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A tour to Chernobyl: why to go there?


The exclusion zone is an area near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which in fact, has not been a closed area for a long time;besides the dark tourism, the ordinary touring also does good business here. On the one hand, nothing is being done to develop the trend in the Exclusion Zone; on the other hand, a huge desire to see something unknown and the popularity of the computer game called "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." does its work.

Any full-aged person with no medical contraindications can book a tour to Chernobyl. The tour costs from 400 to 1000 UAH depending on the agency you have selected and your personal needs. After all, when there is a will there’s a way.

But, it is more important to understand why you need it.



Destroy myths and satisfy your interest

There are plenty of myths going around the Exclusion Zone. Starting with children’s scary stories of two-headed monsters, and ending with adult stories about marauders. A one-day tour will not give you an answer to all the questions that have arisen in 28 years, but it will open your eyes to many things. That is why you should not be afraid to go to the Zone, and if you follow the rules that youaccept to comply with before the trip, this tourwill be safe and very exciting.



Get to know what is going on near the reactor

As we all know, Chernobyl is not a dead by a live town. People who operate the Chernobyl nuclear power plant live in this town. Of course, the town is not active, but sometimes you can meet passers-by on the streets, buy some water, souvenirs or bread. Basically, many people have the feeling that they were not in a dangerous Zone, but in a provincial Ukrainian town where all the locals suddenly decided to have a fiesta. There are only two monuments that remind of the tragedy: one of them gathered the names of villages affected by radiation, and the second monument located at the fire stationwas built in honor of the liquidators of the Chernobyl nuclear power plantcatastrophe.


The main touristic site in thetown is the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which is still up and running. You will be able to observe the infamous fourth reactor and the Shelter from several angles. It’s surprising, but nowadays it seems to be completely harmless, and if you have a chance to meet station employees, among which are French people, you will feel likeit is not the place of the tragedy, but an ordinary production area.

See the dead town

Unlike Chernobyl, Pripyat is really a dead town. Your guide will immediately inform you that you should not step away the tour route and walk around the town on your own as you can come acrosswild animals. However, you are unlikely to see the local fauna, marauders, extreme travelers orpeople that live there. All of them avoid meetingtour groups, so the only people you can see there are tourists who go around taking pictures. The guide also tells about other living creatures and objects that are native to this area when for example they seegarbage left by locals, or graffiti painted on the walls.

You will see abandoned houses, a stadium and an amusement park in the dense thickets of Pripyat; and you may even go into one of the non-residential houses. The impressions perceived by the dead town can hardly be felt in any other place. Each person has its own feelings about this: some remember the Chernobyl tragedy, which deprived people of their homes; some feel peace, while others immediately think of a secret plan for a night invasion to an empty town.

See the "Duga"

One of the most unusual facilities in the Zone, which isnot a nuclear reactor, but the strange construction called “Duga” located nearby. It is strange for those who don’t know about the existence of the former secret facility; and although the residents of Pripyat noticed it before,the map marked it as a pioneer camp.

In fact, this is the Soviet over-the-horizon radar station "Duga" (also called "Russian Woodpecker"), built to detect launches of intercontinental ballistic missiles. For the majority of modern people this description says almost nothing, but, in fact, this large-scale metal construction (where one satellite is 460 meters long and 150 meters high. The second satellite is 230 meters and 100 meters, respectively,) was built in order to receive signals directly "over-the-horizon" from Europe and even North America.

The Ukrainian “duga” is the only facility of this kind that has survived to our days, the other two in the Khabarovsk Territory and Nikolaevwere dismounted, but in the exclusion zone it is impossible to do this. Today the “Russian Woodpecker” is a favorite place for extreme lovers and those who dream of climbing on it, as well as tourists who admire the heightof engineering thought.

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