Two Days in Chernobyl, Ukraine
Dark, abandoned, yet full of mystery and intrigue. Chernobyl inspires travelers to discover untouched cities. While most of the area has been either reclaimed by the land or Ukrainian people, the experience still offers a glimpse into 30 years ago. Whilst in Ukraine, we journeyed north from Kyiv on a two day and one night trip to the exclusion zone.
Rather than a one day tour, we felt that we would rather spend the night and see all the sights. When I told MF that it would split up a two hour drive, she bought in! During our research, we decided on SoloEast Travel because the reputation was fantastic and they were offering trips despite the COVID issues. Plus, once we purchased our group tour, they kindly upgraded us to a private two day tour because we were the only people that week whom requested a tour! Having a private guide was fantastic as we could ask all the stupid questions and our itinerary was built for us.
Chernobyl History via History Channel
Chernobyl is a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was the site of a disastrous nuclear accident on April 26, 1986. A routine test at the power plant went horribly wrong, and two massive explosions blew the 1,000-ton roof off one of the plant’s reactors, releasing 400 times more radiation than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The worst nuclear disaster in history killed two workers in the explosions and, within months, at least 28 more would be dead by acute radiation exposure. Eventually, thousands of people would show signs of health effects—including cancer—from the fallout.
The Chernobyl disaster not only stoked fears over the dangers of nuclear power, it also exposed the Soviet government’s lack of openness to the Soviet people and the international community. The meltdown and its aftermath drained the Soviet Union of billions in clean-up costs, led to the loss of a primary energy source and dealt a serious blow to national pride.
Then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev would later say that he thought the Chernobyl meltdown, “even more than my launch of perestroika, was perhaps the real cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union five years later.”
Checkpoint 1
To gain entry into Chernobyl is similar to entering a foreign country! Because the exclusion zone crosses into Belarus, they want to make sure you are who you say you are! During normal times, our guide said that the wait times can be ridiculous but we were one of ten people…
Zalissya
For our first stop, we went to Zalissya, an abandoned village that is located just outside the first checkpoint. As we stepped out of the car, we were instantly worried about radiation and the Chernobyl effects. MF had her geiger counter out to test the area, but we could not find any hotspots. I wasn’t sure if we should be sad or glad….
In this abandoned village, we explored main street. While we could feel the concrete or brick road beneath us, we certainly could not see it through the vegetation! Years of neglect led to the forest retaking the village.
Our guide pointed out the historic town hall. Because it had classic architecture, he said it was clearly built pre-Soviet days. Then he pointed out the Soviet effects such as the large banner than praised the Soviet Union and the drab edges around the windows.
For the next stop, we toured the abandoned houses. As any house would look after thirty years, the houses were literally falling apart! Certain ones were slightly better condition although our guide pointed out it was just for pictures.
Chernobyl Town
Now infamous after the nuclear accident, Chernobyl Town is still a fully functioning town that handles the administrative and scientific work. As it sits within the first exclusion zone, the town is relatively safe from radiation effects. You get more radiation on an airplane than in Chernobyl after all! Most of the houses have been resettled by either the original settlers or the Chernobyl workers.
One of the touching tributes is the Memorial Park. Marked by Michael the Archangel, the angel blows a horn to represent the end of the world that happened here. Lining the park is a memorial of all the abandoned villages. If only we could read Ukrainian…
Next to one of the brightly painted science buildings is the vehicle lot representing the efforts that it took to clear the power plant roof. Many vehicles failed, but they did enough to clear the radiation.
A 5* Lunch
In Chernobyl Town, we stopped for our five star lunch! Located in the only five star establishment in the exclusion zone, we were barely welcomed into the restaurant. Usually full of people, we were the only visitors at that time… Ready for bland food, we were pleasantly surprised with a decent (and edible) chicken and fries. We both were pleasantly surprised!
Creepy Kindergarten
After lunch, we were treated with a surprise - a visit to the creepy kindergarten! While years of neglect have done their magic, photographers have set up th remaining rooms for a creepy, yet good photo session. If only I was a professional! Inside the walls, there are plenty of dolls everywhere and it just creeped us out...
The Reactor
Inside the 10km exclusion zone is a weird feeling. While we wondered about the radiation effects, it turns out we were perfectly fine - at least according to our geiger counters. Whilst in the zone, we first went to the reactor. It was officially a weird feeling.
