you encounter usually seem pretty one dimensional just wanting to do their little memorized speech of why you should convert to their religion... and don't want to talk much more once they realize you're not interested... But he decides to just talk with them as normal folks, and see if they reciprocate .  
The middle aged lady actually lives in California.  "I'm from Gyumri--we left after the earthquake." Seems the exodus of Armenians from Armenia actually continued after independence. Most of the rest of the group are Armenian Armenians--and there's seems to be a cheerful cameraderie in the group, feels more like a group of friends heading out for a picnic rather than a religious group heading to tell random strangers that the world is about to end. We talk about life in California as well as the economic problems here in Armenia. The we go to the subject of religion.
"How are Jehovah's Witnesses treated here in Armenia?" he asks.
"We are not usually accepted well by our families--even the government makes things difficult for us here"
I can only imagine. The Armenian Christian faith seems so tightly intertwined with Armenian culture and identity, You can bet parents and relative must really have a cow when they hear their son or daughter is converting to a non-Armenian mutually exculsive version of Christianity. He later learns that there are even Armenian JWs in prison for refusing to do military service .
However, with what he knows of how divisive the Jehovah's Witness faith, forbidding their members from engaging in many regular activities of mainstream society... even forbidding them from attending weddings and funerals of family members who aren't following their rules, he can't say he feels much sympathy for the persecution they receive...
All the same--these folks strike him as a really nice, down to earth bunch of people. They reach the edge of Vanadzor where the JWs going to start their "work", take a group picture and bid each other farewell. 
It was an intriguing glimpse at an entirely different facet of Armenian culture...