anyone been to Pripyat?

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Discussion

pidsy

Original Poster:

7,958 posts

156 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
i've been interested in "Dark tourism" for a while - since reading Dom Joly's book of the darker side of travel.

im on the mailing list of a UK travel company who specialise in this side of the industry. i'm not into it enough to got to Iraq or north Korea just yet, but i do fancy going to Pripyat and spending some time in the exclusion zone seeing the stuff you see on TV.

anyone else been?

the trip is for 3 days in october - is it still a bit dodgy in Ukraine at the moment?

Aphex

2,160 posts

199 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
There is a guy here that worked on the new sarcophagus for the reactor site that gives good info. Hopefully he'll pop around.

I would certainly not be heading to the Ukraine any time soon though

The Nur

9,168 posts

184 months

Friday 17th July 2015
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I'd love to go, maybe not right now though...

pidsy

Original Poster:

7,958 posts

156 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
yeah, i'm not terribly surprised that there are still spaces on this years trips.

still less chance of grief than those on the fully booked up afghanistan/iraq trip in september.

anothernameitist

1,500 posts

134 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
Pidsy, search some of the Urban Exploration sites for visits to Pripyat. 28 dayslater.co.uk is a good site

GuyW

1,065 posts

202 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
Yes been twice now.

Not with any of the usual groups mind. You'll have no problems at all. Even April 2014 when things really were a little more up in the air you had no problems that far north. Even Kiev was fairly safe provided you stuck to the more urban areas.

pidsy

Original Poster:

7,958 posts

156 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
GuyW said:
Yes been twice now.

Not with any of the usual groups mind. You'll have no problems at all. Even April 2014 when things really were a little more up in the air you had no problems that far north. Even Kiev was fairly safe provided you stuck to the more urban areas.
cheers Guy. its with Lupine so should be well organised. they seem to have a good reputation.

carreauchompeur

17,830 posts

203 months

Friday 17th July 2015
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Interesting, fancied doing this myself but have settled for North Kprea instead hehe

GuyW

1,065 posts

202 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
pidsy said:
cheers Guy. its with Lupine so should be well organised. they seem to have a good reputation.
You'll find the standards of driving and roads er... interesting!

A fascinating place. I've gone up with a group and we've stayed in Slavutych https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavutych
People kindly move out/rent their apartments out for a week, so it's rather authentic. Then get the train with the remainder of the workers into the plant and spend the day exploring Chernobyl, Pripyat, Duga etc etc.

Should be going back out again a few more times at least. So much to see and take in the scale of the surroundings and the impact will take your breath away.

shakotan

10,679 posts

195 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
Went in April on a 3-day Private Tour in a group of 8.

Amazing place, one of the best parts was visiting an old lady who still lived within the Exclusion Zone, about 10km from the Reactor, grew her own veggies and the water came from the local well. Had prepared a feat for us, including a lot of her home-made vodka. This was 10am.

Pripyat itself was fascinating, much larger than I could ever have imagined. Your not supposed to go inside the builds anymore due to a collapse a few years ago that killed a tourist, but we spent most of our time in many buildings. The hospital, leisure centre, school, blocks of flats, and the iconic gym and swimming pool.

If doing multiple days, you stay within the 30km zone. Everyone goes to bed around 10pm and you're not allowed outside until 6am the next day. The hotel is very basic, and you eat your meals from the Chernobyl staff canteen, which is VERY basic to say the least. Think cabbage soup, cabbage perogi, potato salad, bread and fruit.

llewop

3,585 posts

210 months

Friday 17th July 2015
quotequote all
Aphex said:
There is a guy here that worked on the new sarcophagus for the reactor site that gives good info. Hopefully he'll pop around.

I would certainly not be heading to the Ukraine any time soon though
wavey

That would be me.

Was out there for four years, although actually only went into Pripyat once! So those that have tourist-tripped have probable spent more time in the town! Having said that, our site office is very close and I spent a few nights the as 'duty manager' aka 'responsible adult' when the project was doing 24/7 sessions.

I came home 3 years ago, but friends still out seem be working/living normally - the Ukrainian one frustrated by the whole situation, but it barely impacts the region round the exclusion Zone. I suspect as others have commented, even Kiev is pretty much back to 'normal' - but don't expect widespread English-spoken or tourist-trail,Hop-on-hop-off buses etc.

justanother5tar

1,314 posts

124 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
quotequote all
llewop said:
Aphex said:
There is a guy here that worked on the new sarcophagus for the reactor site that gives good info. Hopefully he'll pop around.

I would certainly not be heading to the Ukraine any time soon though
wavey

That would be me.

Was out there for four years, although actually only went into Pripyat once! So those that have tourist-tripped have probable spent more time in the town! Having said that, our site office is very close and I spent a few nights the as 'duty manager' aka 'responsible adult' when the project was doing 24/7 sessions.

I came home 3 years ago, but friends still out seem be working/living normally - the Ukrainian one frustrated by the whole situation, but it barely impacts the region round the exclusion Zone. I suspect as others have commented, even Kiev is pretty much back to 'normal' - but don't expect widespread English-spoken or tourist-trail,Hop-on-hop-off buses etc.
Out of interest, do you have any photos of the sarcophagus? Seen plenty of photos of Chernobyl itself but very few of the sarcophagus apart from long lens camera shots.

audikentman

632 posts

241 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
quotequote all
justanother5tar said:
Out of interest, do you have any photos of the sarcophagus? Seen plenty of photos of Chernobyl itself but very few of the sarcophagus apart from long lens camera shots.
I was thinking the same.

