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A summer walk in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
Last summer, on my way back from my traditional summer trip in Siberia, I decided to stop in Ukraine. There I visited Kiev and also took a two days tour in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.
Despite my love for abandoned and other eerie places, I must say that for years I was rather reluctant to visit the Exclusion Zone, not because of any fear of radiations, but because I was afraid that the place had become some sort of tourist trap for people looking for a cheap thrill, and because I prefer the less known spots. Anyway, since I was in Ukraine, I couldn't pass the opportunity. On the negative side : The place is indeed becoming some sort of tourist trap. There is even a souvenir shop at the entry of the zone ! And like in any tourist trap, they are not specially honest (they sell postcards and, for an extra, they propose to post it for you from Chernobyl... I still haven't received mine). Also, in the most iconic spots (like the Pripyat sign, the ferris wheel or the power plant itself), there were quite a few groups at the same time. Obviously it's not as crowded as Venice or Times Square, but still. On the positive side : I didn't expect to see so many things in just two days, and to have such freedom in some spots, like roaming freely despite all the risks (and I am not talking about the radiations here, but about the crumbling buildings). Of course, to be able to see so many things, we never stayed for a very long time in each spot. I wished I could have stayed a little longer sometimes. Also, despite all the "tourist trap" thing, the place still retain all of its eeriness, especially when the Geiger counter suddenly goes mad (the levels of radioactivity vary greatly from one spot to another). If you ever want to visit the zone, I can only recommend you to take at least a two days tour. I think most tourists go for a one day tour, they are indeed a lot cheaper, but in just a few hours I guess you only have the time to see the most iconic spots which happen to be the most "crowded" too. In two days, we saw these iconic places, but also a lot of other places, more lonely and less seen in all the documentaries or threads about Pripyat all over the internet. If I ever come back to Chernobyl, I think I will go for an even longer tour (at least three days, or why not a week ?). Here is a video I edited from I what I shot during the tour : The pics : 1- A vehicle that was used by the liquidators to clear contaminated waste : https://i.imgur.com/MVE4Slf.jpg 2- https://i.imgur.com/wEIwZBF.jpg 3- https://i.imgur.com/UQrGRkj.jpg 4- https://i.imgur.com/InYrro0.jpg 5- This used to be a theatre : https://i.imgur.com/b7Ku6To.jpg 6- https://i.imgur.com/l52vqFh.jpg 7- https://i.imgur.com/xLU4IaE.jpg 8- https://i.imgur.com/JACiuWW.jpg 9- https://i.imgur.com/F0QECPi.jpg 10- https://i.imgur.com/l8QtxjO.jpg 11- In front of the Chernobyl sign : https://i.imgur.com/2jFEPrK.jpg 12- https://i.imgur.com/N1Q9Ls4.jpg 13- Trumpet of Apocalypse ? https://i.imgur.com/Lyw1ux2.jpg 14- The names of all the towns evacuated forever in 1986 : https://i.imgur.com/xW0YxDZ.jpg 15- On the other side : https://i.imgur.com/dpNLdeG.jpg 16- Pripyat : https://i.imgur.com/HxrMkbB.jpg 17- Chernobyl : https://i.imgur.com/3Hdk5BC.jpg 18- Some kind of monument to the other nuclear disasters : https://i.imgur.com/ste0KNx.jpg 19- https://i.imgur.com/Szez7sE.jpg 20- It's probably the only statue of Lenin left in Ukraine ! https://i.imgur.com/fb0FOuw.jpg 21- Contaminated shipwrecks : https://i.imgur.com/gKuje14.jpg 22- https://i.imgur.com/TUJtmGX.jpg 23- A monument to the liquidators : https://i.imgur.com/vqomae0.jpg 24- Contaminated robots that were used to clear the nuclear wastes : https://i.imgur.com/l7E73m7.jpg 25- https://i.imgur.com/QjM9XQ5.jpg 26- https://i.imgur.com/U6SQNRB.jpg 27- https://i.imgur.com/k2qeYgX.jpg 28- Local monument to the soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War (WW2) : https://i.imgur.com/gUbd0wL.jpg 29- Here, 1.52 microsievert/hour. The natural radioactivity in Ukraine is between 0.15 and 0.30 microsievert/hour, but 1.52 is still not really dangerous. https://i.imgur.com/nVUe7bA.jpg 30- The radioactivity varies greatly from one spot to another. The highest levels are measured on certain grounds (especially on the moss) : https://i.imgur.com/SGMXvNd.jpg 31- https://i.imgur.com/7thJKNx.jpg 32- https://i.imgur.com/ctSlVUU.jpg 33- https://i.imgur.com/ryLvLsa.jpg 34- https://i.imgur.com/eicmYtr.jpg 35- https://i.imgur.com/P9oVI7k.jpg To be continued (lot of pics to post)... |
Interesting! What is new to me is that Chernobyl is so big, that you need to explore it in a couple days. I figured it was about the size of a small town or a city neighborhood. It sounds like it's much bigger.
By the way, you need to fix your link for #7. |
fantastic - thanks for sharing - looking forward to more.
