After my recent 3 night / 4 day trip into the Chernobyl exclusion zone, it’s time to share some photos. This trip was intense and everywhere I looked there were scattered pieces of a once thriving community, something that does not make for a light experience.
If you want to read my impressions and advice about traveling to Chernobyl, please check out my blog post: 4 Day Chernobyl Trip: Impressions, Advice and Photos
The below photos include shots from the main abandoned town of Pripyat as well as from villages and areas located all over the exclusion zone.
33 Chernobyl Photos
If you want to learn more about the Chernobyl disaster, I recommend reading Voices from Chernobyl: An Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster .
Here’s a quote from that book that summarizes the disaster well:
“It’s certainly true that Chernobyl, while an accident in the sense that no one intentionally set it off, was also the deliberate product of a culture of cronyism, laziness, and a deep-seated indifference toward the general population. The literature on the subject is pretty unanimous in its opinion that the Soviet system had taken a poorly designed reactor and then staffed it with a group of incompetents. It then proceeded, as the interviews in this book attest, to lie about the disaster in the most criminal way. In the crucial first ten days, when the reactor core was burning and releasing a steady stream of highly radioactive material into the surrounding areas, the authorities repeatedly claimed that the situation was under control…In the week after the accident, while refusing to admit to the world that anything really serious had gone wrong, the Soviets poured thousands of men into the breach…The machines they brought broke down because of the radiation. The humans wouldn’t break down until weeks or months later, at which point they’d die horribly. ”
If you have any questions about visiting Chernobyl, please get in touch and I’d be happy to assist. I can recommend excellent local tour operators and guides that will ensure you don’t have the standard Chernobyl tourist experience that 95% of visitors tend to have!
Want to learn more about taking a Chernobyl trip?
Check out my thoughts and trip advice here – 4 Day Chernobyl Trip: Impressions, Advice and Photos
/* Layout */
.ck_form.ck_naked {
/* divider image */
background: transparent;
line-height: 1.5em;
overflow: hidden;
color: #666;
font-size: 16px;
border: none;
-webkit-box-shadow: none;
-moz-box-shadow: none;
box-shadow: none;
clear: both;
margin: 20px 0px;
text-align: center;
}
.ck_form.ck_naked p {
padding: 0px;
}
.ck_form, .ck_form * {
-webkit-box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-box-sizing: border-box;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.ck_form.ck_naked .ck_form_fields {
width: 100%;
float: left;
padding: 5%;
}
/* Form fields */
.ck_errorArea {
display: none; /* temporary */
}
#ck_success_msg {
padding: 10px 10px 0px;
border: solid 1px #ddd;
background: #eee;
}
.ck_form.ck_naked input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked input[type="email"] {
font-size: 18px;
padding: 10px 8px;
width: 34%;
border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */
-moz-border-radius: 0px;
-webkit-border-radius: 0px;
border-radius: 0px; /* border radius */
background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */
margin-bottom: 5px;
height: auto;
float: left;
margin: 0px;
margin-right: 1%;
height: 42px;
}
.ck_form input[type="text"]:focus, .ck_form input[type="email"]:focus {
outline: none;
border-color: #aaa;
}
.ck_form.ck_naked .ck_subscribe_button {
width: 100%;
color: #fff;
margin: 0px;
padding: 9px 0px;
font-size: 18px;
background: #2196f3;
-moz-border-radius: 0px;
-webkit-border-radius: 0px;
border-radius: 0px; /* border radius */
