To get to a secret country, enter Liotto, then exit/ From there, go two steps left, six steps down, one step left, three steps down, four steps left, one step down, five steps left and one step up. You will reach a stopover with a bird. Talk to it and it will take you there. Alternately, enter the stopover and then exit. Then, go one step left and two steps down to reach a destroyed town with useful items.

Please note: The following portion of the Strategy is incorrect:

You'll land in the castle's dungeon. As soon as you get up, a group of 4 monsters in pink dresses will surround you. They mumble some sort of chant, and they stay an equal distance from you while they're spinning around your head. But once they stop spinning you can hit them. Three of the monsters are fake and the real one is usually the northern monster.

If you listen to the chant: "round, round, round we go, the watcher's in the bush we go round...", the last line will be "who's in the eyes of the one behind". This is a clue to find the correct doll, which will be the one to the back of Ark. So, if Ark is facing left at the end of the chant, the true doll will be the one on the right. If Ark faces forward at the end of the chant (the way he wakes up in the cell), then the right doll will be the top one as indicated in the Strategy.