@llewop I have read some of your other posts on this subject, have you thought of writing a book about your time there?



llewop

3,585 posts

210 months

Saturday 18th July 2015
quotequote all
audikentman said:
justanother5tar said:
Out of interest, do you have any photos of the sarcophagus? Seen plenty of photos of Chernobyl itself but very few of the sarcophagus apart from long lens camera shots.
I was thinking the same.

@llewop I have read some of your other posts on this subject, have you thought of writing a book about your time there?
I'll dig out some pictures later when on a proper computer.

Writing a book on my time there has honestly not crossed my mind! This may seem odd, but a lot of it just became 'the new normal' so apart from anything else I don't have a diary/record with enough detail to be worth it. Also there were/are many others with similar stories in many respects, just that must of them were/are not Brits or posting here. There is also the issue that I'm sure even now I need to comply with certain confidentiality clauses from the contract for the new safe confinement.

llewop

3,585 posts

210 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
justanother5tar said:
Out of interest, do you have any photos of the sarcophagus? Seen plenty of photos of Chernobyl itself but very few of the sarcophagus apart from long lens camera shots.
was just trying to find some on the ChNPP (Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant) website, as I'm sure there used to be loads there - at the moment it just seems to be teasing you with random library shots one at a time and I couldn't find a route to a folder full of them!

What I did find is that ChNPP have a youtube channel - I've not checked them all but a fair few look like talking heads making statements.... so could be rather dull, even if you can understand Ukrainian! However the one at the link whilst a bit weird (a bit 'arty') has some interesting views you may not have come across before, some time checks to save watching it all if you'd rather skip:
starts with the train ride from Slavutich that someone else mentioned - the main way of getting to site for the workers.
3:07 - the catfish
15:07 - concrete plant - for the NSC project
17:15 - cooling towers and units 5 & 6 which were never finished
19:22 - 'shelter object' - what they call the sarcophagus.
21:40 - the new safe confinement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a9gtVq8cmo

I'd guess it was filmed about 4-5 years ago - based on NSC progress and there being 2 cooling towers above units 4 and 3 (unit 4 being the one that exploded in 1986). The second (red and white one) was built to allow the original to be dismantled as the NSC would not be able to be pushed into position with it in place. It has now been removed.

justanother5tar

1,314 posts

124 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
llewop said:
was just trying to find some on the ChNPP (Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant) website, as I'm sure there used to be loads there - at the moment it just seems to be teasing you with random library shots one at a time and I couldn't find a route to a folder full of them!

What I did find is that ChNPP have a youtube channel - I've not checked them all but a fair few look like talking heads making statements.... so could be rather dull, even if you can understand Ukrainian! However the one at the link whilst a bit weird (a bit 'arty') has some interesting views you may not have come across before, some time checks to save watching it all if you'd rather skip:
starts with the train ride from Slavutich that someone else mentioned - the main way of getting to site for the workers.
3:07 - the catfish
15:07 - concrete plant - for the NSC project
17:15 - cooling towers and units 5 & 6 which were never finished
19:22 - 'shelter object' - what they call the sarcophagus.
21:40 - the new safe confinement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a9gtVq8cmo

I'd guess it was filmed about 4-5 years ago - based on NSC progress and there being 2 cooling towers above units 4 and 3 (unit 4 being the one that exploded in 1986). The second (red and white one) was built to allow the original to be dismantled as the NSC would not be able to be pushed into position with it in place. It has now been removed.
Thanks, ill watch it tonight.



I saw something about a documentary that was being made a few months back. They were using a drone with a 4K camera on it but i can't for the life of me remember what it was called! frown

If it sounds familiar to anyone please let me know what it was called, I don't know if it will be out yet cause i can't remember the exact release date/completion date either!

llewop

3,585 posts

210 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
justanother5tar said:
Out of interest, do you have any photos of the sarcophagus? Seen plenty of photos of Chernobyl itself but very few of the sarcophagus apart from long lens camera shots.
Found my folder with historical piccies (not mine - and probably exist on t'interest somewhere already), so a few of the sarcophagus, particularly during construction














the last one is more recent than the others, from the look of things in the foreground, probably during the construction of the western wall stabilisation so 10ish years ago.

justanother5tar

1,314 posts

124 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
Thanks for those, certainly haven't seen anything that close before.

Find it all very interesting, in a way I'm quite jealous of your job. hehe

llewop

3,585 posts

210 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
justanother5tar said:
Find it all very interesting, in a way I'm quite jealous of your job. hehe
Don't be! You'd be disappointed with how much sitting at a desk there is! Okay in between there can be some unusual places to visit (and the desk might have an 'unusual' view out the window - although some haven't even had a window!).

Seriously though, I can't complain as it's got me to some unusual places around the world and has (mostly) been fun for getting on for 30 years.



shirt

22,508 posts

200 months

Sunday 19th July 2015
quotequote all
pidsy said:
i've been interested in "Dark tourism" for a while - since reading Dom Joly's book of the darker side of travel.

im on the mailing list of a UK travel company who specialise in this side of the industry. i'm not into it enough to got to Iraq or north Korea just yet, but i do fancy going to Pripyat and spending some time in the exclusion zone seeing the stuff you see on TV.

anyone else been?

the trip is for 3 days in october - is it still a bit dodgy in Ukraine at the moment?
have you checked out:

http://www.lupinetravel.co.uk/

owned/run by a mate of mine. great guy. he also organised the travel/shooting arrangements for the top gear special to ukraine/pripyat.