A visit to Chernobyl - Part 3
The next part of the day was the most unexpected part of the whole trip, the town of Chernobyl. Although the town Pripyat is closer to the Nuclear Reactor it did not exist when that was built hence the reactor took it's name from the town Chernobyl instead.
For those that have not read the story so far, here are Part 1 and Part 2.
Before entering the exclusion zone I had expected the area to be totally devoid of signs of human life so the town of Chernobyl was totally unexpected. The town is occupied and operated by small crew of people, not many but enough to stop the onslaught of nature we had seen in the previous village at least for the areas we visited. Look into the distance and the expected decay was everywhere.
From my understanding most people living in the town do so part time, in that they live and work in the zone 3-4 days a week and go back to their homes the rest of the week, sort of shift work if you will.
We stopped for lunch in Chernobyl, organised as part of the trip. Simple food but tasty that would be much needed fuel for all the walking later in the day.
Then on to a park that was a memorial to the lost people and towns. The metal angel pictured below was near a walkway lined with all the street signs of the towns in the zone that are no more. The picture of the signs is on my wife's phone so I will try and add that later when I get time. A really somber location.
The following are some of the cobbled together machines used on the reactor roof used to push the highly radioactive material back into the crater that was the reactor.
When those machines failed due to the radiation the only solution was bio-robots (sic). This was the term used for the people that went on to the roof to complete the job. For many this was a death sentence. This is their memorial.
The next stop was a small school building in another village complete with dorm rooms and broken toys, some of which had been posed by previous people.
This school was also the first place we had encountered a radioactive hot spot. You can see the Geiger Counter reading start to climb and the alarms go off as I get close to it.
This is probably a good point to leave off this part. Next time Duga Radar Array and Pripyat town with the iconic big wheel :)
Hope you are enjoying this so far, any feedback or questions welcomed :)
Woz
UPDATE: Part 4 is now available.
Crazy! I watched a documentary once on that place. There were some old ladies that have lived there the entire time and refuse to leave their houses regardless of the danger. It's an interesting place and pretty creepy and sad looking at the old school pictures.
There is far more life in the zone than I expected. Loads of workers coming and going to the reactor. Reactor 3 was running for decades after the event.
The radiation levels around most places we visited were just background although when we passed the red forest all the Geiger Counter alarms went mad. That was a short drive though that area.
I believe there are areas you would not want to spend a lot of time in though and you are radiation checked as you pass each area checkpoints. Our guide said if you fail the checks all clothing you have that is contaminated is taken off you :O
Lucky hew knew his stuff and we all passed the checkpoints without issue :)
No bird noise anywhere but a fair number of wild dogs, mostly where people were as where there are people their is food lol
Kiev is also an epic city and dirt cheap for food and drop. Well worth the travel if Chernobyl interests you
Crazy that there are so many workers always going in and out of the zone. Is it scary when the meter starts going crazy when the radiation levels start getting high.
The birds no what's best that's why they're nowhere to be found lol
Just to let people know Part 4 of my adventure is now up :)