I learned that at University; the students who were doing Astronomy / Astrophysics would make pilgrimages to the Big Telescope, which was located over 200 miles

I learned that at University; the students who were doing Astronomy / Astrophysics would make pilgrimages to the Big Telescope, which was located over 200 miles away, in a remote and sparsely populated area on a high plateau, known for clear skies, low rainfall and cold nights. Cold cold nights. Not much for students to do outside of work either; the nearest town had 3K people, whose interests included farming and churchgoing.