HOLIDAYS UNDER THE STARS
Last winter, Maya Levin, a nurse from a busy coastal city, spent a week in a tiny desert village. She did not go there for the sun, the food or the shopping. In fact, she slept through most of the day. Every evening, after dark, she joined a small group of travelers at the edge of the village. Together they lay on thick blankets in the cold sand for hours and looked up at a sky full of stars.(lines 1–6)
Maya is part of a growing trend. Every year, more young travelers plan their holidays around the night sky instead of the beach. Like Maya, they look for places that are far from city lights, and they are willing to stay awake until three in the morning for a good view. Many villages now offer them special evening tours. In Maya's village, guests could visit a small observatory1. There, they could look through a powerful telescope2 and see the rings of Saturn with their own eyes.(lines 7–12)
Dr. Daniel Ortiz, a tourism researcher, explains why this type of holiday has become so popular. "Most of us live in cities, where streetlights, shop windows and cars light up the sky all night long," he says. "Scientists believe that about a third of all people on Earth can no longer see the Milky Way3 from where they live. For many young people today, a truly dark sky is something they have never experienced."(lines 13–17)
Not all visitors come only to watch. According to Ortiz, some join a night photography course. "A good photo of the stars can take an hour to prepare," he says. "You set up your camera on a tripod4, wait in the cold and check the sky again and again. That forces people to slow down and stay in one place. After a year of rushing from task to task, many find this surprisingly calming."(lines 18–23)
The people of small villages in dark areas are glad to welcome this new kind of visitor, and they are proud to show them their night sky. Stargazers5 usually come in winter, when few other tourists arrive, so they fill local guesthouses6 and restaurants. Some villages have even replaced their streetlights with weaker lamps that point down, so that the sky stays dark. As for Maya, she has already booked her next trip. "I came for the stars," she says, "but I went home with a calmer mind."(lines 24–29)