(
课件网) To Hell And Back Adapted from Reader's Digest 202402 As a travel writer, visiting almost 150 countries over about 20 years, I have seen a lot of remarkable things. But I have never, ever seen or experienced anything like The Gates of Hell①， its flames dazzling② from the bottom of the crater③ 30 metres below, lighting up the Karakum Desert (卡拉库姆沙漠) with burning methane④. My visit nearly a decade ago was an unforgettable experience. In 2015, I landed in Tashkent, the bustling⑤ capital of Uzbekistan (乌兹别克斯坦), the country to the northeast of Turkmenistan, and spent some time exploring that country. I got a haircut and shave, a traditional style—meaning that the barber used an open flame to cut excess hairs from my face. I washed down hearty meals with cold local beer. After we crossed the border into Turkmenistan, the arid⑥， endless landscapes became even more vast. Finally, pulling into a flat spot tucked⑦ between two hills one afternoon—one of the most desolate places I've ever seen—we reached the Darvaza crater area, where we'd camp that night. First though, our guide told us, we'd be going to see the crater, eight kilometres away. Chasing the sunset, we raced through the Karakum Desert, driving hard on the road to hell. The route wasn't paved at all. We fishtailed⑧ through the sand and kicked up a rooster tail of dust that looked a mile long. Our Turkmen driver pushed the vehicle to breakneck⑨ speeds, music cranked. Eventually，we hustled⑩ toward a flaming crater on the horizon. And there it was. Seeing the flames, my companions and I exclaimed with excitement. “Hell，” he said in a Liverpool accent, “here we come！” I had expected the rotten-egg smell of sulphur (硫磺), but the gas was almost odourless . And when the shifting winds chased the heat out of the crater, it was an intense， dry sauna . I had to check my eyebrows to make sure they hadn't been singed off. I circumnavigated the crater several times under the darkening sky, standing perilously close to the lip. Looking back on my visit, in my mind, Darvaza will always be that moment the sun faded, and the stars came up. Standing there on the edge, the night cooling, so many miles of desert around me, in that faraway land. The flames below, fearsome and sublime ， burning through the gloam . On the brink of one of the earth's great curiosities, somewhere between the heavens and—yes—hell. ①The Gates of Hell 地狱之门(位于土库曼斯坦) ②dazzle v. 使目眩 ③crater n. 火山口 ④methane n. 甲烷 ⑤bustling adj. 熙熙攘攘的 ⑥arid adj. 干旱的 ⑦tuck v. 塞进 ⑧fishtail v. 摆尾行驶 ⑨breakneck adj. 飞速惊险的 ⑩hustle v. 奋力前行 odourless adj. 无气味的 sauna n. 桑拿 singe v. 烧焦 circumnavigate v. 环绕……航行 perilously adv. 充满危险地 fearsome adj. 很可怕的 sublime adj. 壮丽的 gloam n. 黄昏 on the brink of 在……的边缘 have seen an exploring where Chasing Eventually excitement odourless ... ...