For our first stop, we went to the “overlook” that enabled us to see the destroyed nuclear reactor plus the other ones that were nearly finished - yet the construction cranes haven’t moved since the accident. One of the cranes has fallen down and our guide estimates it will not be long before the others will fall down. Back to the reactor, the sight is moving. Now that we stand within 10km, it is incredibly moving to realize millions of people’s lives were ruined because of that single reactor. Yet, we were standing here over 30 years later…
Sadly, we were not allowed inside the reactor due to COVID, thus removing one of the main reasons why I wanted to come here. However, the emotional feeling is still overwhelming powerful as we stand next to the reactor…
Inside Abandoned Pripyat
Passing the reactor lies the infamous town of Pripyat. Famous in the HBO documentary, the town remains in the 1980s. Driving over the infamous “Death” bridge, we entered. Each “landmark” has it’s own security these days due to trespassing and theft. Some people risk everything to steal or to camp near these plans.
Dentist Office
Everyone dreads the dentist. In Pripyat, the dentist office is one of the better kept buildings. Because it is JUST a dentist’s office, the interior is well maintained and we took amazing pictures of teeth molds. It felt real creepy.
Abandoned Port
If we felt like sailing away from Pripyat, the port offered the best chance although the ships were beached far away. We experienced high radiation levels here! The port was one of the most interesting places as looters left the place alone.
Central Pripyat
Once we arrived at the central square, we knew we found civilization, or at least what was left of it! Nowadays, the square is full of trees, weeds, and other greenery instead of people. All the architecture screams Soviet style. Our guide told us that the “decorative” broken tiles actually represents the workers taking short cuts in an effort to get the project on time. The other buildings were classic Soviet style with typical bland concrete buildings with a central system for stairs. Similar to Kiev, it looked a little worse for wear, but I am not sure!
Amusement Park
As the “top attraction” in Pripyat, the never been used amusement certainly exceeds expectations! Built and bound to reopen 6 days before the accident, the amusement park sadly never had any joy. Now, it is a perfect playground for the living.
Fancy a swim or movie?
Next on our Pripyat tour was the community center which hosted the sports complex and theatre. Each room was creepier than the next one. The gym looked like it could have been used as we were there - same for the swimming pool if it had water.
Imagine Gas Masks
Because I was born in the post-Soviet era, I cannot imagine gas masks in school. Thus, we were really intrigued by the gas mask school. An entire floor is covered in gas masks. The thought that these school folks were scared of the US is very strange as I know our schools likely had their own gas masks. Regardless, the school was one of my favorites for photos because everything was already set up for me! Although I have to admit, taking photos here is strange because I know that this is a source of heartbreak for the people who lived here.
Sunset in Pripyat
For our final stop, we made our way to the tallest building in the town. When our guide mentioned seeing sunset, I knew that meant climbing up many stairs so I couldn’t wait to see MF’s face when she realized this fact! However, she was a trooper as we climbed 16 floors!
Whilst we climbed, we explored what a flat would have been in the 1980s in a swanky new Soviet apartment. We toured a one, two, and three bedroom apartment. While our guide did not want to divulge HOW you got a bigger apartment, we knew HOW it happened. Either way, most apartments were very empty and looted throughout the years. Despite the empty rooms, we enjoyed getting a Soviet history lesson from our guide!
At the top of the 16 story building, the views were incredible (if you don’t mind the fog). While the guide said usually the views were better, we enjoyed standing on top of the abandoned village of Pripyat!
Running through the Red Forest
In the aftermath of the disaster, radiation spread according to the weather path. On that fateful night, highly toxic radiation fell on the forest, now known as Red Forest, where living things cannot step due to the toxic radiation. As we drove through the Red Forest, our counters were going through the roof and we were driving at fast speeds! At least this wasn’t a stop!
Chernobyl Luxury
After witnessing one of the strangest sunsets of our trip, we arrived at our five star (0 star) luxury accommodation. In COVID season, we were two of six people in the building. Initially, our room was very cold, but we found that it was better than expected. Granted, we expected the absolute worse.
For dinner, we ate a surprisingly good and simple pork and potato. While very basic, the meal was tasty and filling! For dessert, we had a lovely little bread piece. I am still unsure what it is!
Because the hotel doors were locked at 9pm - due to the “stray dogs”, we had a very early night. With wifi, we were content! Plus the radiation really puts you to sleep!
