I know anybody who knows the name have to be a bit weird to start planning to visit this place. For those who don't Chernobyl is a place in Ukraine which has experienced a catastrophic meltdown of a nuclear power plant emitting 400 times more radioactive elements in air than Hiroshima. The accident happened because of unauthorized reactor tests and one of the large reactors couldn't handle the pressures. The whole city was abandoned in a single night. Neighboring areas still now after ages face the consequences of the disaster with deformed babies and paralysis conditions for adults. From then and until today the area is designated as Exclusion Zone and people need special permissions and special suits to enter the area. The fumes drifted to Soviet Union , Europe and even parts of USA and Canada. The eerie silence and the stories of such disastrous history seems to be peeping out from every corner of the place. Walking in the forgotten lanes covered by bushes and trees you will learn how nature has taken back the place from humanity.
If you think you are adventurous and daring enough to explore this place, read on.
How to reach
There are flight options from Delhi to Kiev which takes up to 8 hours to reach costing you anything between 30k to 40k INR. The good part is that Indians are granted Visa on arrival in Ukraine. For this the travelers have to fill online form in Ukraine website and submit to VOA counter but as Government website goes, they always have some problem or the other. So, prepare to fill the form (4-5 pages) in the airport followed by interrogation and Visa approval. Once you are done, there are cabs available which you can take to your hotel to get prepared for an eventful next day.
How to Book
The best way is to book packages for the Chernobyl visit. the two best sites which I found after hours of research is the chernobylwel.com (Trip Advisor excellence rating) which has packages from 99 to 429 pounds depending on the amount of thrill you want and the number of persons involved.
Another website is tourkiev.com where you can affordable rates. The planning of the trip can vary but the places to visit remains the same. You can include Pripyat (neighboring village of the disaster) according to your budget and dates availability.
The D- Day - Chernobyl visit
Though most of the site are accessible but there are still some places like red forest and vehicle scrap yard that still emits dangerous levels of radiation and needs special attention before visit.
From abandoned residential houses to hospitals to jails to grocery shops, everything seems to have been stopped suddenly by time. The place will drag you back in time with close to 200 houses, more than 20 winding abandoned alleys, immense number of objects scattered everywhere and 1 big power plant.
The epicenter - Nuclear reactor
The visit will commence from the origin of all the destruction - the nuclear reactor. it looks like a huge skeleton of metal and raw iron with still nuclear material inside the core reactors. The government is trying hard to renovate the whole structure and dump the nuclear waste.
Red Forest
Then comes the restricted zone of red forest. It is the pine forest adjacent to the place that absorbed most of the radioactive radiations and most of the trees died and changed to red color and thus the name. You will be prohibited to take a walk but you will feel the supernatural air flowing over you.
Vehicle Scrapyard
It is the graveyard of vehicles used during the emergency evacuation - from ambulances, firetrucks, cars and even helicopters. You will not be allowed to enter into the vehicles because the metal sheets are still contaminated with high levels of radioactive substance. They will also take you a abandoned shipyard nearby and believe me you can get amazing shots on your camera.
Beside these there are trolley buses, music schools, shops with all interiors scrapped and rotten by the effects of time but still holds the story of that forgotten time.
Weathered buildings, forgotten hospitals, forbidden cities. The city has every trace of hasty departure leaving books, furnitures, toys exactly at the same place where it was left years ago.you can spot gas masks almost everywhere.
Ask your travel organizer for the amusement park visit and you will get Instagram worthy shots from that creepy junction. The park was scheduled to open four days after the accident which never occured. The ferris wheels, swings, bumpers now get rusted and depicts a story to remember.
Stay safe and secure
No matter how crazy and adventurous you are you don't want to risk your lives. Any tour can expose you to 15 to several roentgens an hour. Though this is not the issue because it can be safeguarded but the main concern is the radioactive materials that cling to your clothes and you eventually carry them back home.
Stay on the roads as much as possible and avoid contact with shrubs as they contain most of the infected radioactive substances.
Plan a visit soon because most of the buildings are crumbling and Pripyat will be closed for tourists forever.
