Welcome to RadicalTrips!
We fucked up, again
we are in Belarus and behind us is Ukraine
with no border control!
How is that possible?
It took us three hours to get into Belarus
and it took us one second to get out of Belarus
but then, there was a military blockade...
"We would like to go into Ukraine"
and the guy said
"It's Chernobyl! Go back."
But to be clear, Google sent us through
I even checked on Wikipedia
for which border crossings were legit
but apparently you can interpret this one
also for another one
which is a few kilometers away
but tomorrow we will actually
go back to Chernobyl
this time, with a guide.
So, stay tuned!
« RadicalTrips »
What a trip this was.
And while we were incredibly tired the whole day
-more on that later!-
Witnessing Chernobyl was incredible.
The scale...
the compassion...
but also the serenity.
And while we will get back to our story
let's take a step back first
and consider what Chernobyl is, exactly?
Is it a place of horror and death?
Is it a time capsule?
Is it a refuge for nature?
Or, perhaps, even, a tourist attraction?
Karel and I found out
that it is all of these things.
And nowadays, over 10,000 international tourists
visits the disaster site every year.
Overtaken by greenery and wildlife
it documents the catastrophic blunder
that helped bring down the Soviet empire.
And its last leader
Mikhail Gorbachev, has said as much.
"The meltdown was perhaps the real cause
of the collapse of the Soviet Union
five years later."
The explosion released over 400 times as much
radioactive material as the bomb
that was dropped on Hiroshima
and while, in Chernobyl, at first
only 31 people died
if we count radiation-related illnesses
the total number of deaths reaches up to 4,000.
And even in 2019
Chernobyl continues to raise headlines
now, with the new miniseries released by HBO.
Seen from the eyes of the first responders
and powerful leaders in government
it shows how not only the dark truth
and responsibilities were covered up
but it also shows
how it all could have been prevented in the first place.
Rens and I are on top of the building
in a desolated town near the Chernobyl reactor.
Nobody lives here, because it's too dangerous
I asked the tour guide
"why are you here every day?"
and you get the sad answer
"Ukraine is a poor country
and money is more important than safety."
Rens and I are not afraid
because radiation is normal for modern human life
because, if you take an airplane
from Amsterdam to New York
you get a lot of radiation
it's not a problem because you don't do it every day
and we don't do this every day.
But, it's...
It's sad that we are here
in a town where really nobody lives
look at all those empty buildings...
All of this area has been contaminated
for 50,000 up to 100,000 years.
So, on a human scale that's...
unimaginable.
Sector three will be inhabitable after fifty years
if I remember correctly
something like that
and the buffer zone, luckily
has been changing in boundaries for some time now
every now and then
if new measurements get published
and slowly, actually
people get to go back to their hometowns
after the disaster, 32 years ago
and I know it's 32 years ago, easy
because I was born only three months
after the disaster took place.
So, all of this misery
and this disastrous impact on the whole world
Europe specifically
has been around for as long as I have been.
So, what's also...
What also blows the mind
is that a lot of particularly old people
chose to head back into their own houses
already right after the incident happened
due to sentimental reasons
just refusing to give up their home
where they have been all their lives
but also due to bad risk assessment, I would say
due to very poorly given information
from the, then, government USSR
they weren't properly educated about the real threats
that are related with radiation infection
so, these people also were naive, in many ways
for decades, scattered across the area
they remained within the Chernobyl zone.
Many things can be said of Soviet rule and the USSR
but, in all respects
as we can now also witness
being in this swimming pool
with the gymnasium next door
this was a real town, you know
50,000 people had remarkably good lives, actually
because they were employed with the chemical plant
they had rather high salaries
being engineers and supporting staff
so, especially for Soviet rule
back in the days of communism
particularly Pryp'yat' and Chernobyl
were thriving places.
And the amusement park
where we will go next
was set to open in five days
after the disaster took place.
If this isn't disaster tourism
then nothing is.
And in some ways, it reminds me
of being in Auschwitz, in Poland
the world's most famous concentration camp
where it made me feel rather disturbed
but also fascinated
about what disasters
humankind can cause amongst each other.
So, it's rather weird to
hopefully, respectfully
witness this place
and try to ask good questions
and take it all in
and we're here for tourism
for amusement, maybe?