Awake in (radiation) Paradise!
As we woke up early in very cold Soviet 5 star hotel, we couldn’t wait to explore Chernobyl once again! Mostly because we wanted to escape the cold room and hotel that was barely occupied. Surprisingly, the shared showers were really nice and we had the entire floor to ourselves!
For our Soviet-style breakfast, we had a decent omelette with sausages.
Similar to our previous days’ meals, we were pleasantly surprised. Soon, we were off to go back to the 10km exclusion zone!
Soviet Summer Camp
Inside the 10km zone lies one of the worst kept Soviet secrets called summer camp. While an Olympic bear welcomed you, there was a strange huge satellite.
Rather than entertaining kids, this “summer camp” was the largest missile satellite in the Soviet Union. Capable of detecting an American missile launched over 8,000 kilometers, the center gave a 10 minute warning to the rest of the country.
Over 450 meters long and 150 meters tall, this base is massive! While the satellite tower is now rusting and will possibly fall over, the sight is still impressive. We walked along the base until we turned into missile command.
Missile Command
Inside the command center was the most impressive part! While the control room has been stripped of nearly everything, we found the original “control room” complete with what it might have looked like in the 1980s!
By far, my favorite room was the training center complete with hand drawn artwork of USA missiles. Our guide said that former American military guys have been in the room and been surprised to see top secret prototype missiles drawn up there! Turns out the Soviets were really good at spying…
Another part of the missile command were the server rooms. While I type on a nice compact MacBook, the Soviets had countless servers to handle and process the data from the satellite dish. Some servers were normal while others had “classified” over the place!
Summer Camp
Beside the massive satellite dish is the village that didn’t really exist yet still had over 2,000 people to maintain and support the base. However, as our guided pointed out, the people would be in a very dangerous position as it is less than 100 meters away from the massive electro magnetic waves.
Because the base was very important (and expensive!), the Soviets tried to clean the radiation from the village so most of the houses and other buildings are in relatively good (Chernobyl) condition.
Luxurious Lunch Time
Back in Chernobyl Town, we had our final meal. Similar to the other meals, we actually really enjoyed our meal! We had the traditional Ukrainian borsch soup and then a pork and potato meal. Everything was really great!
Afterwards, we sadly were not allowed back in the 10km zone to explore more of Pripyat and the reactor due to a bomb threat. At least we saw the major sites yesterday! Thus, we explored the really off the beaten track!
Junkyard
After the disaster, there were hundreds of vehicles used in the clean up efforts. Because these vehicles handled deadly radiation, they couldn’t be used again. Thus, the Soviets created a ghost junkyard full of planes, helicopters, tanks, cars, and everything else! Once the Soviet Union fell, Ukraine decided enough time had passed to try and make a quick buck and sell the scrap metal. Therefore, we entered a junkyard…
While the pictures from the early 1990s look amazing, now it is the junkyard… we enjoyed walking around for hot spots, but it was very grim!
Checking Out
As we departed checkpoint 1, we handed in our radiation counters and heard the glorious news that we only had 5 units of radiation compared to 20 that people usually get when flying from America to Ukraine! We were perfectly fine - except for my third hand...
Chernobyl Instagram Video
The UnChartered Summary
Walking back in time through grim, dark Chernobyl is one of the most interesting tourist experiences. While it did feel that we are taking advtange of a tragedy, our experience and tourism dollars will help maintain the site to preserve the memory and warn others.
- I highly recommend SoloEast Travel! Our guide, Pasha, was fantastic and answered all of our dumb questions, even if we asked them already! He brought us to special hidden places and then helped us take great pictures! A private tour is entirely worth it!
- Despite the 5* (or 0* star rating), the Chernobyl hotel was better than expected. The food was simple, yet tasty, and the room was comfortable. Similar to any hostel living!
- Ahead of our trip, I thought that the area would be untouched dating to the 1986. However, most buildings have been looted and everything has been destroyed. In a few years, I seriously worry what will remain other than hollowed out concrete buildings. It will be interesting to see how they do it.
- Compared to the popular one day tour, the two day tour is MUCH better! Not only is the four hour total drive is broken up, but we were able to see the area by ourselves! We were also able to see a lot more of the area including the hidden sites. Plus, if we did a one day tour on our second day, we wouldn’t have been able to enter the 10km exclusion zone due to the bomb threat.