去伊拉克旅游是什么体验
When you're deciding your next vacation destination, it's unlikely that Iraq will be top of your list.
当你在决定下一个度假目的地时，伊拉克恐怕不会是你的首选。
The Middle Eastern country has long been synonymous with conflict or turmoil -- and the idea of wandering Baghdad snapping photos seems pretty far fetched.
长期以来，这个中东国家一直是冲突或动乱的代名词，而在巴格达四处游荡拍摄照片的想法似乎有点不靠谱。
But Norwegian photographer Christian Lindgren did just that -- jetting off to Iraq for an unconventional holiday, touring the country's historical sights, meeting locals and trying out great food.
但挪威摄影师克里斯蒂安·林德格伦做到——他乘飞机去伊拉克度过一个非常规的假期，游览该国的历史名胜，与当地人见面，品尝美味的食物。
Lindgren photographed the experience and shared the snaps on his social media and website.
林德格伦拍下了这次经历，并在他的社交媒体和网站上分享了这些照片。
He hopes people will see the images and rethink their view of Iraq.
他希望人们能看到这些照片，并重新思考他们对伊拉克的看法。
"People can actually see that the country is moving forward," he tells us.
他告诉我们:“人们可以看到这个国家正在向前发展。”
"The situation is getting a lot better these days, because what you see in the media is just the bad side of the country."
“现在的情况已经好多了，因为你在媒体上看到的只是这个国家不好的一面。”
Of course, it's not as easy as just hopping on a plane to Baghdad and hoping for the best.
当然，这并就是跳上飞往巴格达的飞机并期待最好的结果那么容易。
Visitors from many countries need to apply for a visa, and the process is complex.
来自许多国家的游客需要申请签证，这个过程会很复杂。
But Lindgren was used to navigating this kind of bureaucracy.
但林德格伦习惯于应对这种官方程序。
Iraq's not the first unconventional place he's visited.
伊拉克并不是他访问的第一个非常规国家。
The pharmaceutical worker spends all his free time on the road.
这位制药业工人把他所有的空闲时间都花在了路上。
"I tend to travel to the most untouristy destinations around the world," he says.
“我往往会去世界上最不吸引游客的地方旅游，”他说。
"I've been to so many touristy and famous places around the world, I'd just [become] fed up with the crowds, the disappointment, standing in queues and all the rubbish and garbage that people leave behind."
“我去过世界上很多旅游景点和著名的地方，我已经受够了人群、失望、排队以及人们留下的各种垃圾。”
Lindgren's spent time in Syria and navigated North Korea -- and recorded it all online.
林德格伦曾在叙利亚和朝鲜旅行，并在网上记录了这一切。
His website, Unusual Traveler, offers tips and tricks on how to visit slightly more "off-the-map" spots.
他的网站“不寻常的旅行者”提供了一些小贴士和技巧，教你如何参观更为“冷门”的景点。
Iraq was on his must-visit list for some time, but he says traveling to unconventional spots means being prepared to change plans at the last minute.
一段时间以来，伊拉克一直是他的必游之地，但他说，前往非常规地区意味着可能计划赶不上变化。
"I've been to all the surrounding countries," Lindgren adds.
林德格伦补充说:“我去过周围所有的国家，”
"So I know the history pretty well and I've always wanted to go, but the situation hasn't been good enough to visit it before now."
“所以我很了解这段历史，我一直想去，但在此之前，情况还没有好到可以去参观。”
And as for the visa process, it's got several stages.
至于签证程序，得有好几个阶段。
"It's probably one of the most difficult tourist visas you can get in the world at the moment," says Lindgren.
林德格伦说:“这可能是目前世界上最难拿到的旅游签证之一。”
The photographer explains that he needed to find a well-connected local contact who could hand his application over to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Baghdad.
这位摄影师解释说，他需要找到一位人脉广泛的当地联系人，他可以帮自己把申请递交给驻巴格达的外交部。
"And then they will check your background and if you have a good reason to visit -- and that takes up to three or four months to get it approved."
