We were coming up on the end of our time in Ukraine. There was one thing we had talked about doing before we left, going to see Chernobyl. We had watched the mini-series before we left for Ukraine and I had decided that I didn’t want to go. But after almost two years in Ukraine, I decided it was something I wanted to experience once in my life. I was pretty nervous before going, but it ended up being a trip I will not forget anytime soon.
We went with our bubble, because you know- co-dependence. All our kids stayed home together and had a fun day of screens and pizza (with babysitters of course!) It is about a two hour and a half hour drive from Kyiv, but we had each other to chat with and a movie about Chernobyl to watch. It is pretty rare for us to be together all day without kids, in fact this may have been the only time it happened, so it felt like an adult field trip, with shared snacks on the bus and a bathroom stop on the way.
When we arrived we were briefed not to touch animals or eat anything. We were each given a meter to measure the radiation around us. These are collected at the end to make sure the levels are ok. You also have to go through a machine at the end that tests the radiation on your body to make sure it isn’t leaving the restricted zone. So all in all, I felt pretty safe about the whole thing (but I still threw away my clothes and shoes after).
Our first stop was a small school near Chernobyl that we were allowed to enter. Most of the buildings in the area are so dilapidated that this was the only building we could enter. It was pretty impactful, so for me it was enough. It was clear the inhabitants had left suddenly and the place had been abandoned for 35 years.
After that we headed over to where the nuclear power plant is. It was covered recently by a sarcophagus that USAID helped sponsor. Being with a bunch of USAID people this was particularly exciting.
After that we headed to the nearby town of Pripyat. It was a tie which was spookier at the entrance gate- the guns out front or the animal doll heads on the fence.
Our first stop in Pripyat was the truck graveyard. It was full of all the trucks that had been used to help after the explosion and were now relegated here until they decomposed. It was amazing to see how trees will just go ahead and grow through anything!
After that we walked around the town. You feel like you are walking in a pretty forest, but you have to stop and think that 35 years ago there were no trees, but streets, buidlings and people everywhere. People were living their lives, going to work, going to school, making dinner. And then all of a sudden they were loaded on buses and had to leave everything behind.
Construction that will never be done.
Next up was an amusement park that was meant to be opened four days after the explosion happened. The amusement park was never opened, but it is said that the Ferris Wheel was started the day after the explosion to keep people busy.
Our last stop was the center of this once busy, crowded city. Trees have now grown wherever they can, shopping carts were turned over in the supermarket and it was eerily quiet.
Fun fact- here is a Soviet vending machine for water. The crazy part is there was only one cup. Everyone used the same one….
While what happened was incredibly sad and tragic, I was struck by all the different beauty. The first one that hits you right away is the natural beauty that over the last 35 years has reclaimed it’s place and grown back everywhere.
There there is the original Soviet art work that so rarely is still visible, especially in Ukraine. It makes it possible to almost imagine what life would have been life in that time.
And last there is the modent art that is all around. I am not sure who has painted these murals and if they are sanctioned. There are actually poeple who sneak into Chernobyl to spend nights there, despite it being illegal and dangerous. Maybe some of them are the artists. But it adds a whole other level to an already surreal experience.
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