The view from the top of Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea is an amazing place. During the day, it will give you 360º breathtaking views over the clouds, Maui, Mauna Loa, Hilo, or even let you see the Big Island getting bigger in real time, as the lava hits the Pacific towards the South-East. Of course, with great views sunsets and sunrises comes great tourism potential - and as soon as people realized that, they started making quite a lot of money taking tourists up to the Mountain to watch the sunset. Which, I guess, is great for the tourists, but not quite as nice for the sunset spectacle - as having dozens to hundreds of excited people with their cameras and their flashes all over the place takes a little bit of the magic.

However, once the darkness comes - or, rather, once the sun goes away - Mauna Kea regains its magic and silence. That's when the telescopes open their eyes to the sky and start starring, and starring, and starring. And when you walk among them, beneath the dark sky and let your path be illuminated by thousands and thousands of stars overhead, there really is no doubt about how special this place is.