世界上最熱的地方 達納基爾大沙漠

It was a searing 43℃ in the shade, but Dawit, my young Ethiopian guide, told me that I was lucky, as temperatures here in the Danakil can top 50℃.

在樹蔭下，灼熱的溫度高達43攝氏度，但是我年輕的埃塞俄比亞嚮導達維特告訴我我很幸運，因爲達納基爾這裏的溫度可以高達50攝氏度。

One of the more remote spots on the planet, northeastern Ethiopia's Danakil Depression holds the title as the hottest inhabited place on Earth, with an average year round temperature of 34℃, and, as Dawit informed me, is more commonly known as "The Gateway to Hell".

作爲地球上最遠的地方之一，位於埃塞爾比亞東北部的達納基爾凹地正如標題所說，是世界上最熱的居住地。就如Dawit告訴我的，這裏每年平均氣溫34攝氏度，俗稱"地獄之門"。

You'd think that the harsh landscape would leave it devoid of visitors, let alone human habitation, but this is the surprising home of a disappearing cultural tradition: the camel caravans that carry salt through the brutal desert, led by the nomadic Afar tribe.

你可能會認爲，很少會有遊客光顧這粗糙的地貌，更不用說居住人類了，但是，這是一種正在消失的文化傳統的驚人之鄉：遠處的遊牧部落，帶領着駝鹽的駱駝商隊穿過荒蠻的沙漠。

The Danakil Depression, formed by the collision of several tectonic plates on the Ethiopian, Eritrean and Djibouti border, is not only a sizzling cauldron but also a place of stunning geological wonders.

達納基爾凹地是由位於埃塞俄比亞、吉布提和厄立特里亞的幾個地質板塊碰撞形成的，它不僅僅是一個極熱的蒸鍋，也是一個充滿驚人地理奇觀的地方。

The majority of travellers who come here do so to visit Erta Ale, a 600m-high and highly active volcano that contains the largest living lava lake in the world.

來這裏的大部分遊客都會遊覽爾塔阿雷火山，這座600米高的火山相當活躍，擁有世界上最大的活體溶岩湖。

The volcanic lunar landscape resembles a surrealist painting, with sulphurous hot springs, lava beds, hypothermal pools, and a mix of sulphates, iron oxides and salt deposits all combining to create a hallucinogenic palette of otherworldly formations and colours.

火山月球景觀就像一幅超現實繪畫，擁有硫磺溫泉，岩溶牀，低溫地和硫酸鹽，鐵氧氧化物以及鹽混合的沉積物，所有這些混合創造出一個超凡脫俗的調色板。

The tribal Afar people have inhabited this arid moonscape for centuries, eking out a living by extracting salt from the mineral-laden lakes that dot the Danakil and transporting it across the desert by camel caravans.

數百年來，遊牧部落的人生活在這個乾旱的月球表面上，通過從點綴在達納基爾其間的富含礦物質的湖中提取鹽並且用駱駝商隊帶出沙漠勉強爲生。

Similar to the Kurds, they inhabit an area spanning several countries, yet have no political rights or borders they can call their own.

如同庫爾德人一樣，他們跨越數個世紀生活在這片區域上，卻沒有政治權利或者稱之爲自己的邊境。

Although these traditional nomadic herders are pastoralists, they are notorious for being fierce, proud, independent, and not exactly hospitable – perhaps mirroring the unforgiving terrain that surrounds them.

儘管這些傳統的遊牧牧民是愛國主義者，他們卻因爲兇殘，自傲，獨立以及並不友好而臭名昭著，也許這也映照出環繞着他們的嚴峻的地形。

Dawit navigated us via a four-wheel drive jeep to Lake Assal in the east of the Danakil Depression, where a team of Afar were just finishing loading their camels.

Dawit開着四輪驅動的吉普車帶我們到了達納基爾凹地東部的阿薩勒湖，在這兒，一隊商人剛剛給駱駝卸完貨。

The salt trade here is taxing, with workers using basic picks and axes to chop and cut the bricks of salt while standing out in the extreme heat for just 150 Ethiopian birr per day.

這裏的鹽類貿易正在徵稅，工人使用基本的鎬和斧頭切鹽塊。而在烈日下站立一天的他們，每天只有150埃塞俄比亞比爾的收入。