Discussion
This is an interesting site - it's old so don't blame me for its clunkiness!
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/
http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/
I've been but I didn't bother with travel insurance. I recommend a reputable tour guide such as Lupine Travel for the tour itself - they sorted everything out for me apart from flights.
The standard of driving over there is interesting. The car taking me back to the airport had a smashed windscreen and the driver left the engine running whilst filling up which seemed odd. The mini bus to Chernobyl from Kiev was fine though.
When it come to photography I used a combination of a cheapish Nikon bridge camera and my mobile phone but I would highly recommend a DSLR.
Sometimes you can't stay in a particular location for too long so something with a good shutter speed would be beneficial and I wouldn't bother with a stand. I had to breifly hang back a little to take some of the shots due to groups going around - there's a lot more visitors there then you think
Overall it was an excellent experience and well worth doing!
The standard of driving over there is interesting. The car taking me back to the airport had a smashed windscreen and the driver left the engine running whilst filling up which seemed odd. The mini bus to Chernobyl from Kiev was fine though.
When it come to photography I used a combination of a cheapish Nikon bridge camera and my mobile phone but I would highly recommend a DSLR.
Sometimes you can't stay in a particular location for too long so something with a good shutter speed would be beneficial and I wouldn't bother with a stand. I had to breifly hang back a little to take some of the shots due to groups going around - there's a lot more visitors there then you think
Overall it was an excellent experience and well worth doing!
There's been a few threads on this, this one has a few companies that do tours named.
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Also try 28days later, plenty of info on there.
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/chernobyl-an...
Couple of guys even drove there a few weeks ago
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/drove-to-che...
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Also try 28days later, plenty of info on there.
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/chernobyl-an...
Couple of guys even drove there a few weeks ago
https://www.28dayslater.co.uk/threads/drove-to-che...
Edited by Easternlight on Friday 28th December 22:49
Hey thanks for all the feedback. Really useful info. I'm planning to drive there. It's going to be a long trip. Visiting friends in Berlin, then a UK cousin working in Gdansk, then an old colleague in Warsaw, then Vinnytsia in Ukraine where apparently 5 generations ago my father's family lived (haven't found any evidence for it yet though), then Kiev, then ???? Donetsk or as near to the border as possible ??? Hmmm. We'll see. Actually is that PH teddy bear still travelling?
paul.deitch said:
Hey thanks for all the feedback. Really useful info. I'm planning to drive there. It's going to be a long trip. Visiting friends in Berlin, then a UK cousin working in Gdansk, then an old colleague in Warsaw, then Vinnytsia in Ukraine where apparently 5 generations ago my father's family lived (haven't found any evidence for it yet though), then Kiev, then ???? Donetsk or as near to the border as possible ??? Hmmm. We'll see. Actually is that PH teddy bear still travelling?
MrsTed is still on the go....your trip sounds perfect for her...https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
We went last year and used these guys https://chernobyl-tour.com/english/, it's important to use a recognised tour company as they will need to forward your passport details to the authorities, if your names not down you're not coming in!.
From what we saw I'd advise a two day trip as a minimum, one day trip everyone is herded on to a coach = long day and rushed, two day and it's a 16 seater minibus and a stay over in Chernobyl.
Our guide spoke perfect English and was very knowledgeable, you want to see all the good stuff a good guide can make all the difference to a trip.
Camera wise I took my DSLR with two lens, 18-300 and 8-18, for eg the Duga array is huge, you'll need a good wide angle to get it all in, even the Ferris wheel took some doing.
If you take a tripod they'll make you use something to stand it on, they don't want the dust leaving the area blah blah.
My wife took a decent mobile, she had some very good results with that plus it also logged where we were with GPS.
A good flash is recommended as once inside the buildings it can be very dark.
We used UBER to get around, for starters there are three different spellings for Kiev! and my Cyrillic isn't that great. I would imagine driving around under your own steam would keep the sat nav busy!
The traffic in Kiev was a nightmare, as with any major city. Somehow they manage to make a 4 lane highway out of 2 :-)
They're not in the EU so expect to chew through your phone data unless you buy a local sim.
