Near the turnoff to Amberd Fortress, just before reaching Lake Kari Lich, there’s a stretch of road that unsettles everything we assume about gravity. Here, the world plays tricks on perception: a small stream appears to defy nature, flowing not downhill, but up the slope. And if you turn off your engine and release the brake, your car won’t roll backward—it will begin creeping uphill.
This phenomenon occurs in places where the horizon is obscured or completely hidden. Without a visible reference line, the brain loses its ability to accurately judge the slope of the land. The section of road in question actually tilts downward, but the contours of the surrounding landscape distort visual cues, creating the illusion of an uphill grade.
Researchers explain this effect as a clash between what we see and what we intuit. Trees, which typically grow vertically, may appear tilted here, disrupting spatial orientation. Water flowing across a mild decline may seem to run uphill when contextual elements suggest otherwise. The opposite phenomenon is known among cyclists as a “false flat”—a slow incline that feels deceptively level.
This optical illusion doesn’t signal a break in physical law, but it does expose the limitations of our perception—and how easily the mind can be misled by the land beneath our feet.