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I guess no pics from inside the power plant!! :D
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thanks for the photos and advice.
one of these days i want to go there. - |
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36- https://i.imgur.com/Aigim5e.jpg 37- https://i.imgur.com/uefphLs.jpg 38- https://i.imgur.com/6RekCV3.jpg 39- https://i.imgur.com/ni4QDDY.jpg 40- https://i.imgur.com/djb3NPE.jpg 41- https://i.imgur.com/BMEmR0u.jpg 42- https://i.imgur.com/MXplVqJ.jpg 43- https://i.imgur.com/S1m3Ajp.jpg 44- https://i.imgur.com/1EsxY9G.jpg 45- https://i.imgur.com/kgoD1LN.jpg 46- https://i.imgur.com/aZxr6zo.jpg 47- https://i.imgur.com/DI3GV05.jpg 48- https://i.imgur.com/e03cd7n.jpg 49- https://i.imgur.com/hK9Pw2A.jpg 50- https://i.imgur.com/r7MC2FK.jpg 51- https://i.imgur.com/rqBINmO.jpg 52- https://i.imgur.com/PCEYHkR.jpg 53- https://i.imgur.com/BE0NFfL.jpg 54- https://i.imgur.com/7Vqn8y0.jpg 55- Portraits of the first responders (workers of the power plant and firefighters) who intervened right after the accident. They all died within weeks. These men are heroes, they prevented an even more serious disaster which would have affected the whole world : https://i.imgur.com/ITYruDf.jpg To be continued... |
This led to the Khitomer accords right?
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https://i.imgur.com/dBJZj2P.jpg 57- https://i.imgur.com/gSFBuSu.jpg 58- https://i.imgur.com/nQFFMCr.jpg 59- This used to be a supermarket : https://i.imgur.com/nTCMqnr.jpg 60- https://i.imgur.com/FNhlFN9.jpg 61- https://i.imgur.com/dNbf1CJ.jpg 62- https://i.imgur.com/rtQwkTM.jpg 63- https://i.imgur.com/eS1FFQC.jpg 64- https://i.imgur.com/8htTxwb.jpg 65- https://i.imgur.com/6l3icR7.jpg 66- https://i.imgur.com/nPJN6gv.jpg 67- https://i.imgur.com/JQWkCTQ.jpg 68- https://i.imgur.com/u4dupnW.jpg 69- https://i.imgur.com/9wPD4MH.jpg 70- https://i.imgur.com/3NIGGRk.jpg 71- https://i.imgur.com/dJ7zjXO.jpg 72- Now that's radioactive ! https://i.imgur.com/RK9dtgM.jpg |
Fascinating.
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They didn't even take time to tear down the last statue picturing the dude. However, it is said that this guy was actually a rather honest man. You know, 'intègre' as we say in our language, but a bit like mad Robespierre that would decapitate anyone not as fiercely honest as he was. Though their Russian Lenin was definitely softer than our Robespierre... I would've been shocked by a Stalin statue, but this one is still ok. You got to have respect for intègre men. They own a rare virtue in this world. |
You could never get me to go there.
Interesting pics, though. |
The "Duga" radar near Chernobyl was one of the two of its kind operated by the Soviet Union during the 1970's and 1980's. Back then, it was obviously a secret military place (these radars were used for the missile defense of USSR). This place is huge, and as abandoned as all the other structures in the Chernobyl zone.
93- https://i.imgur.com/43qPLEL.jpg 94- https://i.imgur.com/MkWUz2M.jpg 95- https://i.imgur.com/yFPRFNA.jpg 96- https://i.imgur.com/7jyFzB4.jpg 97- https://i.imgur.com/CWdrzSA.jpg 98- https://i.imgur.com/u3V5T4K.jpg 99- Going inside the command centre : https://i.imgur.com/a8AYqsS.jpg 100- https://i.imgur.com/GrRWrlR.jpg 101- https://i.imgur.com/w4LXO4Q.jpg 102- https://i.imgur.com/Bhzzsyz.jpg 103- https://i.imgur.com/1vdXeX8.jpg 104- https://i.imgur.com/wVbTmef.jpg 105- https://i.imgur.com/ROrte65.jpg |
Thanks for the tour! Never seen or heard about this huge Duga radar.
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106- Inside the training room of the young officers who were in charge of the Duga radar :
https://i.imgur.com/IKdIxrt.jpg 107- https://i.imgur.com/0GfUjET.jpg 108- https://i.imgur.com/E3h0cZS.jpg 109- A model of the town built near the Duga radar to accomodate the soldiers who worked on the site : https://i.imgur.com/asnLoz6.jpg 110- Inside an apartment block : https://i.imgur.com/Tzf27Ac.jpg 111- https://i.imgur.com/iIGtaTo.jpg 112- https://i.imgur.com/YhMEZrb.jpg 113- https://i.imgur.com/oAjt2ld.jpg 114- A playground : https://i.imgur.com/vxaO2C2.jpg 115- A wooden plane for the kids : https://i.imgur.com/YlFjRMG.jpg To be continued... |
Awesome shots mate!
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Thank you for the tour !
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Thanks for the comments !
Inside a school : 116- https://i.imgur.com/XK45btv.jpg 117- https://i.imgur.com/E1g7eTX.jpg 118- https://i.imgur.com/eS5TKn9.jpg 119- https://i.imgur.com/UPBpfcf.jpg 120- https://i.imgur.com/IcEjo7O.jpg 121- https://i.imgur.com/CBjdSiz.jpg 122- https://i.imgur.com/vYcQo30.jpg 123- https://i.imgur.com/YNo7dhB.jpg 124- https://i.imgur.com/dKu7nP6.jpg 125- https://i.imgur.com/sstOgU3.jpg 126- https://i.imgur.com/LFEzC2A.jpg To be continued... |
Almost each and every picture in this thread touched my heart. I felt so emotional when I saw that broken doll. :(
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I went back in 2010 when only 17 per day were allowed in, and did a private tour, 2 days total. You made it out to the Cricket array, which I wanted to see and was forbidden back then. Spent the night in a crappy hotel that you were not allowed to leave in the town of Chernobyl. (which is different the Pripyat, the abandoned town).
Sorry to hear it is getting tourist trappy. It really was an experience when you were the only ones around. |
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