2abroad.eu - travel and photo

 

In our case, the tour was up to 10 people (I believe), 1 driver, 1 guide () and a government employee of some sort, responsible for your group. Our guide Tania was easy to deal with, knowledgeable and really enthusiastic about the matter and our government-guy Alexey was actually a guy who used to lived in Pripyat and was right there when it happened. Unfortunately, Alexey didn't speak any English, but Tania did and was absolutely willing to translate there and back.

Once you reach the Zone entrance, you have to undergo short passport-permit check. Zone Permit has to be applied for two weeks in advance and its data has to correspond with data in your passport, therefor new or other passport (if you have more than one) might be an issue. There is several checkpoints in the Zone, but for the other ones you don't even need to leave a car/bus. Once done with checkpoints, you will enter the Zone.

 

 

Typically, what you will see here is the town of Chernobyl, ghost city of Pripyat, DUGA Radar (Russian Woodpecker), the Chernobyl Power Plant and some smaller, but not less interesting points in between of these. Let's start with Chernobyl, since whole area is named after it and it's also the only kinda-inhabited spot, where even you can stay for 1 or 2 nights and stay safe (unless you get eaten by a mutant-monster-hamster or something similar).

Chernobyl used to be a little sleepy town until Soviets decided to pick on this area of Ukraine and turn it into sort of 'Silicon Valley' of Soviet Union. Of course in that era it actually meant to build 12 unsafe (as it turns out) nuclear reactors around the place and spice it up with some anti-nuclear-missile radars stations, that look like something you might find in sci-fi movie from 60's (high-budget one). All of this built in the name of 'peace' and of course ... whoever the current insane dictator was. And as many times before (and after), they managed to ruin the whole thing, terribly.

Anyways, bright and shiny future was ahead of Chernobyl at that point. No one knew, that it's going to be way too bright and it will eventually destroy entire project of 'Nuclear Valley'.

 

*if you are interested in what, how and why exactly the accident happened, just go to the very end of this article and find links to 2 documentaries (youtube)

Nowadays, 30 years later, still no one can't stay in Chernobyl area for more than couple weeks. Yet, there is a hotel, where you can stay (I think just 1 or 2 nights tops), you will get a lunch here, because all food and supplies have to be delivered from outside of the Zone and no local sources can be used for food etc. And last, but not least - there is the last real washroom too, so you better use it, otherwise you might end up somewhere in radioactive woods, with our ass uncomfortably close to radioactive ground :-) Other than that, you can see some interesting places in Chernobyl and around it, for instance the port, Chernobyl monument and some more ...