Hey guys, since I last checked in with you, I have traveled from Rivne to Kiev and made an excursion to Chernobyl.
On Monday morning, I left my Airbnb in Rivne and went around town to check out a few monuments in the city before getting on the road to Kiev. The sites were very interesting, including an old cemetery where I saw some Soviet graves By dumb luck, there happened to be a display of Ukrainian military equipment going on in the main square as well. I think it had to do with the Defender of Ukraine holiday that was on Monday.
WW2 memorialSoviet grave markerDisplay of Ukrainian military equipment at the Rivne main squareDisplay of Ukrainian military equipment at the Rivne main squareDisplay of Ukrainian military equipment at the Rivne main squareDisplay of Ukrainian military equipment at the Rivne main squareDisplay of Ukrainian military equipment at the Rivne main squareOrthodox Church on the way out of Rivne
After spending a couple of hours checking out Rivne, I got on the road for the 3 1/2 hour drive to Kiev. The route was pretty uninteresting compared to some of the other scenery I’ve seen, and the traffic entering into the city was brutal. But I finally got to my hostel late in the evening and settled in for the night, with plans to check out some of the places that I’d need the car to get to in the morning.
Rivne-KievRivne-KievTerrible traffic entering Kiev areaRandom church on the outskirts of KievThe closer I got to the city, the worse it became.Entering the downtown core of Kiev under a full moon.Had never been to a hostel with a no alcohol policy before.The hostel sure had some interesting signs.The hostel sure had some interesting signs.
On Tuesday, I started the day by going to the Babi Yar site. Babi Yar is a ravine out the outskirts of Kiev where 33,000 Jews were massacred over 2 days in September of 1941 by shots to the back of the neck. Over the course of the war, another 100,000 people were killed at the site. It was a sad thing to see, but after having read about it for years in my studies of WW2, I had to go and see it for myself. While there were some markers there, I think there should be more done to commemorate the significance of what happened there.
Babi YarBabi YarMarker placed by the Soviets before Ukrainian independence
Overview of the Babi Yar ravine
There were a few more markers across the road at a park:
After Babi Yar, I set out to go all the way across the city to some other sites that were on the outskirts. They were all relatively close together, but far from the city center where I’d be staying that night, so I wanted to get to everything I could before parking for the night. My first stop was to the park containing the monument to the unknown soldier. This park contained some other interesting statues as well and had some decent views of the city.
Driving across town. Kiev is smoggy.The Holdomor genocide memorial. Holdomor was a planned famine by the Soviets against the Ukrainian people in the early 1930’s that caused the starvation of over a million people. It was due to Ukrainian resistance to the collectivisation of their farms. Statue of Ivan Nikitovich Kozhedub, the leading Soviet flying ace of WW2 – credited with over 60 kills.Tomb of the unknown soldierEternal flameView from the monument of unknown soldierView of Kiev Pechersk Lavra, which would be my next stop.
After the park, I went over to the Kiev Pechersk Lavra and explored the gold domed buildings of the monastery there.
Kiev Pechersk LavraI climbed the bell tower.
View from the bell towerView from the bell towerView from the bell towerView from the bell towerView from the bell tower. This is the Motherland monument, which would be my next stop.
After about an hour at the monastery, I made my way to the Motherland monument and the Great Patriotic War (WW2) Museum that is underneath it.
Motherland monumentGreat Patriotic War Museum
The entrance hall of the WW2 museum has been converted into a display concerning the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which was very interesting to see. The rest of the museum contained artifacts from WW2, which I never tire of seeing and learning about.
Displays from current conflict with Russia over the Donbass regionDisplays from current conflict with Russia over the Donbass regionDisplays from current conflict with Russia over the Donbass region
Below are some of the interesting WW2 artifacts I saw:
Made of iron crosses
After the museum, I headed into the city center to find my home for the next two nights called “Magic Bus Hostel”. The hostel was ok, but not much atmosphere. After checking in, I went to a cafeteria chain I’d read about to sample some of the local fare. I’d only eaten a croissant the whole day, so I kinda pigged out there! Afterwards, I shut it down for the evening early in anticipation of the Chernobyl excursion I had booked for the next morning.
