How to Get a Permit to Visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Kiev, Ukraine

How to Get a Permit to Visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Northern Ukraine

Posted on March 14, 2016May 17, 2023 by Jonny Blair

“The place is quiet and so alone. Pretend there’s something worth waiting for” – Richey James Edwards. In December 2015 I finally made the sad and solemn trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The accident at Chernobyl which occurred in April 1986 shocked the world and was one of a few controversial blemishes during Soviet era-USSR. Read more about How to Get a Permit to Visit the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Northern Ukraine[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 9 – Radiation Checks and Escape from the CEZ

Posted on February 29, 2016February 26, 2016 by Jonny Blair

“It’s a radiation vibe I’m groovin on” – Fountains of Wayne. It had been a truly incredible day of travel and to a place with a sad history – the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It’s a day I’ll remember for a long time, but after this final part of the story, it’s time to close the Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 9 – Radiation Checks and Escape from the CEZ[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Tour Part 8 – Lunch in the CEZ

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 8 – Lunch in the CEZ

Posted on January 29, 2016January 31, 2016 by Jonny Blair

This ain’t no “Friday’s Featured Food” for yousens so it’s not. But to keep with the alliteration, I’ll rock it out on a Friday and it is food, I’m just not “featuring it.” You may not have built up an appetite reading my previous Chernobyl Exclusion Zone posts. So after visiting Reactor Number 4 (ouch) Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 8 – Lunch in the CEZ[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Tour Part 7 – The Abandoned City of Pripyat, Top 10 “Sights”

Posted on January 24, 2016January 24, 2016 by Jonny Blair

“There’s silence in the air, there’s silence in the ground. A presence moving through the rivers in the moonlight. Desolation all around. The wind blows through abandoned buildings, photos scattered on the floors, possessions of a vanished population. Safe haven for my soul.” – Tim Wheeler (Ash) Of course, it wasn’t the song from my favourite Northern Irish Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Tour Part 7 – The Abandoned City of Pripyat, Top 10 “Sights”[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 6 – Visiting the Culprit, Reactor Number 4

Posted on January 19, 2016January 11, 2016 by Jonny Blair

It doesn’t get much more crazy than heading on a backpacking journey to “Reactor Number 4”. Indeed, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone attracts less tourists per year than Antarctica, North Korea and Iraq. Here there are 13,000 tourists per year. That’s only 35 people per day on average! And I mentioned in parts 1 and 2 Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 6 – Visiting the Culprit, Reactor Number 4[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 5 – Backpacking in Kopachi

Posted on January 18, 2016January 15, 2016 by Jonny Blair

“I can feel the warning signs running around my mind” – Noel Gallagher. So far the day tour of Chernobyl has the mind constantly churning with thoughts. Against a dirty, smoggy, swollen sky it hardly seems appropriate to smile at any point. It’s easy to know that something bad happened here. You just sense it Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 5 – Backpacking in Kopachi[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 4 – Secret Duga Radar System

Posted on January 11, 2016January 11, 2016 by Jonny Blair

“Your joys are counterfeit. This happiness corrupt political shit” – Richey James Edwards. So in the fourth installment of my trip to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, I report on the journey driving down a Soviet built “road” through a dense forest to a radar system, often known as DUGA 1. This part of the tour seemed less Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 4 – Secret Duga Radar System[…]

Backpacking in Ukraine: Touring the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 3 – Backpacking in Chernobyl Town

Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 3 – “Backpacking” in Chernobyl Town

Posted on January 3, 2016January 2, 2016 by Jonny Blair

As with most of my journeys, I go to places without a huge amount of advance research. I find it clouds my method of thought and gives me an opinion of what to expect before I arrive. Sometimes, we go with the flow. I headed to Chernobyl with a clear head and the memory of Read more about Backpacking in Ukraine: Chernobyl Exclusion Zone Tour Part 3 – “Backpacking” in Chernobyl Town[…]