Chernobyl

The site of the 1986 nuclear disaster in Chernobyl is about 90 minutes from Kiev.  There are a limited number of tours of this area & they are fairly expensive too ($115).  The site is safe to visit now especially considering that you are only there for a relatively short period of time.  There were 15 people in our tour group including our guide named Johnnie.  We met at 8:00 am & arrived at the first Chernobyl checkpoint at 10:00 am.  You had to submit your paperwork several days in advance for this tour & you were registered ahead of time at the checkpoint.  Here is my photo before entered the exclusion zone.

I look excited to be entering the exclusion zone.

The first place we visited was the town of Chernobyl & a "secret" radar detection system nicknamed the Russian woodpecker by the sound the system made.  It was supposed to detect an incoming nuclear missille from the USA.  It was questionable whether it actually worked & the system was not secret to the USA.

Items from the "high tech" detection system.

We visited an abandoned nursery & then the area where the nuclear plant is located.  The silver dome will eventually enclose the old reactor that had the meltdown.

We stopped for lunch at a cafeteria on site & were greeted by some friendly stray dogs.  We were told not to touch or play with them since they could be contaminated.

This was probably not a good idea.

After lunch, we headed to a town called Pripyat.  It once housed close to 50,000 people & was evacuated shortly after the accident since it was near the nuclear plant.  We visited an abandoned school, hotel, recreation center, amusement park, & climbed to the top of 16 story building.

Hotel

The famous Ferris wheel.

Abandoned recreation center.

Abandoned school.

View from the roof of a 16 story abandoned building.

Our tour guide Johnnie is the one in the grey sweatshirt.

Memorial to the Chernobyl first responders.

Overall it was long day since we didn't return until 8:00 pm, but it was a very interesting tour & a memorable visit.  I was glad that I went & haven't noticed any ill effects from my visit (at least so far).