Where the apocalypse never left: looking back at a trip to Chernobyl
Back in 2013 - I took perhaps my first and only “big” vacation. Like many modern American workers, I had been hoarding my Paid-Time-Off (PTO) days like a dragon, afraid to waste a single earned break. Somehow - that October - things aligned and I built up the bravery to take off not one, not two, but three entire weeks of vacation at the same time.
The funniest thing - as worried as I was to leave work for ‘so long’ - not one single thing had changed in the time I was gone.
On that trip - I was able to go to Milan, Paris, Kiev, and Istanbul - one long and amazing journey!
In Kiev, while a wonderful place on its own, I also had the chance to accomplish something of incredible fascination for me for years - visiting Chernobyl.
As those knowledgeable about history and those who have seen the Chernobyl HBO miniseries would know - this was the site of a nuclear disaster back in April 1986. The #4 reactor at the Chernobyl power station exploded - sending plumes of radioactive particles into the air and causing the evacuation of an entire city and the deaths of many - both those days and with the long-term effects of the radiation.
These days - the power station itself lies within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone - a restricted government area covering 1,000 square miles which is still off-limits to human habitation.
Getting to Chernobyl in 2013 (and today too - after the pandemic subsides, of course) is extremely easy and is perhaps the best price-to-experience travel adventure value you can get.
SoloEast (https://www.tourkiev.com/) offers an $86 dollar all day excursion to the powerplant, and the town of Pripyat (map). These prices haven’t changed much at all since I was there seven years ago.
Let’s set forth!
The drive from the center of Kiev to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone takes about two hours - frequently on roads which look quite a lot like this one - empty but verdant.
Here - our group has our first photo-op with the sign welcoming us to Chernobyl.
(Note the gorgeous Soviet iconography celebrating the area’s industrial aspirations)
We stop at a small memorial park dedicated to the event - with this ethereal angel monument.
(Don’t take photos from inside of vehicles)
This area features the names of the many small villages which were evacuated in the creation of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone - like crosses in a graveyard.
Here - you can see one of these evacuated villages - kept in place as a reminder.
Further along - we are greeted with another monument - and an absolutely stunning mural depicting exploding nuclear control rods and birds.
A powerful monument to the workers and firefighters from those fateful days.
(The Ukrainian inscription reads: “To Those Who Saved The World” …)
(In those dark days - the world hung in the balance)
Further along - we see the first of many ruins. This one is a school - perhaps a kindergarten. There are still hotspots of radiation here on the ground, so it’s best not to pick anything up.
This one looks a little bit creepy - but this is just a child’s toy and still-open book.
It’s not creepy at all, just sad and forgotten. These children are likely in their mid-late 30s now - I wonder if they think about this toy sometimes.
A cat toy and a bear toy - looking into the room… Waiting, patiently, for their children.
(I hope that one day, all of these items can be respectfully displayed in a beautiful museum)
Sheet music…
A nap room. The mattresses likely had to be thrown away by the liquidators.
Heres a poem or song about a cat and mouse. This one is to build up speaking skills and focusing on the letter (Ш). The poem is in Russian - as much of the education in Soviet times (at least in this area of Ukraine) was in the Russian language. This still used to be the case in recent decades, though the cultural movement is now leaning to the learning of the Ukrainian language instead.
(…
The cat named Meow has a bowl of kasha [buckwheat meal].
The kitty licks.
The mouse has a piece of cheese.
The mouse goes into the hole!
The cat is by the hole, but the mouse has left.
Oh, kitty, kitty!
…)
This graffiti asks you to leave…
(…Note: above the graffiti is a cute rhyming poem in Russian. My translation sounds a lot more somber and meditative.. Also - a “rook” is a type of bird..
Ten small baby rooks
their mouths open, and yelling.
Here comes mommy rook,
To comfort the baby birds.
She’s brought along some worms -
and that’s dinner for everyone.
…)
Leaving the kindergarden, we begin to approach some interesting industrial objects. Here - an unfinished cooling tower.
The abandoned construction (or current deconstruction - I can’t tell..) of another industrial complex.
