From Draft... to Published | Chernobyl

When Mary and I did our long trip back to London from Asia, we travelled through Kiev because it was convenient for the route and to avoid the large visa cost of going via Belarus. Although it hadn't been on my list of places I'd like to visit, I ended up loving Kiev. It's a cool city, especially beautiful when the sun is shining. It's chock full of pastel churches and cobble stones. While we were there, we heard that it was possible to take a trip to Chernobyl, site of probably the world's worst nuclear disaster. The trip was quite expensive, and we weren't sure whether to blow a large part of our backpacker budget on it. In the end, after deciding to go for it, we weren't able to sign up as you have to give at least four days notice.

So when my work trip to Kiev was confirmed, I knew I wanted to book a couple of extra nights and take the trip. The area around the remaining site is known as the exclusion zone, a 30km area set up by the Soviet authorities. The area is still secure and you have to pass through check points in and out. All trip participants have to register with their passport to attend.

The journey there takes around 2 hours, during which a video is shown with gives details on the disaster (referred to as 'accident' throughout by the tour guides), and also the clean up and legacy. A couple of things I wasn't aware of previously; 

1. The reactor was initially covered with a cement sarcophagus to contain the radioactive debris but this was only ever intended as a shield, a short term solution to quickly minimise the damage. As time went on, it was clear that the cover was deteriorating and would not last more than 30 years before it collapsed sending the still contaminated dust back into out atmosphere. In the early 2000s, an international team of engineers worked together to create a better cover which could last much longer (100 years) and enable the deconstruction and safe removal of the reactor. 

2. The disaster occured in reactor 4. The other reactors continued to be used after the disaster and it wasn't until 2000 that the final one (reactor 3 - next to the one that exploded!) was decommissioned.

3. There was actually greater areas of land affected by the disaster in Belarus, and these parts of the country are still no-go areas.

4. Some people have now returned to Chernobyl town, and live there safely today.

The day trip is very long, and is quite tiring. But it is completely worth it. I have always been quite fascinated by abandoned places. Pripyat is probably the ultimate time capsule town. It's so quiet and peaceful, but with an undeniable sombreness in the air. Generally the visit was conducted with sensitivity, but a couple of times I had to remind myself that this was the site of other people's misfortune and suffering and should not be minimised to a tourist attraction.

I feel that I learnt a lot from this visit, and I saw a part of history that is fascinating, sad and unforgettable. 

The stands of the Football Stadium from Pripyat

The ferris wheel is one of the famous sites of Chernobyl, and it's especially sad as it was never used. The whole playground was created for May day celebrations, and the disaster happened on 27th April.

Quite before their time, Pripyat had a large supermarket. The ruins in the town are sad to see; rusted trolleys, broken glass, fallen in ceilings and water dripping from everywhere. But in 1986 this was quite unusual.

Our tour guide stopped by this sign, and told everyone to get out for 'selfie' time. It seemed very inappropriate and as you can see I just took a photo of everyone blindly following what she told them without questioning it.

The soviets were in the process of building more reactors; this is the site of 5 and 6 - the plan was to build 12 in total. Once reactor 4 exploded construction on all of these stopped. 

A Soviet ferrari!

The empty roads were creepy but the stillness was also quite peaceful and serene.

Wanderings Lately :: June

I don't have many photos from June. It's been such a wonderful month of sunshine, and summer well and truly arrived in the capital. I have been cycling into work everyday and enjoying lunch in the square outside our office. 

We had our first BBQ of the summer at home, and really started to believe football might be coming home...

I ended the month in Nice, visiting Johanna and soaking up the sea breeze and croissants for breakfast every day!

Work Netball

We entered our first netball tournament with a work team, and although we lost every one of our games, it was still good to play some more of the game. There are a few enthusiastic players so we may still get a work team together to play as well.

The Women's Procession

I joined Siobhan's work colleagues on the women's parade in celebration of 100 years since [some] women got the right to vote.

It was a great day, with so many people all walking together as a community. I was absolutely exhausted by the end of the day though!

Nice 

The end of June, and the start of my short break to Nice. Waking up early to explore the city before the masses were up. Heading to the beach, for a whole day, an afternoon or to eat our dinner by the shore. Time spent with a wonderful friend

:: Is this summer weather here to stay? Can the UK really be in for a proper sunny summer? ::

Wanderings Lately :: May

May is a great month, beginning and ending with a bank holiday weekend. I had a few highlights this month, completing a week long intense course at work, completing in my second annual Beamers netball tournament and finishing my homemade dress. 

