Chernobyl

We finally arranged our "ecological / extreme toutism" day trip to Chernobyl for when we are over in Ukraine next month.

I got emailed the tour details which you couldn't make up. Alex forwarded it onto some of his collegues and they though it was a joke.

Apparently it is safe enough to visit for a couple of hours, but I guess they would say that. I remember how initially 20 years ago the Russian authorities lied when the disaster happened...

"Full-day trip to CHERNOBYL –
visit the site of the worst environmental disaster in history"

• 9:00 Depart Kyiv. Two-hour ride northwards to the border of the "exclusion zone". The area is 214 km in perimeter.
  
  
• 11:00 – 14:00 Pass the checkpoint "Dytyatky" and enter the "exclusion zone". Visit to the site of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant – an enterprise once employed more than 5000 staff. Observe object "Sarcophagus"- concrete-and-steel shelter covering radioactive masses and debris left after the explosion. Experience the peace and quiet of the ghost-town Prypyat – all 47.500 inhabitants had to abandon their homes the next day after the accident. Explore the deserted apartment blocks, schools, hotels, kinder gardens.

• 14:00 – 14:30 Lunch (the quality of food is guaranteed).

• 14:30 - 15:00 A briefing conducted by a specialist of the governmental agency "Chernobylinterinform". Get answers to your questions about the accident, current ecological situation and the future of the exclusion zone.
  
  
• 15:00 - 17:00 Visit to the site of contaminated vehicles. Thousands of tracks, helicopters, armoured personnel vehicles are so soaked with radiation that it is dangerous to approach. Meet the self-settlers, elderly people living in the exclusion zone.
  
  
• 17:00 Leave the exclusion zone
  
  
• 19:00 Arrive Kyiv