How do you feel about this place
having turned from a disaster area
into a tourism area?
So, basically we do the sightseeing tours
where you can see the true picture
of what's going to happen to the planet
after humans just disappear
this is the best spot
especially here in Pryp'yat' town
you can clearly see
how nature started to take everything over
and that's what, basically
people are interested in.
To see what's gonna happen
after humans disappear.
City council, music school...
cinema, river Pryp'yat'...
Pryp'yat' town was named after the river Pryp'yat'
Well, Karel, up to you to find the ten differences
Number one?
Trees!
- Trees!
Number two?
street lights, people, broken windows
I think we are at ten, already
How do you feel...
and also for your guides, perhaps
to work in this zone
even though you go here, maybe, every day?
Well, honestly saying though
once a year we pass medical examination
in the exclusion zone
and we have personal radiation recorders, all of us
plus we keep all those Geiger counters
and the thing is, the risk, these days
basically, is represented by soil
so, during the clean up
all the radioactivity and the radioactive dust
that landed on the walls
on the roofs, on the asphalt
they were washed on the soil, yeah?
And then, Soviet authorities tried to remove the soil
like, to some extent
especially in the most important parts of this area
which they plan to use for the future works
they removed the soil, they buried it
and these days, yeah
there are many still radioactive particles there
as long as you don't touch the soil
as long as you don't eat those vegetables
the fruits that grow here
everything's gonna be fine.
So yeah, there is no risk of like
the risk of inhaling something here
is very very negligible.
This town was also remarkable
due to the very low average age of people living here
it was only 27 years old
and especially those days
maybe still in Ukraine
young people tend to have a lot of young children
of the fifty thousand inhabitants
almost 17,000 of those people were small children
so there were just daycare centers
and schools all around.
This place makes for some awesome photography
the disturbing nature of the scene
with all these laid down objects
of the children that were in the daycare...
it's far from authentic.
And that kind of bugs me, because
with all that happened here
it's rather odd, to me that
now also photographers have
created their own little reality
they know how to properly call on emotions
of empathy, and distress, and loss
but that makes it more into a theme park
than into an actual historical preserved location
and, for me, that goes a little bit too far
we don't touch anything
especially while we're urban exploring
we do believe in the credo
"leave nothing, but your footsteps"
so, setting up these scenes
by selectively placing
or, even bringing, children's toys
in order to create a morbid picture
that's not our style.
Have you encountered
that members of your tour group
misbehaved, maybe in disrespectful ways?
These days, no.
In the past yeah, there were some cases
when people tried
like, for example, to get on the ferris wheel
or on those swingers
or inside the bumper cars
but people just need to understand
and, like, when they come here
they need to respect the place
the place where thousands of people used to live
and stuff like that.
Some of them, they tried to break the windows
because they wanted to do that for fun
but what's the purpose, you know?
You just need to come and respect
the place and the land where people used to live.
Yeah, I was born in 1989
I was born after the disaster
but, my family used to live in a tiny village that
was located some 80 kilometers from this place
and when the Soviet Union collapsed
and when the Ukrainian authorities
started to change the border lines of the exclusion zone
they detected that there was
some increased radioactivity
in the settlement where my family used to live.
I was, back then, five years old
yeah, it was 1994
when we were relocated from that settlement
due to increased radioactivity
and we were just provided another accommodation.
And, my grandfather, he was one of those "liquidators"
who participated during the liquidation
during the cleanup of the exclusion zone
after the disaster.
Yeah, he died pretty early at the age of 39
but it happened to many of those liquidators
who were here, especially
in the first few weeks after the disaster.
During the year, there are some days
they are called memorial days
in the exclusion zone
where former inhabitants of this territory
are allowed to come and visit
the graves of their family members
the friends who were buried here
so, basically, on those days
my family, like my parents and my grandmom
they go to visit the grave of my grandfather
and that's the only day when they
just, basically, go there.
In the first three hours
after the explosion
28 firefighters went to the reactor
and tried to save it from another explosion.
If the second reactor exploded
then, half of Europe
wouldn't be here.
So, it was a remarkable job
and those firefighters
saved the lives
of almost every European being.
