Chernobyl Today
What is Chernobyl like over 20 years later?
March, 2008 - Nearly 22 Years Since the Accident
I can not help but feel a sense of loss each time my mind wanders and finds itself thinking about Chernobyl. I was not alive when the power plant exploded in 1986, having been born in October of that same year, but that does not mean that I do not mourn its loss.
Chernobyl is perhaps the best example of modern technology gone wrong. Pripyat was a model example of the ideal Soviet city: its inhabitants were happy, the city was beautiful and productive, and the neighbouring power plant was an example of Soviet accomplishment and technology. Each time I look at photos of Chernobyl I hear the laughter of children, the sounds of cars driving on the streets, and the warning of concerned parents as they discipline their children.
It’s incredible how far from that Chernobyl has fallen.
Tourism and Travel
Who in their right mind would ever visit Chernobyl? You’d be surprised.
Guided tours are now available through select businesses in Kiev. For the adventurous who want to experience a true adventure, Chernobyl represents one of only frontiers that has been completely abandoned by man-kind.
Many people find that kind of abandon alluring.
Chernobyl is truly the only place in the world where you can “time warp” back to Soviet-era 1986. You will find vehicles, buildings, and other items representative of that era. Books remain opened to the page their former owner had left them at, toys remain strewn across the floor as their owners hastily evacuated, and apartment windows remain open since they were opened in 1986.
From a distance, Pripyat and Chernobyl look like a regular towns.
Ghost Town, Circa April, 1986
Have you ever wanted to go on a vacation that was miles away from the ordinary? Perhaps you should give some thought to visiting Kiev, and while you’re there, Chernobyl. You will never experience anything quite like it, especially when you are standing in the middle of a town square, surrounded by buildings, shops, and other businesses, and there is not a sound to be heard.
Walking through Chernobyl is an eerie experience. In our modern world it is unlikely that you are ever anywhere that is truly quiet. Even now, as you read this very website, you are being bombarded with sound: the fan on your computer is gently humming, perhaps a car or two is making its way past your window, and somewhere in the distance the faint sirens of emergency vehicles can be heard. While you may not be quiet, you are not surrounded by silence.
Step into Chernobyl or Pripyat, however, and you are greeted by the sounds of… nothing.
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