Chernobyl canteen food is not for the feint-hearted, sure it looks o.k. but that 'meat' is 99% gristle.
If you're an accident prone person be extra vigilant, health and safety does not exist, at all, ever! and you're a long way from anywhere. Open lift shafts abound, missing man hole covers etc.
With a small group (7 in ours) you'll most likely get to see more of what you came for.
From what we saw I'd advise a two day trip as a minimum, one day trip everyone is herded on to a coach = long day and rushed, two day and it's a 16 seater minibus and a stay over in Chernobyl.
Our guide spoke perfect English and was very knowledgeable, you want to see all the good stuff a good guide can make all the difference to a trip.
Camera wise I took my DSLR with two lens, 18-300 and 8-18, for eg the Duga array is huge, you'll need a good wide angle to get it all in, even the Ferris wheel took some doing.
If you take a tripod they'll make you use something to stand it on, they don't want the dust leaving the area blah blah.
My wife took a decent mobile, she had some very good results with that plus it also logged where we were with GPS.
A good flash is recommended as once inside the buildings it can be very dark.
We used UBER to get around, for starters there are three different spellings for Kiev! and my Cyrillic isn't that great. I would imagine driving around under your own steam would keep the sat nav busy!
The traffic in Kiev was a nightmare, as with any major city. Somehow they manage to make a 4 lane highway out of 2 :-)
They're not in the EU so expect to chew through your phone data unless you buy a local sim.
Chernobyl canteen food is not for the feint-hearted, sure it looks o.k. but that 'meat' is 99% gristle.
If you're an accident prone person be extra vigilant, health and safety does not exist, at all, ever! and you're a long way from anywhere. Open lift shafts abound, missing man hole covers etc.
With a small group (7 in ours) you'll most likely get to see more of what you came for.
Rufus Roughcut said:
We went last year and used these guys https://chernobyl-tour.com/english/, it's important to use a recognised tour company as they will need to forward your passport details to the authorities, if your names not down you're not coming in!.
Thanks again. Can't wait. I will try to rope in some friends as well and will post some pics here.I went last year. 8 of us (all know each other) on a minibus so was just us. Road from Kiev to Chernobyl was HORRIBLE so dont recommend you go hungover and you wont get your head down for sleep unless youre the type of person that can sleep through a bear attack. You can get ice creams and water at the check points, I do love the hazelnut ice creams they do but they arent ice creams as you know them in the UK. Bring some s
t clothing you can bin. You need long sleeves, I took a thin waterproof jacket even though it was mid summer and boiling.
Saw Chernobyl, Pripyat and that big ass radar thing. They suggest you throw away clothing
Was most impressed by the Radar the scale is absolutely jaw dropping.
Cool place and definitely a tick off the list, quite surreal in Pripyat. Our guide took us to a couple of Schools so assuming youll go as well, one was quiet and there were just us in there. I took my Fuji X70 (always use this for short trips away as I can easily point and shoot) which doesn't have great low light performance, some of the places are quite dark so looking back i'd of taken a simple tripod and a couple of spare batteries for longer exposures. We ignored the guide sometimes and just walked about on our own off the beaten path to get photos, poor bloke wasnt going to tell 8 baboons what to do.
Like maxdb said, sometimes not always possible to get photos due to time and having bloody tourists in the photo!! Someone mentioned a wider angle as well, mine could have been wider for sure. I would have been pissed if I'd taken a 35mm or something.
Spoilers in here among photos of Kiev if you're interested, I'd sooner wait and see it for yourself:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/149467443@N05/albums...
t clothing you can bin. You need long sleeves, I took a thin waterproof jacket even though it was mid summer and boiling.Saw Chernobyl, Pripyat and that big ass radar thing. They suggest you throw away clothing
Was most impressed by the Radar the scale is absolutely jaw dropping.
Cool place and definitely a tick off the list, quite surreal in Pripyat. Our guide took us to a couple of Schools so assuming youll go as well, one was quiet and there were just us in there. I took my Fuji X70 (always use this for short trips away as I can easily point and shoot) which doesn't have great low light performance, some of the places are quite dark so looking back i'd of taken a simple tripod and a couple of spare batteries for longer exposures. We ignored the guide sometimes and just walked about on our own off the beaten path to get photos, poor bloke wasnt going to tell 8 baboons what to do.
