You're entering the exclusion area
Trip Start
Mar 16, 2010
1
3
Trip End
Mar 24, 2010
Chornobyl, Ukraine
Saturday, March 20, 2010
There was a feeling of general nervousness in the air. At 9 a.m we had to be at the doors of Hotel Kreschtatik, where a van was waiting to take us to Chernobyl. Our group was made up of 13 people (including ourselves) all of different nationalities, ages and styles. There were only 3 girls in the group: me, one of my friends and another girl who was about thirty years old and I think she was russian. There's an old australian couple who was going around the world and thought Chernobyl was a compulsory stop in their odyssey. There were 4 north-american boys in their twenties, the middle-aged russian couple and two guys from somewhere.
Our guide, Yuri, was a big ukranian guy with good-natured face that spoke english with an evident and funny ukranian accent.
During our trip from Kiev to Chernobyl (100 km, about 2 hours) we watched a video about the catastrophe; a 2004 documentary where you can see Gorvachov and other politicians, policemen, firemen and evacuated civilians talking about the disaster.
30 km before arriving to the explosion epicentre we passed the first control post. We had to show our entrance permit for the exclusion area, they asked for our passports, checked that everything was OK and then we could continue driving.
We passed through deserted roads surrounded by virgin woods. For more than 20 years this area has been protected and excluded from construction and other human intervention, so the woods are eating everything. It reminded me a book I read few years ago, "The world without us", that explains how life would be if humans dissapear. It's beautiful and hair-raising at the same time.
Yuri told us that some people decided to go come back to their homes years after the explosion, although the authorities advised against that. Most of them were elders that couldn't get used to live in other cities. A doctor comes to Chernobyl once every month to visit them and they're also provided with food (as nothing can be planted here. The soldiers who work in the control posts can only work 15 consecutive days, and the other 15 days the go home.
We were not reported on how much money they earned...
In a given moment we saw a group of horses aside of the road; they're mongolian horses who were taken to Chernobyl soon after the explosion just to see how animals could adapt themselves to a contaminated environment. That is, they're an experiment. The thing is that those horses adepted very well, because at first there were only 8 couples and now there are more than 100 specimen.
The truth is that there was a rich wild fauna in Chernobyl and surroundings: wild boars, foxes, deers... and cats, lots and lots of cats. They guide told us not to touch them because they were not docile *but we just ignored him*...
10 km before the epicentre we stopped at another control poss; the same, papers, passports and intimidating policemen.
Now where were at the "ground zero". We saw small houses completely ruined by the time effects and at the back... the reactors. The one which exploded was reactor #4 and we got it right in front of us, the nuclear power station with its 4 chimneys. The other three reactors were active till a few years ago and, in fact, one is still operating, but its closure is due to this year.
Then we went round the nuclear power station, feeling that it's so close that we can almost touch it. We could perfectly see the rusty sarcophagus they built in order to contain nuclear material leaks.
Then, the best part of all: we entered into the deserted buildings! the sports centre (with its empty swimmingpool, the locker room with the rusty lockers lying around, the showers, the court full of garbage...) Impressive. There were pieces of glass everywhere so we had to be careful where we stepped. Leaks, damp stains, flooded spaces... You can go wherever you want but always using your common sense. It would have been a good idea to take rainboots, snow outside came up to the knee and inside the buildings there are lots of deep puddles.
After visiting the sports centre we went to the amusement park, whose inauguration was due for 4 days after the explosion! The big wheel is almost in perfect condition, the ticket stand, rusty bumper cars knocked in the middle of the floor, the swings...
Next stop: the school and the nursery. You still can see books on the desks, dolls, posters, chalks, jars with dry paint, the library with all the damaged and wet books on the floor.. There were even shoes over there! At the nursery we saw the cribs, cuddly toys, toy cars, construction games... Oh my, I could imagine the kids playing those games in the same place I was!
Yuri kept back the best thing for the last moment: a visit to the buildings where the chernobylians used to live. We went floor to floor looking at the postboxes, the bedrooms, prying into the corridors. There were still (broken) forniture, lamps, books, empty bottles of milk, shoes and some boots on the floor.
At 3.30 pm I thought I was gonna eat my friend's arm but luckily we went to have lunch at the military building. Food must be taken by lorry from the outside are of Chernobyl and you must follow strict fules before start eating in order to avoid contaminating the food.
There was a special menu for vegetarians. Very kind of them.
So here started the "non-stop ukranian dishes parade": cabbage & beetroot salad, beetroot soup, potato pancakes, fried eggs with corn, roast tomatos and mashed potatoes, everything accompanied by several types of bread, compot (typical ukranian drink) and water. Nobody was able to finish all their lunch!