“然后他们会检查你的背景，看你是否有充分的理由去参观——这需要三到四个月的时间才能获得批准。”
Lindgren is friends with some Iraqi refugees back home in Norway who pointed him in the right direction.
林德格伦是挪威一些伊拉克难民的朋友，他们给他指出了正确的方向。
He also got in contact with locals via couch-surfing websites.
他还通过沙发客网站与当地人联系。
But once in Iraq, he wasn't allowed to stay on anyone's sofa.
但是一旦到了伊拉克，人们并不不允许他去睡任何人的沙发。
"When you go to Iraq, you're required to have a government licensed guide, all the time," he says.
他说:“当你去伊拉克的时候，你必须一直有政府颁发的执照的导游陪同，”
"You can walk around the cities on your own, but you have to have a guide to go between cities -- and you also have to stay in official hotels. It's very strict actually."
“你可以自己在城市里走一走，但你必须有一个导游陪着你在城市之间穿行——你还必须住在官方酒店里。实际上这是非常严格的。”
So how did these logistics impact on Lindgren's ability to take photos?
那么，这些规定是如何影响林德格伦拍照的能力的呢?
Surprisingly, he says, not at all.
意外的是，他说道，竟然并没有。
"I actually had no restriction at all taking photos in Iraq. No restriction of military, no restrictions of any historical places."
“事实上，我在伊拉克拍照没有任何限制。不受军事限制，不受任何历史地点的限制。”
Locals, he says, were welcoming and more than happy to post for photos.
他说，当地人很欢迎，而且非常乐意摆pose拍照片。
Even soldiers were keen.
甚至连士兵也很热心。
"I have a picture of a soldier in Samarra and he was really posing -- that's a picture I'm really happy with, because I wasn't expecting that at all. That's one of the really high secure places in the country."
我有一张萨马拉一名士兵的照片，他真的在摆姿势——我对这张照片很满意，因为我根本没想到会是这样。那是全国最安全的地方之一。”
While people Lindgren encountered were welcoming, he says they were also pretty taken aback.
林德格伦说，虽然他遇到的人都很欢迎他，但他们也都很吃惊。
"Everyone was surprised, even at the immigration at the airport, the woman was surprised to see a tourist visa," he recalls.
“每个人都很惊讶，即使是在机场的移民处，那个当值的女士看到旅游签证也很惊讶，”他回忆道。
"It was like the fifth, the sixth she's ever seen."
“这可能是她见过的第五或者第六次。”
Lindgren says his expectations of what daily life in Iraq would be like were far from the reality.
林德格伦说，他对伊拉克日常生活的期望与现实相去甚远。
What was the biggest shock?
最大的冲击是什么呢?
"How liberal it actually was, and how laid back. I was expecting... there's a lot of security -- like military security guards on every street corner -- but life goes on. All the restaurants, the coffee shops were completely full of life," Lindgren says.
“这座城市实际上是那么自由，那么悠闲。我曾经以为……那里有很多安全措施，就像每个街角都有军事保安一样，但是生活还在继续。所有的餐馆、咖啡馆都充满了生机，”林德格伦说道。
"Even during late evening, down the streets in Baghdad, people were super friendly, asking me for tea and coffee inviting me for their dinners.”
“即使是在深夜，在巴格达街头，人们都非常友好，请我喝茶和咖啡，邀请我共进晚餐。”
“I just wasn't expecting it to be so free, in a way, you can even go to like shops and buy alcohol, public shops in Baghdad."
“我只是没想到它会这么自由，你甚至可以去商店买酒，在巴格达的公共商店就可以。”
Lindgren's photographs depict Baghdad as vibrant, historical and cultured.
林德格伦的照片将巴格达描绘成一个充满活力、充满历史和文化气息的城市。
He snapped shots of a Ferris wheel in Baghdad's Al Zawra'a Dream Park, inside the rebuilt Baghdad zoo.
