CHERNOBYL
The frozen world of the exclusion zone
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For several years we have been planning to visit such an iconic place as Chernobyl, but all the time, something did not work out. As a result, the moment came when we, the people who popularize travel around Ukraine in their group , became embarrassed. After all, we live very close to the world-famous tourist site, which is the "Exclusion Zone", and we have never been there. Having contacted the providers of tourist services in the Chernobyl zone, we signed up for a one-day excursion to the most important places. Now, in order to get into a group of tourists, you must register no later than 4 days before departure and provide a passport with a code, for subsequent identification when entering a 30-kilometer zone. Also, the travel agency has requirements for clothing: long sleeves, high socks and tight pants. The next photo shows the bus that picked us up from Kiev, it was quite comfortable.
On the bus, we watched a documentary about the 1986 disaster, which immersed us in the atmosphere of a raging atom at the station. Then we were given e-tickets with a unique number and barcode.
In addition to the ticket, special gadgets were handed out that will accumulate radiation throughout the entire trip. After the tour, we expected to be shown how much radiation each had accumulated, but they were simply collected, explaining that this information was collected not for tourists, but for the administration of the "Zone", with the help of these "flash drives" they check whether the guides are driving tourists to highly contaminated areas.
The first stop was at a gas station on the way to Chernobyl. Near this gas station, a dozen buses, minivans and minibuses have accumulated. They all bore a radiation ☢ badge, telling us that the entire coffee-drinking crowd at the gas station was our fellow travelers. The speech at the cafe was delivered in multiple languages, confirming the popularity of HBO's Chernobyl series.
The first stop in the exclusion zone is the Dityatki checkpoint. Despite its good name, it is forbidden to photograph it, so we found a plaque with the name somewhere near the checkpoint.
Having overcome the checkpoint of the 30-kilometer zone, we went to the first selfie point along the route. This is a stele at the entrance to the city of Chernobyl.
Chernobyl is a very ancient city, the first mention of it was recorded in 1193. Now several hundred people live there, some on a rotational basis. We were brought to the square around which various memorials and monuments are concentrated. Here is the alley of disappeared settlements - on the one hand, the name of each of them is written, as on the sign "Beginning of the settlement", and on the other side - in black and crossed out with a red stripe.
Next to the alley there is a "Trumpeting Angel", which symbolizes the prediction of John the Theologian from the "New Testament": " The third angel blew his trumpet, and a large star fell from heaven, burning like a lamp, and fell on a third of the rivers and on the sources of water. This is the name of the star. "Wormwood"; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many of the people died of the waters, because they became bitter. "
Since one of the names of wormwood is Chernobyl, there are several theories drawing parallels between the biblical texts and the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Opposite the "Angel" there is a museum "Star - wormwood".
Despite the fact that the nuclear power plant is called Chernobyl, Chernobyl is not at all the nearest settlement to the station, so we continued our journey towards the 4th power unit. The next stop is the village "Kopachi". This settlement is famous for the fact that it was liquidated by complete burial in 1988. We know two versions of the disappearance of the Kopachi First: the village located 3-4 kilometers from the 4th power unit was buried due to a very strong infection. Second, the villagers were so eager to return after the resettlement that the only way to prevent these aspirations was the complete destruction of the settlement.
One of the additional options during the excursion was the opportunity to take an individual dosimeter for 200 hryvnia in order to independently measure the level of radiation in a particular place. We did not do this, and we were very pleased with this, because those who purchased this service had their devices constantly beeped at different frequencies, which after an hour or two of the excursion was thoroughly tired of even those who did not have a dosimeter with them
In the photo below, our guides compare the readings of the Ukrainian dosimeter and the Russian one. Where Ukrainian shows 1, then Russian, for some reason 2.
The guys-guides claimed that in this place, the level of one unit was checked many times, but the Russian manufacturer, for some reason, makes dosimeters that show a deliberately high level of radiation.
The village "Kopachi" was destroyed, but two dumb "witnesses" remained from it: a kindergarten and a farm. Tourists are given the opportunity to look into the former kindergarten and feel the atmosphere of hopelessness, reminiscent of that found in horror films.
Next stop after the village "Kopachi", the notorious city of Pripyat. Unlike "Dityatki", this checkpoint at the entrance can be photographed, and judging by the machine gun standing next to it, you even need to photograph it 😉
The main street of Pripyat today looks like an alley in the forest. The entire city is a frozen monument to socialist realism. There are old booths with two-kopeck telephones, and TVs that had to be switched with pliers.
The residential areas of Pripyat look very depressing.
