出国游杀手：最难得到签证的国家TOP5

 　　Last summer, I completed a 50-year mission: I had officially, and legally, visited every recognized country on earth.

　　去年夏天，我完成了长达五十年的旅行任务：我真正的，在法律认可的情况下，游遍了世界上的所有国家。

　　I’ve had hundreds of adventures inside these countries, but for certain countries, the adventure started before I could even get in. Here are the five countries for which I had the hardest time obtaining visas.

　　在这些国家里我经历了许许多多的事情，可是有些困难在没踏入这些的国家之前就已经开始了。这里是我总结的5个最不容易拿到签证的国家。

　　出国游杀手：最难得到签证的国家TOP5

　　Saudi Arabia

　　沙特阿拉伯

　　Saudi Arabia was truly tough. I tried, from 2000 to 2009, without success, or even explanation for my failure, to secure a tourist visa to the Desert Kingdom—though at the time the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities¹ had no history of granting tourist visas to non-Muslims. Because I had to get in to complete my quest, I worried that I might have to convert to Islam, memorize the Koran, study with a mullah, attend a mosque², and forget I was an ultra-liberal Jewish atheist³.

　　沙特阿拉伯真的很难拿到签证，为了弄到张去往这个沙漠王国的旅游签证，我在2000年到2009年之间一直没有停止过申请，但从来没有成功过，甚至连拒签理由都没有。那时，沙特旅游和文物管理委员会从来没有给非穆斯林的人给过旅游签证。但是我必须完成自己的追求，我担心自己也许怕是要去皈依伊斯兰教了，熟背《可兰经》，向毛拉（伊斯兰教神学家）学习，去清真寺，忘记我曾是个极端自由主义的犹太无神论者。

　　Chad

　　乍得

　　Chad required, and still requires, the visa applicant⁴ to submit a letter from a sponsor or hotel in the country’s capital, N’Djamena, inviting⁵ him or her to visit, and setting forth⁶ the relationship and the purpose of the trip. When I went in 2012, only two or three hotels there were issuing such a letter.

　　申请乍得的签证，你（仍然）需要提供出自赞助人或者旅馆的邀请证明，而且必须来自首都恩贾梅纳。除此之外还要提供此行目的以及同行人关系的相关材料。我2012年去的时候，只有两到三个旅店可以出具这些证明。

　　Russia

　　俄罗斯

　　Russia wouldn’t have made this list but for my fourth visit there in 2010, when I discovered the liability of being an American seeking to enter Putin’s land: While most of the rest of the world’s peoples can apply for a visa to Russia using a simple single-page form of 21 questions, U.S. citizens must use an arduous⁷ “new form implemented⁸ on the basis of reciprocity” that has 41 often-intrusive questions.

　　俄罗斯其实没有必要进入这张排名表，但是在我2010年第四次去的时候，我发现了作为一个美国人踏入普京领地是有多么的困难：世界上的其他国家申请俄罗斯签证只需要完成印满单页的21题申请表。而美国人必须费尽心力完成一张“全新的的表格，所有问题都建立在互惠的基础上”并有41题具有很强干扰性的问题。

　　Sudan

　　苏丹

　　Sudan was a hard nut to crack. From 2004 to 2007, whenever I asked the Sudanese Embassy in Washington about the status of my application, I got the same terse⁹ reply: “It is being considered in Khartoum.”

　　苏丹真的是难啃的骨头。在2004年到2007年之间，每当我询问位于华盛顿的苏丹领事馆我的签证进程，我总是得到同样简洁的答复："喀土穆还在考虑中。"

　　Angola

　　安哥拉

　　Angola was the most difficult of all the countries I visited. Its stingy visa policy perhaps reflected a widely held belief that foreign visitors only want to steal the country’s diamonds. Furthermore, Angola’s government granted Americans almost no tourist visas for years because of American support for Angolan rebels in a 27-year civil war that began in 1975 and killed more than half a million people.

　　安哥拉是我去过的国家中最难获得签证的，他们不肯放开签证办理政策，也许正反映了他们小气狭隘的想法：外国游客来到这个国家只是想来盗取钻石的。此外，安哥拉也禁止了来自美国的一切旅游签证，因为美国支持了1975年的安哥拉反叛军，这场战争维持了27年，近50万的人牺牲了。

1 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

2 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

3 atheist   

n.无神论者

参考例句：

• She was an atheist but now she says she's seen the light.她本来是个无神论者，可是现在她说自己的信仰改变了。
• He is admittedly an atheist.他被公认是位无神论者。

4 applicant   

n.申请人，求职者，请求者

参考例句：

• He was the hundredth applicant for the job. 他是第100个申请这项工作的人。
• In my estimation, the applicant is well qualified for this job. 据我看, 这位应征者完全具备这项工作的条件。

5 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

8 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

9 terse   

adj.(说话，文笔)精炼的，简明的

参考例句：

• Her reply about the matter was terse.她对此事的答复简明扼要。
• The president issued a terse statement denying the charges.总统发表了一份简短的声明，否认那些指控。