Мій візит до Києва та Чорнобиля

Today was the first full day that I had in Kyiv and it started with getting up and out about 10. I had to wait for the Chernobyl Tour office to open so I could pay the balance of the tour for Chernobyl.

Thankfully the office was a few buildings up the street so I headed there first to pay. I didn’t realise how steep the road was just those few doors away.

It was a nice cool day and I was in shorts and t-shirt and I got some funny looks becuase of this. I didn’t mind. I love the cold and hate being too hot.

Everyone else was bundled up in their furs and cossacks.

Once I was done here, I had a wander around the area to see what was here. The square was called Kontractova Square and the area is known as Podil. They were busy setting up for a Christmas market too (I didn’t get to see it as it hadn’t opened by the time I was leaving).

I decided to head towards the metro to do a pre-run of getting to the pick up point for the tour. It was fairly easy to get to and it was nice and cheap too. A single journey on public transport (metro, bus, tram) costs 8 UAH – about 25p. Nice and cheap if you ask me! The metro in Kiev is extremely reliable and frequent.

During the week it’s about every 3-4 minutes for a train. On a Saturday is the same. A Sunday is about every 5-7 minutes.

Be prepared to stand on the metro though. It is ALWAYS busy. The only way you are guaranteed a seat is to get on at the first station at either end of the line.

Once I had some food by the train station, I decided to head towards Майдан Незалежності to have a look around and see what was there after the protests of 2014. It was quite a sobering look around. One of the streets I walked up was called Heroyiv Nebesnoyi Sotni Alley and the street was lined with memorials to those killed during the Ukranian Revolution of 2014. In all, 113 people died in the revolution. You can read about that here.

Once I had spent some time here, I then decided to walk to Софійський собор and have a walk around there.

Once I got there, I did something I wouldn’t usually do and that is pay to see a religious site. It is worth it though for what you get to see. The cost was 200UAH – about £6.50

I quite enjoyed walking around and also going inside of the cathedral and looking around there. It was very ornate and gold everywhere.

Once I was done here, I then decided to take a walk down towards Михайлівський золотоверхий монастир. This one was free to visit and it was really dark inside. I have found in the former Soviet republics that churches are like this.

Once I was done here, I then headed to the embassy for some food and then to head back towards the hostel before having an early night since I had to be up early to go to the tour meeting point.

Total steps today: 15,383

Below are some of the pictures from today

Today started off quite early in preparation for Chernobyl. I made sure I emailed the tour company yesterday to request a Dosimeter (Geiger Counter) for the trip.

I got on the metro around 06:30 and it was already busy. I was expecting it not to be. I got to the central railway station only to find it was closed. I was starting to wonder how I was going to get across the other side. Thankfully there was someone there who spoke English who gave me directions. I had to go through the underpass rather than across the bridge.

I was quite early for the pick up so I decided that I would get some breakfast. I got out and headed to where I thought the pick up was only to find that it was in the other direction. I found a place to cross and saw some minibuses and figured this was where I was meant to be. It was confirmed by a tour company minibus too.

We had to wait for around 20 or so minutes for the guides to turn up. They put a paper list of names on the side of the bus to show who was going in each bus. As is typical, I was put on the bus that was packed. I made sure I was on first so I could get a double seat to myself. We had to show our passports as we were getting on the bus. Without this, you were not going to be allowed into the exclusion zones.

It was about 100 minutes to the first checkpoint at the 30km exclusion zone. We had to wait while the guide checked us in and we had some time to pick up some souvenirs and some food. The guide came back and gave us some paperwork that was our approval to enter the exclusion zones. We had to then have our paperwork scanned and passports checked before we got back on the bus and into the exclusion zones.

Inside the 30km zone, there was an abandoned village that we were taken to and spent about 30 minutes here to take some pictures and look inside the buildings. The village is called Селище Залісся. It was really quiet and really eerie but made for some good pictures. Once we were done here, we headed towards the town of Pripyat.

We were checked again at the 10km zone checkpoint and then continued on. We made a stop at Братська могила с. Копачі and the guide advised us we needed to not touch anything and not pick anything up off the ground. It was an abandoned school and we stopped to check our Geiger counters and took some pictures. Closer to the ground the radiation was still quite high.

Once we were done here, we made our way to Pripyat via the Red Forest. Going through here, the Geiger counters were going crazy. The levels of radiation through here were quite high and they were all beeping.