Here are the highlights:

Tailoring

I continued my challenge to make my own dress this month, and finished over the second bank holiday weekend. Thanks to my mum for the garden photoshoot! It took quite a bit of work, and worked out pretty expensive, but it's definitely a huge sense of achievement. I'm happy with the end result, even if I did have some doubts just before the end.

I may attempt another design, but perhaps not for a while yet!

Werk Perks

I spend one week attending a communications course at the FCO this month, the week of amazing weather where I spent every lunch break eating my lunch in St James' Park. On the final day, we were able to walk along Downing Street to take a photo outside Number 10. Palmerston the cat also made an appearance. Turns out you can't get too near the door, and are not allowed to touch the paint as our dirty fingerprints would ruin the shiny paint job.

I also attended an evening at the British Library to hear from one of our Chevening Fellows and we were treated to a short tour of the library ending in their Africa and Asia reading room. 

Sunny Bank Holidays

Our first bank holiday was fantastic, and on the Saturday I went for a chicken burger at the John Lewis roof garden. A (sort of) secret oasis in the centre of Oxford Street. Although we went on the first day and it was quite busy, you would never know you're in the middle of the busiest shopping street in London, the roof is a world away!

Exploring the Wetlands

Another bank holiday adventure was to the London Wetland Centre, where we wandered all around in the sunshine spotting birds we didn't know the name of and cute otters hanging out on the rocks.

Netball

Beamers in the sunshine tournament where we reached the quarter finals (one stage better than last year!)

Wanderings Lately :: April



April has been such a nice month! I started the month with Easter at my parents', and made home made Hot Cross Buns for the first time, then completed another overseas trip with work, felt important at the foreign office (although not really!) and managed not to collapse on my first ever park run.

This is a little bit late, but worth it to relive the sunny April memories!

Friends

I had a wonderful visit this month from Chelsea and Andrew who came down to London to celebrate our friend Naz's 30th birthday. It was a brilliant day of sunshine so we took advantage of this to enjoy some cocktails over the river from me in Canary Wharf (so much so we were late for the party!)

I was also roped into doing my first ever park run, in honour of my friend Cat's birthday. I made the trip down to Dulwich Park and managed to get around the 5k course and although I didn't run all of it I gave it a good go! This was on the same weekend as the marathon, which I popped out of my house to watch again. I was early enough this year to spot Mo Farrah run past. Watching the marathon runners really put my measly 5k into perspective!

We also enjoyed a lunchtime picnic in Tavistock Square on another warm day (April really did give us a glimpse of summer!) Nothing more wonderful than sunshine in London - and also all my warm cycles to and from work, a reward for all of those cold or wet days throughout the winter!

Being Totally Uncool

I attended a few meetings at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office this month, and with some slight encouragement from my colleague (she didn't have to do much really) I snapped a selfie outside the front sign. Just gives me a thrill to have been inside!

Ukraine

I've been to Kiev before, on my trip back to London from Asia, but I was happy to be visiting again, with work this month. My trip coincided with Orthodox Easter, which meant lots of easter eggs and decorated rabbit statues all over the city. I also stumbled upon a blessing ceremony outside one of the churches, which was interesting to witness.

This time I also scheduled an extra day so that I could go on a day trip to Chernobyl. I wasn't sure what to expect or whether it would feel intrusive. But it was very interesting to learn more about the disaster, which I know only through archive footage since I was only one when it happened. The abandoned town of Pripyat is like a time capsule from the Soviet Era, the area still too contaminated for anyone to live there.

The tour is a long day, on and off the bus to look at different sites along the way, but it is super informative and mostly sensitive to the situation (there was only one point when the guide encouraged everyone to get off the bus and take selfies which I thought was not really appropriate).

Zero Waste Life

Still doing my best to live the low waste life (I can't go zero). I've finally planted some more fruit/veg in our garden. I am not sure I can keep any of this alive but I will give it a go! (the garlic is already growing)

I also ordered a new phone case - since pela case now do them for Samsung phones. This is an eco-friendly and compostable phone case. I have donated my old one, which doesn't remove the problem all together but is better than just throwing away.

Lastly, I am currently half way through my 'make your own dress' challenge. Being mentored by my wonderful mother to try and make a dress suitable for a couple of the weddings I am going to this year. So far so good, although the pattern is difficult to follow and we were duped into buying more fabric than we needed. It's a lot of work, and it's not cheaper than buying from a shop but I think the sense of achievement will be enough to justify all the work!