cursor: pointer;
border: none;
text-shadow: none;
width: 30%;
float: left;
height: 42px;
}
.ck_converted_content {
display: none;
padding: 5%;
background: #fff;
}
/* max width 500 */
.ck_form.ck_naked.width500 .ck_subscribe_button {
width: 100%;
float: none;
margin-top: 5px;
}
.ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="email"] {
width: 49%;
}
.ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="email"] {
margin-right: 0px;
width: 50%;
}
/* max width 400 */
.ck_form.ck_naked.width400 .ck_subscribe_button, .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 input[type="email"] {
width: 100%;
float: none;
margin-top: 5px;
}
.ck_slide_up, .ck_modal, .ck_slide_up .ck_naked, .ck_modal .ck_naked {
min-width: 400px;
}
.page .ck_form.ck_naked {
margin: 50px auto;
max-width: 700px;
}
/* v6 */
.ck_slide_up.ck_form_v6, .ck_modal.ck_form_v6, .ck_slide_up.ck_form_v6 .ck_naked, .ck_modal.ck_form_v6 .ck_naked {
min-width: 0 !important;
}
.ck_form_v6 #ck_success_msg {
padding: 0px 10px;
}
@media all and (max-width: 403px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_naked {
padding-top: 30px;
}
}
@media all and (max-width: 499px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_modal .ck_naked + .ck_close_link {
color: #fff;
top: 10px;
}
}
.ck_form_v6.ck_slide_up .ck_naked + .ck_close_link {
right: 10px;
top: -5px;
}
@media all and (min-width: 600px) {
.ck_form_v6.ck_slide_up .ck_naked + .ck_close_link {
right: 35px;
}
}
.ck_select {
height: 42px !important;
}
@media only screen and (max-width: 499px) {
.ck_naked .ck_first_name, .ck_naked .ck_email_address, .ck_select, .ck_naked .ck_subscribe_button {
width: 100% !important;
}
}
.ck_naked .ck_first_name, .ck_naked .ck_email_address, .ck_select, .ck_subscribe_button {
border: 1px solid rgb(0,44,84) !important;
border-radius: 5px !important;
}
@media only screen and (min-width: 500px) {
.ck_naked .ck_first_name, .ck_naked .ck_email_address, .ck_select {
width: 32.5% !important;
}
.ck_naked .ck_subscribe_button {
width: 300px !important;
margin-left: 25% !important;
margin-top: 10px !important;
padding-top: 5px !important;
}
}
.ck_naked {
margin-top: -45px !important;
margin-bottom: -25px !important;
}
.ck_naked .ck_subscribe_button {
text-shadow: 0 0.075em 0.075em rgba(0,0,0,0.5) !important;
}
/* This script handles submission and redirect */
function overrideCKFormHandler() { (function ($) {
$("document").ready(function ($) {
form = $("form#ck_subscribe_form");
form.off("submit");
form.submit(function(e) {
e.stopPropagation();
e.preventDefault();
var subButton = form.find("#ck_subscribe_button");
var btnText = subButton.text();
var successMsg = form.parent().find("#ck_success_msg");
var errorMsg = form.find("#ck_error_msg");
subButton.prop("disabled", true).text("Subscribing...");
var showErrorMsg = function() {
errorMsg.parent("div").css("display", "block");
errorMsg.css("opacity", "0").fadeTo(250, 1);
}
data = form.serializeArray()
if (!!document.referrer) {
data.push({ name: "referrer", value: document.referrer});
}
if (form.find(".optIn").is(":checked")) {
data.push({name: "course_opted", value: true})
}
$.ajax({
url: form.attr("action"),
data: data,
method: "POST",
success: function (response) {
/* Replace with your thank you page URL */
window.location.href = "https://wanderingearl.com/subscription-confirmation/"
},
error: function (jqXHR, textStatus, errorThrown) {
subButton.prop("disabled", false).text(btnText);
showErrorMsg();
}
});
});
});
})(window.ckJQ); }
function overrideCKFormWhenReady() {
setTimeout(function(){
if(window.ckJQ) { overrideCKFormHandler(); }
else { overrideCKFormWhenReady(); }
}, 300);
}
overrideCKFormWhenReady();
It is startling to see these post apocalypse photos as we face such a environmental crisis on planet earth. Must have been surreal… thanks forsharing!