在重建后的巴格达动物园内，他在巴格达的艾尔.扎瓦梦幻公园里拍摄了摩天轮的照片。
He took photographs inside traditional tea houses, where locals gather to chat and unwind, and captured the atmosphere of bustling Baghdad markets.
他在当地人聚在一起聊天放松的传统茶馆里拍照，捕捉到了熙熙攘攘的巴格达市场的气氛。
There were armored cars everywhere, Lindgren says, but he acknowledges that he's used to this as he's experienced at visiting high-security spots.
林德格伦说，到处都是装甲车，但他承认，他已经习惯了这一点，因为他在参观高度警戒地点时已经有了经验。
"I've been going to places where the locals will tell you: 'Don't go to this area it's not safe, stay away' and that happened in Iraq as well. But in general -- in the whole trip to Iraq, I didn't have any safety concerns. I never felt unsafe at all."
“我去过一些地方，当地人会告诉你:'不要去这个不安全的地方，离远点’，这在伊拉克也发生过。但总的来说，在整个伊拉克之旅中，我没有任何安全顾虑。我从来没有感到不安全。”
The photographer also headed to the ancient capital of Ctesiphon, the last Persian capital in Iraq.
我们这位摄影师还前往了伊拉克最后一个波斯首都特希丰的古都。
He also boarded the train from Basra, in southern Iraq, to Baghdad -- a line opened in 2014.
他还登上了从伊拉克南部巴士拉开往巴格达的列车，这条线路于2014年开通。
Lindgren concedes it's easier for him to travel around as a man.
林德格伦承认，作为一个男人，他四处旅行要容易得多。
"You always get around much easier, you don't get that much hassle," he says.
他说:“你总是能更容易地四处走动，不会有那么多麻烦。”
But on his trip to Iraq, he was accompanied by two female friends.但是在他的伊拉克之行中，他有两个女性朋友陪同。
"They didn't have any problems at all either."
“她们也没有遇到任何问题。”
Many countries actively discourage their citizens from visiting Iraq.
有许多国家都积极劝阻本国公民不要访问伊拉克。
Since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein, the country has struggled with violence that in 2014-17 escalated into a civil war against the ISIS terror group.
自2003年以美国为首的联军推翻萨达姆·侯赛因以来，伊拉克一直在与暴力作斗争，2014年至2017年，暴力升级为针对ISIS恐怖组织的内战。
The US State Department warns of the risk of "terrorism, kidnapping and armed conflict."
美国国务院警告人们这里有“恐怖主义、绑架和武装冲突”的风险。
The Unusual Traveler's number one piece of advice for vacationers hoping to follow in his footsteps is to do thorough research.
这位不同寻常的旅行者给那些希望追随他脚步的度假者的第一条建议是做彻底的调查。
"You need to read up about the security situation a lot -- and you have to talk to quite a lot of locals before you go, because even if the media says it's too dangerous -- it's only the locals that really know the situation."
“你需要多了解安全形势——在你离开之前，你必须与相当多的当地人交谈，因为即使媒体说这太危险——只有当地人才真正了解形势。”
Lindgren's delighted that his photographs have been gaining traction online -- including in Iraq.
林德格伦很高兴自己的照片在网上获得了关注--甚至包括伊拉克。
"A lot of Iraqi media has been using them and has been really trying to show off that tourists are actually coming to the country now," he says.
他说:“许多伊拉克媒体一直在利用这些网站，并且一直在努力展示，现在确实有游客来这个国家旅游了。”
Lindgren also hopes that seeing his photographs on Instagram or on the blog gives Westerners an insight into a country they only associate with war.
林德格伦还希望，在照片墙或博客上看到自己的照片，能让西方人深入了解一个他们只会联想到战争的国家。
"People are just trying to live a completely normal life and go on with their life. So I hope people can actually see that Iraq is just not war anymore."
“人们只是想过一种完全正常的生活，继续他们的生活。所以我希望人们能看到伊拉克不再是只有战争。”
问题
去伊拉克的旅游签证往往需要多久才能获得批准呢？
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