遠(yuǎn)離塵囂的阿曼之旅

by Natalia Rachlin

Cass 譯

遠(yuǎn)離塵囂的阿曼之旅

Road-Tripping Through Oman

by Natalia Rachlin

Cass 譯

阿曼蘇丹國（The Sultanate of Oman），簡稱阿曼，古代稱馬肯，意為礦產(chǎn)之國。這里地廣人稀，擁有美麗的自然風(fēng)光以及豐富的歷史遺跡—沙灘、荒漠、高山、古堡、宮殿、廟宇……讓我們隨著作者的講述來一場(chǎng)放松身心的視覺之旅吧！

I am not a born adventurer, which is not to say that the appeal of the unfamiliar or the power of nature is lost on me; nor do I suffer from a lack of curiosity. But I don’t like heights, and I’m not particularly fond of not knowing what comes next.

我不是一個(gè)天生的冒險(xiǎn)家，這并不是說未知事物或者自然力量對(duì)我沒有吸引力，也不是說我缺乏好奇心。但是我不喜歡高處，也不是特別喜歡那種不知道接下來會(huì)發(fā)生什么的感覺。

So when I find myself some 9,000 feet above sea level, tiptoeing along a narrow path on the side of Jebel Shams—the highest mountain in Oman and part of the Al Hajar range, which curves along the Arab country’s northern coast—I can’t help but think that I’ve come a long way. Below me are the unforgiving, Wadi Ghul1)rusty brown2)ravines of Wadi Ghul, known as the Grand Canyon of the Middle East; above, the3)jagged peaks seem to rise higher and higher into cloudless skies.

因此當(dāng)我發(fā)現(xiàn)自己身處海撥高度約9000英尺之上，踮著腳沿著杰貝爾夏姆斯山的一條狹窄通道行走時(shí)，我不禁想到自己已經(jīng)走了很長一段路。杰貝爾夏姆斯山是阿曼最高的山，也是艾爾哈賈爾山脈的一部分，這條山脈圍繞著阿拉伯國家的北部海岸。我的腳下就是無情的銹棕色瓦迪古勒溝壑，有“中東大峽谷”之稱；而往上看，則是鋸齒狀的山峰，節(jié)節(jié)攀升，仿佛一直延伸至無云的天際里。

“So do you feel like4)Indiana Jane yet?” asks my French boyfriend, Jerome, who is waiting for me to catch up. He grew up in the Alps and for him happiness is climbing up, skiing down or just looking at a mountain.

“有感覺自己像是女版印第安納·瓊斯嗎？”我的法國男友杰羅姆這樣問道，他正等著我跟上去。他從小在阿爾卑斯山長大，對(duì)于他而言，幸福就是攀山、滑雪或就只是盯著一座山看。

“A little,” I say, watching where I put my feet, as the so-called trail is barely5)perceptible. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t confirmed that the6)cragged facades look steeper than they really are. We reach a bend where the cliffs form a towering U-shape around us, then we sit on a7)boulder and eat an orange.

“有一點(diǎn)兒，”我邊回答道，邊留心著下腳處，因?yàn)槟撬^的小道幾乎微不可察。要不是確信崎嶇的山勢(shì)實(shí)際上并沒有看起來那么陡峭，我現(xiàn)在絕不會(huì)站在這里。接著我們到達(dá)了一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)彎處，峭壁在我們周圍形成了一個(gè)高聳的U形，我們坐在一塊大圓石上吃了個(gè)橙子。

We don’t say much; it feels somehow impolite to disturb the quiet. Two days before, we’d set out on the five-day, 500-mile road trip from Abu Dhabi, in the8)United Arab Emirates, to Muscat, the capital of Oman, in search of such serenity. That, and the diverse and rugged landscapes for which Oman is known, including towering mountain ranges, stretches of untouched desert and9)lush oases tucked in rocky canyons.

我們并沒有說太多話，總感覺打破這份寧靜是件不禮貌的事。