We got to Pripyat and spent about 90 minutes walking around. It was really surreal to be here. It was really eerie and quiet. There were no birds chirping and just the wind blowing the branches. We walked around the main square and then towards the amusement park – it had dodgems, swings and a Ferris Wheel. The Ferris Wheel is one of the most famous sights of here. We then walked to the stadium before heading towards a school and into the swimming pool.

The guide said that visiting inside buildings is generally a no go in the 10km zone but if you are quiet enough then you can get away with it.

Once we were don here, we then went for lunch and had to ensure we weren’t carrying high levels of radiation. After lunch, we then went to one of the reactors and we were told not to get close to the reactor walls or take pictures as this was considered espionage.

Our last stop was Загоризонтна радіолокаційна станція «Дуга» . This thing is huge. The radar was used by the Soviets to detect if a nuclear weapon had been launched by the USA. It had low frequency waves that got as high as the Ionosphere and would travel around the curvature of the earth giving the USSR time to launch a nuclear weapon too. The radar didn’t work as expected and the signal was distorted by the Aurora Borealis. It was never used for very long.

Once we were done here, we then headed back to Kyiv. We had to go through the checkpoints and through the decontamination rooms to ensure we weren’t infected.

Once I was back in Kyiv, I headed back to the hostel to get some much needed sleep.

Total steps today: 24,462

Below are some pictures from today

You can view all of my Chernobyl pics here

The reason I left the tour for today was because in the winter it only runs on a Saturday and a Sunday. The schedule is 11:00, 13:00 and 17:00. I know, I don’t understand the 4 hour gap either.

My advice for the sightseeing bus here is to not do it. Have a look on the website and see where it goes and then use the metro. It’s cheap, frequent, reliable and stops at the major points the sightseeing bus does.

I did 2 loops of this tour. 1 from the right and 1 from the left. Anything for that perfect picture… right. This didn’t work out though as you couldn’t open the windows.

I was scouting out for places to visit after the 2nd loop of the bus. By this time, I had about 2 hours of daylight left. I decided to head to the metro to Arsenal and get off there and walk back down towards the hostel.

I walked through Маріїнський парк to see what was there and to get some good pictures. In here I had to use the maps a couple of times to see what was around. I headed in the direction of the hostel and enjoyed the sights of whatever was in the way.

I headed towards the Арка дружби народів. It was quite a sight to see. It reminded me a bit of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. The park gave some good views across the river. There is a bridge across the road which worked well for me as I needed to be on the other side. The bridge is a long bridge and is quite high up.

I headed back towards the hostel looking for food and found a Dominos Pizza. a 7-inch pizza, 6 chicken strippers and a 1L bottle of drink was only £7. Result. I then went back to chill for the evening.

Total steps today: 12,510

Below are some pictures from today

I didn’t really do much on the Sunday and Tuesday as I didn’t feel good. I decided to just use the metros and the trams. I went and got some food and something to drink and headed towards the tram after wandering around the square for a little bit.

I jumped on the tram and headed to the end of the line so I could wander around the suburbs before getting back on and going back to the start. I did this on 2 different lines to help pass the time. Once I was back at the start, it was like I was in the middle of Eurovision as there was a lady singing. You can see this below.

I then got the metro and headed to Дніпро station to sit and watch the metro and a look out over the дніпров river. After I was done here, I then headed back to the hostel to relax and get rid of a headache.

Total steps on Sunday: 9,863

Below are some pictures from Sunday

 
On Tuesday I decided to ride all of the metro lines. I had a lie in as I had nothing planned. I went and got on the metro and rode all of the lines. As I didn’t really do much today there aren’t any pictures. I decided to have an early one so I could pack tonight to have a lie in tomorrow.

Total steps on Tuesday: 6,768

I decided that since today was the last full day I had to explore I would go to Києво-Печерська лавра. I jumped on the metro to Arsenal and then had a slow walk towards this. I got to stop by Парк Вічної Слави. While walking through the park I got to see the Меморіал Вічної Слави and Музей «Меморіал жертв Голодомору».

I planned to spend a few hours at the Lavra. I looked at some pictures before I went and there were a lot of ornate religious buildings. There was a lot more I could’ve explored but I didn’t really feel like it (read: too many steep climbs back up).

I went in to a couple of the churches and then I also decided to go up the bell tower. It was quite a climb. There were 178 steps to the viewing floor. The views were quite good and I got some decent pictures. Once I climbed back down I went to get some food and then wander around some more.

Once I was done here, I then went back to the metro to head back to where the hostel was. I jumped on the tram and went out to the suburbs and sat and people watched. Once I had spent enought time here, I went back to the square and went to get some food and then head back to the hostel.

Total steps today: 16,613

Below are some pictures from today