You might remember the video
of Tropical Islands in Germany
this place is huge
it's really humongous
the Eiffel Tower can lie on its back
the Statue of Liberty can fit straight in...
Well, this one has dubious record
of being even bigger, while being movable
because, over there, which I cannot show
But I can't film that part, right?
No you cannot, for physical protection...
security area...
Oh, I see, yeah.
There's rail tracks
and on these rail tracks
they could move the whole sarcophagus
in 14 days' time
fom where they could safely construct it
for over five years
with the help of 3,000 construction workers.
It cost a total of 2.5 billion euros
built by a French company
and it should last for over 100 years.
This should keep us safe
while robots have 40 meters to spare
with the 70 meters of the actual power plant
and within these 40 meters
the robots will help us to clean up the mess
that humans created.
Hopefully, in a century from now
the sarcophagus can also be removed, again
and we will be safe from radiation.
We have one story left
to tell you guys.
This very night
at the border crossing from Belarus into Ukraine
not the first one, the wrong one
at the Chernobyl area
the other one, the proper one
got us into a lot of trouble.
It was already midnight
and at the Ukrainian side of the border
we saw 15 cars waiting.
It was going to be a long night.
Once it was our turn
and we were able to talk to a border officer
we knew we were in trouble.
It had nothing to do with our equipment
but, with the car.
The thing is, this isn't my car.
It's from my father
and Rens and I
used it for years
for many of the RadicalTrips road trips.
And, of course, I have the official car papers
but they wanted to have a written statement
with a stamp on it, and a signature
that I am allowed to drive in his car.
Of course, I don't have it
It was never a problem, before
but, they have found something
to bug us with.
It became evident to me
when she said to us
Guys, you have very expensive equipment
why do you come to my country without papers?
You give me a lot of trouble.
I don't earn much
it will take a lot of time for me to fix this.
Rens was waiting in the car
and I was traveling from one office
to another office
to one guy with a star
to someone higher up
with two stars and a big hat.
And we were in trouble
because we couldn't travel to the Ukraine
but our visa expired at midnight
so we couldn't go back to Belarus, as well!
We were stuck in limbo.
With every time the same question...
Why don't you have the right papers?
Why don't you have the right papers?
Why do you come to my country
without the right papers?
You bring me in trouble!
I apologized.
I never should have come to her country
without the right kind of papers.
And then it came to me...
It was just blackmail!
So, I asked her
if I could compensate her for her time
by giving her fifty euros.
You should understand
where I come from, we don't do bribes
maybe, in some places, it is normal
but not for me.
So, I was scared.
The only English sign on the wall said
"If you bribe you go to jail."
I thought situation was solved
but then, the door opened
the guy with the big hat and the two stars
came into the room...
she was definitely shocked!
and my heart rate went through the roof
she took the money
put it in the passports...
and I was so afraid...
What will happen now?
Will the senior guy take my passport
see the bribe...
Will they put us in jail?
And, luckily, after 30 seconds
the guy left the room.
She took the money out of the passports
hid it under the computer
she took our border papers
gave them a stamp
and said "go now, fast!"
Adrenaline was racing through my body
it was four o'clock in the morning
We had a drive of two hours left to Kiev
We would be arriving there at 6:00
our tour guide would pick us up at 7:00
I didn't had time to sleep.
It was a long day
awake for more than 40 hours
terribly tired...
had a fantastic day
bribed my first officer
I hope it will be my last...
And Chernobyl was amazing.
I'm so happy I've done it all!
Let's go back to the hotel.
Quick update
we're now in a burger bar
the only thing I want to say
I knew a lot about Chernobyl
but the stories today amazed me even more
because of there were firefighters
and with their lives they prevented
an even bigger catastrophe for the whole continent
because if another reactor exploded
maybe half of Europe wasn't livable anymore
Very important...
Thank you!
- You're welcome
Thank you!
But, even today
and, luckily, the end is near
with the robots kicking in
from next year onwards
very brave and strong people are still working
to help us to be safe.
So, I'm very glad that
the Ukrainian government has
taken the steps in the past few years
to allow visitors to share in the story
and to learn from the mistakes from the past
so we won't make them again.
This was RadicalTrips
and I hope to see you next time!
The only thing better than a burger
is a double burger.