Finally - the object we have all been waiting for comes into view. If you’re familiar with Chernobyl - the “New Safe Confinement” (object on the very left) was finally finished in July 2019. Since these photos are from October 2013 - we see it in the middle of its construction.
The long white building is the power station - with reactor #4 middle-left - and other reactors (right middle, right) still intact. The last reactor on this site, #3, continued to be in operation until the year 2000. Decommissioning efforts of the plant are still underway and will be for a long time.
This is the under-construction “New Safe Confinement”. Today - this structure has been moved over the reactor - and will shield it for the next 100 years.
Below, is the same structure in 2017. (Not my photo)
You can read more about image at the BBC.
I highly recommend this video as well - if you are interested in the final phases of its construction!
Now - I think that the following is very cool, though you may think that being close to a nuclear reactor is very uncool.
If you’ve seen the Chernobyl TV series - you will instantly recognize this place. Our group was only here for five minutes - though there ‘are’ workers here who are performing security and decommissioning tasks.
I even managed a selfie.
(I know what you’re thinking - but I was losing my hair even before coming here…)
From here - we move on to the town of Pripyat - where the workers and their families lived. It was founded in 1970 - just 16 years before the disaster.
When the people left - their city was virtually brand-new.
(Note again - the beautiful Soviet city signs)
This residential building is in remarkably good condition - considering that it has been untouched for 30+ years.
This style of architecture will be recognizable to anyone from the Eastern Bloc - probably similar to the buildings that many grew up in. This was a particularly interesting experience for me - seeing similar neighborhood layouts to those that I could recognize from my youth - abandoned…
This is the Hotel Polissya.
Polissya is the name of the administrative region that the Chernobyl area is based in.
A restaurant!
You can find some interesting graffiti around here - such as this gentleman ascending these stairs.
A rather ominous structure in the midst of these trees...
We are finally in the famous abandoned theme park! Here - some bumper cars.
Here is the famous Ferris Wheel! The cabins are still gorgeous and joyfully yellow.
(at first - it looks like the seats could be the silhouettes of riders)
And a swing attraction.
This is some sort of stadium. Though - it’s falling apart quite quickly, not sure it’ll last as long as the Colisseum in Rome.
A ghost of Chernobyl?
(Don’t worry - just some guy)
This next picture is meant to show a residential building behind this thicket of trees. See if you can find it!
Some kind of administrative / office building.
Another tree-lined road where nature has taken back control.
Next - we visit a school. This is quite a highlight of the tour - since we got to wander around this large abandoned structure without much supervision. I’m surprised everyone got back to the bus.
Maybe the ghost was just a lost tourist.. some say he’s still out there… looking for his bus…
This particular school has a pool and a basketball court. We start there.
And now to the pool…
(Astute players of Call of Duty: Warzone will recognize this structure immediately)
Further along - we enter the academic areas of the school..
(Not one thing in this photo is in focus… But somehow… It feels fitting)
(Government distribution of gas masks. This image takes some more meaning in 2020)
(..There is no higher rank/calling in the world,
than to be a Working Person..)
This is a banner spelling out the lyrics to a song familiar to every single Russian-speaking child before and since…
(..May there always be Mama…
May there always be Me…)
The Communist bulletin board here references the 27th meeting of the Communist Party of the USSR, which took place February 25 - March 6 of 1986, just months before the Chernobyl incident.
(The ribbon on the bottom says: …If it’s the “government’s” that means - it’s mine…)
From some vantage points - Pripyat doesn’t look like very abandoned. Just another Soviet city. Maybe - the people are just on vacation and in a few days, will come home….
(Though - they won’t come home. Not to these homes, anyways.)
That concludes the trip! After this - we got on the bus - tired - and rode back to Kiev…
This is one of the cooler excursions that I have ever been on and would be glad to go again if ever I have the opportunity. SoloEast now also offers an overnight tour to the Exclusion Zone - which sounds both scary and exciting.
Lots of people - especially Russians and Ukrainians - are especially curious why I would choose to come to this place. Perhaps - less so now, that the show has been made.
The reason - I think that it is both exciting and important as a human to visit a site where - on that Saturday 26 April, 1986 - our world was visited by a truly surreal power that showed us how small we were.
And - with the work of the heroes of that day - how big we can be, too.