Making my way to the hostel I passed the national football stadium.Very welcoming neighbors at the Magic Bus Hostel.Round 1 at the Puzata Hata cafeteriaAnd Round 2. The food there was good and cheap!
The next morning, Wednesday, I got up at 6am to make my way to the pickup point for my tour to the Chernobyl exclusion zone. You might think I’m crazy for wanting to go there, but I did exhaustive research before booking the trip and found out that it is actually quite safe. The place definitely still has some hotspots of radioactivity, but they are identified and avoided and most of the rest of the area has been decontaminated. The amount of radiation received by the body on a one day tour is about the same as flying in a commerical airliner for 3 hours!
After meeting up with the guide and hopping on the bus, it was a 2 hr drive to our first stop of the ghost city Pripyat – which was the main city of residence for the workers of the Chernobyl plant.
Enroute to ChernobylIt was pretty surreal driving there in this foggy weather..
Foggy drive to PripyatThe first checkpoint at the beginning of the 30km exclusion zone. You can not go past this point unless you are with a licensed guide.Everybody got one of these devices to wear. It measures your total radiation exposure throughout the day. If it is over a certain threshold, the guide will lose his job.A Geiger counter to measure current radiation levels. Below .3 is the normal amount.Entering the 10km inner exclusion zone. This is where most of the hotspots are.Things heating up. Entering the planned city of Pripyat. It was established in 1970 specifically to house workers of the Chernobyl plant and was considered to be a model Soviet city before the disaster.
Getting close to one of the hotspots.Our guide had no fear..Definitely higher levels inside the 10km zone.Entering the abandoned city of Pripyat. Before the disaster, none of the trees were here. The Chernobyl zone is the only place in the world where humans have completely vacated and we can see nature take back over. Our first move was to climb the 13 floors of this apartment building. No one is technically allowed in any of the buildings anymore because some of them are structurally unsound, but our guide was a bit of a Maverick. List of people who lived in the building in 1986. When the evacuation order was given, the people were told they would be coming back in 3 days and to only bring enough clothes and money to get them through. They never returned. Everything of value from the apartments has been looted in the years since.Again, this was all concrete in 1986.The sarcophagus covering reactor number 4. It was built at great cost in lives shortly after the explosion to contain the radiation. A new one was built over top of the old one a couple years ago.Soviet Duga radar site that we would visit later in the day. It’s barely visible here on the horizon.
Overview from the 13th floor.
After the apartment building, the next stop was the kindergarten, probably one of the most moving buildings we saw the whole day:
After the kindergarten, the next stop was the police station:
The police station has since become a junk yard. None of these vehicles were contaminated. Apparently people just decided that this would be a good place to dump their junk in the years since the disaster.
After the police station, the next stop was the fire station. This was the place that the first responders to the explosion came from. Almost all were dead of radiation poisoning within 30 days.
After the fire station, we went to the amusement park. It had been set to open on May 1, 1986 – but the disaster occured on April 26.
The famous Ferris wheel.
After the amusement park, we walked around to some other various buildings in Pripyat:
A restaurantThe first supermarket of UkraineBefore and after at the ministry of cultureThe hotelThe hotelThe hospital – the basement is the most contaminated place in the city because it is where the articles of clothing of the first responders were stored.
Must watch video: he got a piece of cloth from inside the hospital building and brought it out to test it. The contamination was off the charts. What was this piece of cloth? A helmet liner from one of the first responders..Highly radioactive helmet liner.. Our guide was a bit of a nut for getting so close to it in my option.MosiacMosiacCrumbling mosiacBefore and after of the Riverside cafeInside the Riverside cafeBefore and after of the Riverside portThe highly contaminated Pripyat riverWater vending machines outside the cafeWater vending machine. There was only one glass that everyone used. You’d drink, clean the glass, and replace it for the next person to use.A collapsed building. This is the reason they don’t want tourists to go inside the buildings. But going inside and seeing the things that have been left behind is what really made the excursion unforgettable ..Soviet propaganda inside a school building
After wrapping up the touring of the city of Pripyat, we went over to the actual reactor and saw the sarcophagus up close – along with a memorial marker for the victims of the disaster. After that, it was time to go to the cafeteria for the lunch break.
