We were a bit frightened upon arrival, as from the plane we could see clouds below us for most of the way. At the airport, the weather was cloudy and humid. Not good! We were met by my friend Carlos, who generously offered to help us find the car rental company and to drive with us up the mountain to show our way.

We started with vising a nearby gas station to fill up the car but also to buy many plastic bottles with water. Read on to learn why ;-)

The winding road led us among wine yards and later pine forests. Just after passing altitude of ca 1700m, the clouds abruptly ended, offering views of amazingly blue sky! An astronomer's heaven. We were so amused that we decided to stop just after cloud deck, and later upon passing into the caldera.