Like maxdb said, sometimes not always possible to get photos due to time and having bloody tourists in the photo!! Someone mentioned a wider angle as well, mine could have been wider for sure. I would have been pissed if I'd taken a 35mm or something.
Spoilers in here among photos of Kiev if you're interested, I'd sooner wait and see it for yourself:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/149467443@N05/albums...
Edited by MikeGoodwin on Friday 4th January 12:34
MikeGoodwin said:
I went last year. 8 of us (all know each other) on a minibus so was just us.
Great set of photos! Thanks! I'm trying to get friends involved but they seem mostly pretty anxious about radiation. I wonder why?I have a 15mm-30mm which I guess will be wide enough and 2 x FF. How long did you stay and was it long enough to see everything worth seeing?
paul.deitch said:
Great set of photos! Thanks! I'm trying to get friends involved but they seem mostly pretty anxious about radiation. I wonder why?
I have a 15mm-30mm which I guess will be wide enough and 2 x FF. How long did you stay and was it long enough to see everything worth seeing?
Thank you mate, i really wouldn't worry about the radiation. There's some places that are still bad like the red Forrest but there's barely any radiation in Pripyat or at Chernobyl in fact there is more radiation in Kiev than stood next to the monument in front of the Sarcophagus.I have a 15mm-30mm which I guess will be wide enough and 2 x FF. How long did you stay and was it long enough to see everything worth seeing?
15 30 should be fine although you might want some extra for some shots as it's quite a big place. See if you can take a tripod just in case.
We were there a day. Was a long day as well. I think we saw everything we needed to which was quite a bit. Don't think there's any reason to stay for two days I mean an abandoned building is an abandoned building.
Kiev is a great night out if you head out there with friends if thats your thing. Make sure you walk around Kiev as well there's plenty to see. Best lads trip we have done yet.
MikeGoodwin said:
Saw Chernobyl, Pripyat and that big ass radar thing. They suggest you throw away clothing
really? Should only be an issue if you've got yourself contaminated and that takes some doing if you stick to the tourist trail!I was out there 4 years and only had one significant case of someone contaminating their clothing, but he was an idiot and probably deserved it!
MikeGoodwin said:
We didnt, I am.
Was just advice from them really, just took some crap clothes with us, not a big deal
I suppose not - wasn't suggesting you were an idiot! Anywhere the guides take you including any 'this is special....' will still be 'tourist trail' - not in their interest to get into the habit of getting their punters pinged at the exclusion zone exit monitors.Was just advice from them really, just took some crap clothes with us, not a big deal
Even working close into the shelter I don't recall us having many contamination events; the one I mentioned was early on when areas to use were being scouted, by said idiot, who walked through undergrowth and who knows what in areas that he shouldn't have! After 3 decades plus most of the contamination is fairly well fixed where it is unless you mess with it.
Just left and back in Kiev. Was a great 2 day trip. Very tiring and I would say the greatest danger was walki g around in decaying buildings with open floor cable trunking, broken flooring, no lighting. Our guide was game for us to go anywhere as long as we didn't make too much noise. Problem for her was we had a sound artist with us who was banging on everything for one of his projects! Food in the zone is like many things- very Soviet and don't expect a menu choice. The advice on here was very useful. Thanks. Should be home in a week's time and then will post a couple of photos.
chernobyl-tour.com
Alexandra was a great guide. She seemed to have an exhaustive knowledge of the place. Spoke good English.
A good sense of humour too and she sank a bottle of Ukrainian vodka with us at dinner.
Coincidentally we met her and her boss in an Italian restaurant last night and were made very welcome.
Alexandra was a great guide. She seemed to have an exhaustive knowledge of the place. Spoke good English.
A good sense of humour too and she sank a bottle of Ukrainian vodka with us at dinner.
Coincidentally we met her and her boss in an Italian restaurant last night and were made very welcome.
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