Here, for example, a bathtub hanging on a tree, which remained from the times when contaminated things were taken out of apartments, throwing them out of the windows before.
The symbols of the Soviet era on the roofs were more popular in those years than murals in our time.
The Pripyat amusement park left an incredible impression. Frozen rides: "Cars", "Chamomile", "Boats", and the world-famous "Ferris Wheel", which is one of the main sad symbols of this post-apocalyptic city.
Not far from the House of Culture "Energetik" you can find a portrait of Trump, which copies the movements from the children's film about "Buratino".
And inside "Energetik" many samples of visual propaganda materials have been preserved.
Near Pripyat is the "Bridge of Death", which will be remembered by all viewers of the series. Allegedly, residents gathered here and looked at the blazing 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with vodka. The guides said that this is one of the myths of Chernobyl, which has no factual confirmation.
And the culmination of the whole trip comes - the bus takes us to the sarcophagus that shelters the exploded power unit. After listening to the instructions on what you can and cannot photograph, we rushed to the shooting point. The feeling when you are near such a cult place is impossible to convey either in words or in a photograph. You just tell your inner "traveler" - I was there! 😊😊😊
After visiting the sarcophagus, we went for lunch. The dining room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant looks like this.
A life hack that you don't need to use! The organizers ask to sign up for lunch in the morning when boarding the bus. The cost of food is 200 hryvnia per person, but in the dining room no one will take money from you, since we did not notice any cash register for payment there. Everyone gets in line, picks up the "complex", and after filling the gap, go to the free tables.
The station workers were eating next to us, which gave a feeling of being in touch with the life of today's Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The lunch was hearty and delicious. Pickle, cabbage salad with a slice of cheese, chicken chop with potatoes and corn, orange peel compote and FRESH BAKED muffin, which turned out to be very, very tasty.
The dining room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located on the second floor of the building. And on the first, near the entrance, there is a souvenir shop, where a variety of goods with the inscription "Chernobyl" and the "Radioactivity" icon are presented. The prices do not discriminate against tourists; a visitor with any wallet size can buy a souvenir.
Our exploration of the exclusion zone was completed by a visit to the Duga radar station. The place turned out to be very strange, whose purpose is still shrouded in many myths and mysteries.
On the way to the "Duga" we were met by a tinted Lenin.
Our acquaintance with this technical object began with an unexpected effect. Sitting on the bus that brought us to the "Duga", we both felt a sense of drowsiness. We wanted to sleep so much that we absolutely really discussed the possibility of staying on the bus when the others were going to go to see the object. We overpowered ourselves and went out with everyone, after which the drowsiness suddenly disappeared. The second surprise we saw near the "Duga" is the changed climatic zone around. The entire territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is a classic Polesie with forests, bushes and swamps, and around the Duga radar station there is a real sand dune, similar to the dune from Lithuanian Palanga , where coniferous and deciduous trees grow right in the sandy hills.
After these unusual phenomena, we did not believe in the guides' story that this station was turned off and "frozen" in the late eighties of the twentieth century. And that's why:
1. Such a volume of unused iron would have been sawn and scrapped long ago.
2. The "strings" that tie the various fragments of the "Arc" are still very taut today, although the metal fatigue over 30 years should have made them sag.
3. The attachments, which we called "Pickups", those that are suspended on the structures of the radar are in perfect condition (and it seemed to us that they were even freshly painted).
Having collected all these observations "in a heap", we decided that, as in the TV series "Top Secret" - "The truth is somewhere nearby." A huge object that somehow affects the subconscious, the surrounding nature, while not plundered in 30 years, and even maintained in a normal state - all these facts do not make it possible to believe that it is simply disabled and forgotten as unnecessary. Our imagination completed several underground floors, where still brave intellectual heroes, in an incomprehensible way to us influence the world around us with an unknown purpose 😉😉😉
Inspired by our vision, we returned back, practically not noticing the snow that had begun. Huge flakes fell on the ground and the bald spot of the leader of the proletariat, past whom we once again passed on the road to the bus.
Radar station "Duga" is a place definitely recommended to visit!
Discussing "Duga", we drove to the "Dityatki" checkpoint, photographed the radiation protection suit, which was depicted on the main screensaver in the "Chernobyl" TV series, and at the souvenir kiosk at the exit, we bought yellow-black socks with the "Radiation" 100 hryvnia. 😊😊😊
We hope that our article will help you when you are planning to visit Chernobyl. We tried a one-day itinerary offered by travel companies, followed it and brought a lot of impressions from this unique place on earth. We will be pleased if our Chernobyl adventures were interesting to you.
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