Chernobyl

Back in September 2018 I went to the abandoned town of Chernobyl and its surrounding areas.

Why did this once promising soviet town disappear overnight. Well it’s all because of what happened on the fateful night of April 26th 1986 when reactor number 4 went into meltdown and exploded releasing a cloud of radioactive dust that covered most of western Europe.

Shortly after the events the local towns were evacuated with close to 100,000 people losing their homes, belongings and in some cases even more. Seeing the remains of this is like no other feeling I have ever experienced, more on that later though.

Today, Chernobyl and the surrounding areas including the largest town of Pripyat have been left to nature. It is the sight of computer games seeing such large ghost towns. Reminds me of playing Crysis 3 and even part of COD 4 is based on Pripyat and the infamous Ferris wheel. There is something beautiful about the whole experience, the serenity and peace that sits over this place yet the level of destruction, not only of the buildings but of people’s lives. Few places on earth can sit level with Chernobyl in terms of destruction but also pure beauty.

The first building I entered was a small doctor’s surgery in a tiny village that was now surrounded by woods. Seeing 1980s soviet medical is something straight up out of a nightmare with beds with stirrups on and the rusting of the place only adds to the eerie feel. Just next door is the location from what is possibly the shots that I feel portray Chernobyl as accurately as I could. The single ballet shoe and the teddy bear both still in a fairly good condition all things considered but dusty and faded in colour. We all know the attachment that we had as children to our favourite teddy so the thought of someone having to leave theirs behind is a heart-breaking site. Especially in a time of fear.

Moving through the abandoned area going through concert halls, towns and places that you can no longer picture what they once were it felt so disconnected from the rest of the world. What strikes people the most when I say I’ve been to Chernobyl is “are you allowed there” “isn’t it really radioactive” when in reality there is still radioactivity present and in some places very high doses you are only exposed to relatively small amounts being there for only 2 days. In reality the real danger was putting your foot through the rotting floor of cutting yourself on a piece of glass.

Onto Pripyat. Pripyat was built as the city to house workers of the plant itself. At the time of the accident it was home to over 50,000 people now that population is 0. Walking through abended hotels, theatres, sports halls, schools everything you would expect in an upcoming city just left to rot. Then we move onto the fair ground.

Even if you don’t know of Chernobyl or Pripyat itself chances are you will have seen the Ferris wheel and fairground in pictures or video games. It has become a place of fascination amongst creatives and was one of the main reasons I was drawn to this place in the first place. The emotion created by a dilapidated children’s playground with no one around and just the trees moving in the wind is enough to give you Goosebumps. 

I have never been lost for words visiting a place before but Chernobyl changed that. You see what was once a hopefully upcoming place frozen in time whilst nature moves on around it. People’s lives left behind and dreams lost yet there is a beauty to the place. If ever you have the chance to visit this amazing place then do. There is nothing else like it.

See all the shots from the trip to Chernobyl below. As well as Kiev, which, is a fascinating city in its own right.