Memorial in front of reactor 4. The other 3 reactors continued to operate until about 2000, when they were decommissioned. Now there are only about 1500 workers there maintaining the site.Going through a body scan before entering the cafeteria.Lunch is served
After lunch, the guide took us to the secret Soviet miliary base called Chernobyl 2, located 6 km from the nuclear plant. It was home to the top secret radar installation called Duga.
Hanging with Lenin at Chernobyl 2.The massive Duga radar.The guide trying to explain how the radar was meant to work. It cost 18 billion dollars and ultimately didn’t even work.Duga. When the people of Pripyat inquired as to what it was, the government told them that it was just a TV antenna.
Duga radar. Meant to detect American nuclear missles, but it didn’t even work.
After looking at the radar, we walked around and saw some of the other buildings at Chernobyl 2 military base. The most interesting was a school with many artifacts just the way they were left in 1986.
The fire station
Pictures from the school:
Our crew walking back to the bus
The last stop of the tour was the actual city of Chernobyl. There are still about 2000 people living there.
Monument to the first responders in Chernobyl cityMonument to the first responders in Chernobyl cityMonument to the first responders in Chernobyl cityA monument to all the villages within the exclusion zone that had to be abandoned after the disaster.Each sign is the name of a village that no longer existsThe welcome to Chernobyl signWe stopped at the gift shop on the way out the exclusion zone and I saw that they are actually selling cans of air from Chernobyl. A fool and his money will soon part ways.After we got back to Kiev, I went straight to my room and started on the Chernobyl HBO series. I will never forget the experience of seeing that with my own eyes.
Today, Thursday, I got up and set out to see some actual sites in the city of Kiev. I must have walked about 10 miles today checking out the various churches, squares, and monuments! Here are some scenes from the Kiev city center:
St. Sophia CathedralSt. Andrew cathedralSt. Michael gold domed churchThe Golden gate, formerly the main entrance and exit into the walled ancient city of Kiev.Taras Schevchenko park. Fall is definitely here.I had heard great things about the savory pancakes at the a place called O’Pana’s in the park, so I stood in line to get a few of them for a late lunch. They were worth the wait!One of the main drags in Kiev, leading to the Independence SquareIndependence SquareIndependence SquareThe Fiesta and I retiring for the evening near St. Sophia Cathedral.
Tomorrow, I’m going to make the 5 1/2 drive to the Black Sea city of Odessa – where I will be for at least the next 3 nights. I hate to drive that far in one day, but there is really nothing of interest along the way and it will be nice to get to Odessa by Friday night for whatever festivities there will be to partake in there.
The architecture of the gold domed bldgs,churches,and cathedrals i s absolutely beautiful.All of the statues,monuments,and especially the Motherland Monument are incredible The WW2 museum looked very interesting as well. I don’t know if I would be up for a tour of Chernobyl,I’m sure I would be so obsessed with keeping an eye on my personal Geiger counter that I would have missed most of the sights. The Kindergarten Bldg tour was so sad and haunting.You got very detailed pictures of Chernobyl on your tour.Not sure I would want to eat in a cafeteria there,I was wondering about the body scan before entering the cafeteria? You’ll have to enlighten me next time you call!
Bill schwab
Grest stuff. Scary place but the scenery is beautiful. Be safe out there.
Linda South
The architecture of the gold domed bldgs,churches,and cathedrals i s absolutely beautiful.All of the statues,monuments,and especially the Motherland Monument are incredible The WW2 museum looked very interesting as well. I don’t know if I would be up for a tour of Chernobyl,I’m sure I would be so obsessed with keeping an eye on my personal Geiger counter that I would have missed most of the sights. The Kindergarten Bldg tour was so sad and haunting.You got very detailed pictures of Chernobyl on your tour.Not sure I would want to eat in a cafeteria there,I was wondering about the body scan before entering the cafeteria? You’ll have to enlighten me next time you call!
Bill schwab
Grest stuff. Scary place but the scenery is beautiful. Be safe out there.