The Album : Chernobyl And Pripyat
So vodka the night before was to get the weekend started off right in Ukrainian style, although it didnt feel that way as we got to T5 early the next morning. I spent the flight reading up on what had gone on in april of 1986, a series of unfortunate events that ended up changing a routine reactor test into the worst nuclear accident of the 20th Century.
Weather in Kiev was bright and sunny and on arrival we were met by the driver, so forgetting the cash point stop that we would later regret, we started off on the journey through built up Kiev and out into the countryside on the way to Chernobyl.
The first checkpoint was about 30km away from the town, our passports were checked as well as the permits you need to enter the exclusion zone
The next few days would take us through the closer checkpoints and deeper into the zone,
Chernobyl and Pripyat were not what i had imagined. the power station although imposing, has a calm sense to it, probably because there are so few people around.
Pripyat was completely overgrown, i was expecting to feel a sense of isolation there but mother nature has reclaimed this city and although its deathly silent aside from the beeping of the Geiger counter it doesnt actually feel dangerous, not like the aftermath of a fire or earthquake.
Wandering around the buildings here is a very humbling experience, just imagining the bustling community that once inhabited the apartments, sat in the cinema and swam in the pool.
Weather in Kiev was bright and sunny and on arrival we were met by the driver, so forgetting the cash point stop that we would later regret, we started off on the journey through built up Kiev and out into the countryside on the way to Chernobyl.
The first checkpoint was about 30km away from the town, our passports were checked as well as the permits you need to enter the exclusion zone
The next few days would take us through the closer checkpoints and deeper into the zone,
Chernobyl and Pripyat were not what i had imagined. the power station although imposing, has a calm sense to it, probably because there are so few people around.
Pripyat was completely overgrown, i was expecting to feel a sense of isolation there but mother nature has reclaimed this city and although its deathly silent aside from the beeping of the Geiger counter it doesnt actually feel dangerous, not like the aftermath of a fire or earthquake.
Wandering around the buildings here is a very humbling experience, just imagining the bustling community that once inhabited the apartments, sat in the cinema and swam in the pool.