Category: Chernobyl 2

Chernobyl and the ghost city of Pripyat (2/2).

appart1

Finally wandering around Pripyat.

What a beautiful town. Considering it was the communist Soviet Union, it was like some sort of American idyllic town (no doubt what it was modelled on).

The Whitehouse, one of the elite buildings with extra luxury’s for party members and other senior members of staff.

appart2

More conventional living quarters. But each one had its own kitchen and bathroom (when I’d previously visited St Petersburg, many of the Government flats involved you living with your whole family in 1 room and a kitchen and bathroom shared between 4 (although admittedly, it was rent free !)).

A common feature was a 2nd bedroom so family members could visit for the weekend. This must have felt like Utopia.

school3

A major selling point of the town to new “recruits”  was education (the target residents were people with young families).

We wander into the school complex.

school1

Dilapidated school rooms.

school2

From outside the school, you can see why people weren’t allowed into buildings.

In this case, one side of the building had literally fallen down.

pool

Inside, the famous swimming pool from Call of duty.

gym

Further along, the Gym, with the wall mounted wooden training racks, that I remember from my own school days.

chair

While walking around, we came across this chair, standing in the middle of the street.

The day lasted quite long, and the weather superb, which meant I was quite exhausted at times and wanted to sit down.

But then I was reminded of a comment by our guide on the way to the area. She said, DO NOT SIT DOWN in any area. Previously a girl had done this very thing, her jeans were tested and she ended up travelling home without them !.

hosp

Pripyat hospital. The uniforms of the firemen are still in the basement and highly radioactive.

shop1

Entrance to the Music hall.

main_square

Lenin Square, the main square in the centre town.

hotel

Hotel Polissia. It’s from here that you are sniping in Call of duty.

pal_cult

Another view of Lenin square.

hq

Pripyat Town Hall.  Ater 1986, main headquarters for military and liquidators.

palcult

Palace of culture “Energetic”, the biggest entertainment centre in Pripyat.

track

As we wander through the trees and undergrowth that have taken over the town, we come to this concrete area and our guide asks us what we think it is.

After a little while, it’s clear that we have no idea. In reality, we are standing on a running track.

The track runs around a football pitch.

stadium

We’re standing in Avangard stadium. Fitness and activity were encouraged and FC Stroitel were the local side who played here.

dodge

With our tour coming to a close, we see the bumper cars in the amusement park which never opened.

wheel

The Iconic Ferris wheel, the most famous spot in the entire area.

nursery

As we head home, we visit the remains of the village of Kopachi and see inside the nursery school.

gc
We’re told to walk very specifically on the path, this is the most radioactive area that we’ll visit.

So we test it. It’s a scary number !. One of the saddest parts of the day, is the journey home.

We see video footage of pageants, sporting tournaments and Christmas celebrations from a time when Chernobyl and Pripyat were full of life and happiness.

An absolutely amazing trip. Highly recommended.