All the Fun of the Fair - Chernobyl

I was bought up in the Nuclear World and Cold War era and always had a fascination of Nuclear Power plants, I even had 2 years working at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich in the Department of Nuclear Science and Technology and frequently laughed with the ' Greenwich is a Nuclear Free Zone' sign on the railings just 15 yards from a Nuclear Reactor in the College (albeit low radiation output). I probably knew more Nuclear Power locations than most knew football grounds and could tick a fair number of when visiting for work purposes. I could remember the various mega disasters in the 80's , Three Mile Island, Bopal and of course Chernobyl. I worked out that I could just about visit in a weekend without having to take any time off Friday and still be back at work Monday with a healthy glow.

As is usually the case with a lot of these short trips preparation is key to maximise what little on ground time you have available. Cost also an important factor and with that in mind it was a Friday afternoon train trip from the Bromley Office up to Luton - not a usual Airport for me and on-board the Eastern European version of Easy Jet - Whizz Air. A single fare of £42 for a 3.5hr flight seemed good value to me and as is the case with the low-cost carriers you fly into smaller airport but in this instance it was actually nearer to the city centre in Kiev.

I did some looking into a guided tour, not always a fan of these as prefer to wander - hence the title of the website but further checking said I had virtually no chance of going 'free-range' so with that in mind I booked a full day tour for the Saturday with a local 0730 pick up and a full 12 hr day. One thing to remember is it's a 2 hr trip each way to get into the main parts including numerous checkpoints. Having landed around 01:30 I thought a nightcap would be appropriate only to end up still in the bar 3 hrs later talking to people who had been on the visit - things I suffer for research .

Pick all very smooth with 11 others - from various European Countries on board. The tour guide was superb, a Ukrainian woman who looked like she would kill you if you didn't listen or wander off the main routes or if you called her a Russian. We stopped at the first checkpoint for one of the many ID checks and were issued with our geiger counters, not sure how much gimmick in this but I didn't argue.

We stopped still a way out of the core zone to what was a small town and allowed to stroll around the remains.

It just look like nothing had been touched for 30 years and nature had just taken over, the building just crumbling literally in front of you with the occasional noise of brickwork and timber crashing to the ground. Sooner rather than later a fair number of areas will be out of bounds as they really are pretty unsafe but no restrictions really on where you can go.

The smashed windows in a lot of cases are due to people throwing their belongings out to get what they could salvage before exiting the town.

The school nursery was like something out of a horror film although I suspect some minor rearranging may have taken place with some of the dolls/clothes left behind but certainly not a place many would want to visit after dark

Wildlife is reported to have flourished although there were little signs of any and certainly not three headed dogs or twin headed massive fish.

A further checkpoint and scanning of radiation levels and we were now in the exclusion zone as near to the reactor as allowed. A huge shield now covers the remains which is said to be future proofed for the next 100 years

Time for lunch - provided in the cost at a local factory canteen, it was something how I imagined Russian to be like in the 1970's massive grey building, radiation checks before going in and then queuing up with a tray for the one-choice menu, the food colour matched the building with most of it being grey including even a grey beetroot options , the only bit of light being the powdered orange drink, but it was perfectly edible although a Veggie may struggle a little and a vegan no chance.

Fully refreshed we went onto the main town which provided most of the pictures people see and how they visualize Chernobyl. It didn't disappoint and unlimited access to all areas was a real bonus including all the fairground attractions and sports stadium.

A good hour or so to wander around before moving onto Duga Radar tracking station AKA The Russian Woodpecker

This is amazing and looks like something out of a Bond Movie, it's actually well concealed for it's size from the ground , semi hidden in a forest but the American's knew about through the noise it created over the radio similar to a tapping noise hence the nickname. The Russian's denied it existed so to prove it did the US Secret Service sent the Kremlin a satellite photo.

We had further photo opportunities for various memorials to the firefighters and other heroes on the route back and just the three checkpoint on exited and final Geiger reading before the 90 mins drive back into Kiev. It's a long day but goes quick and totally recommend it. I visited here two weeks before the TV Series started - which I am told was very good. You can do the whole experience , flights, tour, hotel and some very good cheap local food for less than £200.