Tour a Nuclear Accident Zone
Many of the world’s major tourist attractions were once sites of human tragedy and environmental disaster. Chernobyl in the Ukraine, is one such place. In April 1986, a nuclear accident wrecked the towns nuclear reactor, throwing tonnes of radioactive waste into the atmosphere. The accident resulted in the immediate and permanent evacuation of the local town, Pripyat and raised world wide concern for the spread of radioactive contamination to countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Now it’s possible to look out for cheap flights taking you to Kiev – the nearest major city to the site of the accident
The tourist area is known as The Zone – it’s about 60 miles from city of Kiev and organised tours take visitors to the remains of Reactor 4 and the nearby ghost town of Pripyat. You cannot visit the site unless you are linked to a tour. When the accident happened, approximately 100 times more radiation was released into the atmosphere than the two atom bombs which exploded over Nagasaki and Hiroshima. A mass evacuation of Pripyat was organised the day after the meltdown and more than 50,000 people were moved out of the immediate area. It’s thought that overall, about 350,000 people were relocated to new homes.
What To Expect
When you visit the site, you are required to agree not to eat anything or smoke. Lunch is provided, but it doesn’t come from anywhere near Chernobyl. You can visit the deserted town of Pripyat, where the clock was stopped in 1986. It’s a mesmerising sight; the abandoned schools, shops and funfair look so much older than they are. The town remains eerily quiet, but the local wildlife seems to be thriving. The lynx cats have come back to breed and you can also see wild horses, boars and wolves. Birds too, are nesting happily and producing healthy chicks.
You’ll be checked for radioactive contamination when you leave the site, just in case you’ve picked up an extra, unwanted souvenir. Some visitors choose to leave their shoes behind, bringing a second pair with them to put on for the journey home.
City of Kiev
Chernobyl will take a day out of your holiday itinerary, but Kiev has plenty of interesting places to visit, such as St Andrews gold domed Monastery, or the House of Chimera’s. It was built in the early 20th Century, using the then new medium of concrete, in a decidedly ornate style. There is also a superb Opera House where the programme changes regularly and two excellent annual events, namely the Kiev Photo Fair in May and the Kiev Film Festival in October.
For hundreds of years, people have felt a need to visit places where disaster and human suffering are irretrievably linked. Pompei is a good example of such a tourist experience! Once an adequate length of time has passed, people are better equipped to be subjective about their visit.
If you want to do something really different for a holiday experience, look out for cheap flights to Kiev, visit the Zone and witness a city where time has ceased.
