The Traveler decides it's time to explore the less populous, mountainous north half of Armenia. He hops in a minivan and soon they are speeding across the countryside... past beautiful Lake Sevan, through a long tunnel... coming out on the other side to a steep mountain valley of with lush forest all around. The bleak sprawl and industrial ruins of the south seems far, far away.

But does quality of life match the beauty of the landscape here in the north? He gets of in the small city of Ijevan, builta along a fast flowing stream lined with pine trees .

The van takes me up the road through the mountain valley to Ijevan, which, in contrast with Dilijan, actually feels like a small city--and a charming city at that. Built on a narrow valley, with a rushing river running through the center lined with pine trees. This place includes the beauty of nature and human civilization. Even the boxy Soviet apartment blocks don't spoil the charm of this town, and in the wooded park along the river are scattered sculptures of rough reddesh stone that sort of blend in with the scenery. Down at the south edge of town it turns from apartment blocks to large, shabby country houses... then on a path up the hillside is a World War II monument overlooking the valley--and another abandoned ferris wheel from another era. A common reminder of "happier" times under Soviet Russia.