My trip to Chernobyl
We all know about what happened in the small town of Pripyat 1986. The accident is the worst nuclear disaster in the world. Many people died and many people still suffer from radiationcaused injurys. More than 350000 people were evacuated from the area around Chernobyl.
Even though chernobyl will be uninhabitable for atleast 3000 years, it's still possible to visit as a tourist. Before I went there I was sceptical about it. It feels a bit disrespectful concidering it's only been 40 years- People had to leave all their belongings and even pets and just flee. I always have to think it through when I go to a place where people have died or suffered.
BTW, My friend Moa wrote a very intresting post about travel ethics! check it out here!
me and my friend Matilda started in Kyiv, the Taxi picked us up and we started the 2h long drive to Chernobyl. We passed by some checkpoints before entering the exclusion zone. Arriving in Chernobyl felt so surreal. To finally see and experience it all really touched me. In chernobyl there are still some people living and there is also a hotel and a restaurant. We stopped there for a lunch. Right next to the hotel is a park with houndreds of signs. On the signs are the names of villages and towns that were evacuated after the disaster.
After the lunchbreak we continued to Pripyat. We saw some old schools and kindergardens with the pupils names still written on the lockers. We passed by a supermarket with the trolleys still there waiting to be filled up with grocerys. And finally, we stood there, in front of the famous reactor 4, which is now covered. In front of us were two small puppies playing around. Matilda and I couldn't resist so we pet them. A security guard came to us and yelled at us, "remember where you are girls, this is a very dangerous place"
We continued to a small lake with some shipwrecks. It could have been a beautiful place if it would have been somewhere else. We ended our guided tour here and before we left for the taxi we had to go through a maschine that messured the amount of radiation we were exposed to. It turned out to be the same amount as you get on a longhaul flight.
The names of all villages and towns thet were evacuated.
A "hotspot" with a high amount of radiation.
puppies, born in chernobyl
reactor 4. just 100m away
the famous amusementpark that never opened.
inside a school
welcome to chernobyl