My Birthday Adventure To Chernobyl

Chernobyl has intrigued me for years, I did a lot of research and finally found a reputable firm called Solo East that ticked all the boxes. We decided to make it my Birthday trip, I'm sure most people think of Paris, Las Vegas or The maldives but for me Chernobyl was always going to be a top choice. Direct flights from London Heathrow to Kiev were inexpensive and after finding a comfortable hotel, we were all ready to go.

Jewish New Year

The airport was an interesting experience, on arrival at the departure lounge we discovered hundreds of Hasidic Jewish men and Rabbis many chanting, praying and fastidiously reading from "The Torah", a Hebrew bible. It turned out to be the annual pilgrimage to the Ukraine for the Jewish new year festival of Rosh Hashanah the founder of The Breslov Hasidic movement is buried in Uman. It was thought provoking talking to some of the young guys about their lives, beliefs and the importance of the annual pilgrimage, they were very open and enlightened me on a religion I knew little about

Kiev

The journey to Kiev was typically grey and very eastern block, the city itself had historic and beautiful architecture and of course many drinking establishments that we thoroughly explored!

Independence square had an impressive dancing fountain that regularly incorporated AC/DC tunes to add to the ambience. It was strange not to see any shops but we later discovered that they were all underground, our hotel was The Sunflower which was basic but also pleasant and situated very close to all amenities.

Journey To Chernobyl

Solo-East had instructed us to meet in the main square at 08:00 AM, they picked us up in an eight seater mini-bus, our guide was Igor and spoke perfect English, giving us numerous interesting facts on the way. The journey took about two hours and was comparatively bleak, especially the last leg, having no other traffic on the road apart from the odd military vehicle. On arrival at the exclusion zone we had to pass through strict bureaucratic passport and security checks, after this we still had a further twenty kilometres drive to the first destination.

Villages

Kopachi is a small village bordering Chernobyl that had to be demolished and buried due to the high amounts of radiation, the only surviving building is the much photographed kindergarten, the beds are still present and various toys are strewn around, some are carefully placed for photo opportunity. The next village had substantially more buildings and decaying vehicles present, there is evidence of small shops and quite a grand building that resembled a town hall. Nature is slowly reclaiming the structures but a couple are still fairly intact as a handful of residents chose to return, carrying on as normal and risking the consequences.

Sad Events

Heading towards Chernobyl town, we were shown various areas of importance, the fire station where the first responders set out on their final doomed mission being a prominent feature. A memorial was built to commemorate their bravery incorporating the liquidators who also perished in the disaster.

We came to the infamous railway bridge that now known as "The Bridge Of Death" where the unforgivably late response of the authorities meant that the people of Pripyat were allowed to watch the reactor burn and all subsequently perished. It was an emotional experience, knowing that everyone here could have been saved if beaurocracy had not taken precedence

Sarchophagus

Arriving at the Sarchophagus you get to see what a truly gigantic structure it is, covering the size of twelve football pictures and well over a hundred metres tall. Reactor number four is now completely sealed allowing us to walk close to the area, the general radiation is considered safe and on the whole much lower than you would experience on a long haul flight. The Staue of Hands, situated near the massive structure represents the strength and bravery of all those involved in the huge mission to clear up the disaster.

Mutant Catfish

Igor then walked us the cooling pond close to the reactor, in the water you can clearly see some of the biggest catfish imaginable, urban legend implies that this is due to radiation, but more than likely it is due to having no predators (e.g people who fish for them) and Igor feeding them dog biscuits everyday!

Pripyat

The ghost town of Pripyat was next, weather and looting has taken its toll on the buildings but a lot of possessions remain and are a reminder that ordinary people once lived here but you also get the picture of a hurried evacuation.

We were able to walk through the ruins and it was possible to see most places including the schools, hospital, sports centre and The Palace of Culture. All around were artistic reminders of Communist propaganda and how the East was completely cut off from the West during The Cold War.

Schools had piles of exercise books laying about, open with writing in them and decaying toys strewn everywhere. One room in the secondary school was assigned as the military training room and hundreds of gas masks lay abandoned on the floor, making it a bleak reminder of Communism and The Cold War.

Hospital

The hospital was fairly grim and had been clearly ransacked for pharmaceuticals and supplies, long empty corridors with medical equipment littering the rooms were present on every floor. The post natal ward was particularly bare compared with our standards it had just a handful of cots lined up in a cold, unloving manner. The basement, containing the firemen's uniforms was inaccessible from the main building, for this you have to enter via a tiny outside stairwell leading down through dark tunnels underneath the hospital.

hospital basement

The Palace of Culture

For enjoyment the residents in Pripyat would go to their Palace of Culture, these were focal points in The Soviet Union used to promote political propaganda, displaying to the west that good times were readily available. The swimming pool, gymnasium, cinema, theatre, library, dance floor and boxing gym were all situated here, everything stands heavily damaged and vandalised. We could walk around these areas freely as health and safety apparently is not an issue.

The amusement park with the ferris wheel and dodgems was our final destination in Pripyat, it stands eerily swaying in the wind and is by far the most photographic point in the abandoned town.

Duga

Our last place of interest was a massive Cold War radar system known as Duga, situated approximately ten kilometres from Pripyat in the middle of the red forest, an immense structure being over a hundred and fifty metres tall and and seven hundred in length, it was used as a Soviet early warning missile defence system. One enormous piece of equipment, quite overwhelming when you stand underneath.

BE TRUE TO YOUR OWN SPIRIT

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