Company guys hiking in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. The main goal was to Pripyat and surrounding areas, but the finish point had a long and difficult path, full of danger and adventure. A stay illegally inside the zone, as they say, priceless.
From the beginning of the coming campaign smacks of dilettantism - none of us had ever been in CEZ, except for Andrew, and he legally. The general idea has been obtained from reports in the network, but there was a lot of unresolved issues with the route and autonomous stay for a week. After sorting options, we decided to go to the center area of "Western track". Part of the way along the abandoned railway faced a / d line, a part of the woods and fields. In contrast to the popular version of the roadside, had to walk about 2 times more, but did not need to constantly hide from regular cars and darting move river ford.
Our company has a modest five started from Kiev in the afternoon.
By the approaches of the border area, we arrived by car and left him in the care of one of the residents of nearby villages. The path has already moved in the darkness.
But for a long time did not go as guided by the terrain was difficult, and the enthusiastic way through the branches and bushes were not. We decided to stand up for the night in an abandoned village a few kilometers from the border area to vigorously continue the journey in the morning.
Charges
As such, the boundaries of the "zone of obligatory resettlement" on the perimeter, we have not found. Perhaps when - it was barbed wire, but is now switching to the restricted area next to nothing shows.
We cross the last "live" asphalt road near the PGT Vilcha.
The village is located within the territory of the formal obligatory resettlement, which has become such immediately after the accident. However, the last resident left his home only in 1993.
A few words about rail traffic within the zone. Stopped it for various rumors somewhere in the early 90s, and the entire line from the station. Vilcha to the station. Shepel badly overgrown with impenetrable thickets. Cloth to the station. Vilcha is in satisfactory condition and is sometimes used. Based on concrete sleepers it changed recently.
Until 2005, the town of Ovruch here even went up diesel train, despite the fact that the population of the village were evicted long ago. The fact that there are only required to rotate gridiron locomotive. Cargo flow is maintained to this day - are being developed forests.
Often in these places to catch "illegal tourists," so in open country begins the "stalker" should be extremely cautious.
The station building.
Not far from the station tracks are located abandoned factory shop.
Appointments shops I have not identified, and the extra time to study them we did not have.
As I wrote, the movement of trains on the exclusion zone was discontinued back in the 90s. In the ten years or so, the nature literally "invaded" the railroad tracks and now they look like this:
Therefore, our future path mostly held forests. In the evening we got to the second, already former, w / d station in the zone - P *. Here was our first encounter with the animal world. Have a rest on the platform, we suddenly heard a muffled, but loud wheezing at a distance of 150 meters. In the next 10 minutes our gallant company was quieter water below the grass. Making sure that the rattle is gradually subsided, we rushed to get out from this place.
At the edge of the frame is visible platform.
The first was a big jump from the distance, and in the evening we thoroughly worn out. Stand up for the night right under the station canopy Klivny.
By the morning of drinking water supplies ran out, and faced with the need to find her. Even on the outskirts of Klivnam, in the darkness, we passed a small creek on the right side of the w / d mound. Returning to him for water, for the sake of curiosity, we decided to look for the other side of the mound. The spectacle just amazed!
Beavers built a notable dam that caused the flooding of surrounding areas, sometimes even touching the wood.
And here is the "clean" natural drinking water :)
A little about her booty in our campaign: after filling water into the tank, we spent monitored by gamma - and beta - radiation. If the device shows the value in the normal range, the water poured through a special filter marching into a clean container. As a rule, the transparency of the water from that not much has changed, but the dirtiest screened out. Water also had a pronounced taste of wood.
Not far from the station located Klivny second circuit area. It stretched, it seems even in Soviet times, barbed wire, and a primer on the perimeter.
Prior to the next station - thick forests, about 7 km. On the third path flows another river. The primer, which runs parallel to w / e is connected to the mound opposite shore pontoon crossing.
View from the w / e bridge.
Updating water supplies.
Andrew is interested in video - blogging, and throughout the campaign made valuable travel notes. In the near future our entire trip will appear in the form of individual issues on his channel. In this frame Andrei takes a video about a small house on the way to the switchman Tolstoy forest.
Art. A thick forest is the sorting and has developed gridiron. After a disaster, there was a point to clean rolling stock involved in the liquidation of the consequences, so in some places fairly high background. It is remarkable, but the village of the same name in honor of which the station is called, is located about 5 km east. Closer to the village station - Krasnitsa. The village was subjected to compulsory expulsion immediately after the accident. Previously, there were about 800 people.
Currently, almost all the way removed.
We examine documents and travel magazines.
Shop
In one of the rooms of administrative caught my attention a few artifacts: ancient bench "ICS" (Ministry of Railways), "awesome" sign on the basis of a kerosene lamp and konogon. Not a bad song.
Iridescent greetings from some stalkers Zone "Flying Mouse": "Dear stalkers, please do not litter the parking lot, on the routes of their movements by CEZ." Do not upset the Flying Bat!
Not far from the house is an old well with a rusty bucket completely. Since with water in a campaign often had problems here do not have to choose. So was the process of its production:
However, not far from the station is summer resort association.
Inside the houses empty. Glass shattered.
The next and last platform on our way - Shepelichi.
Probably, they were rusting on the tracks after the termination of the movement and were removed when its rudder.
A little about the station Yanov (from Wiki):
"Before the Chernobyl accident in the station performs passenger and freight transportation. Adjoin driveways Chernobyl OPC warehouses, tank farms and other enterprises in the city of Pripyat.
During the reconstruction of the railway section Chernihiv - Janov to provide service to the nuclear plant personnel and contractors in 1986-1987 and station Yanov Yanov to the site from Slavutych were electrified. Currently contact network is not being used and partially dismantled at the station and on the stretch Yanov - Semihody.
Currently, one of the paths passing through the station renovated and used for the construction work on the construction of the "Shelter-2" - a new sarcophagus for Chernobyl. »
The station Yanov, rumored to be considered habitable, so go to it, we did not, and made the final march - throw through the woods directly to the outskirts of Pripyat. The next few hours stood out quite tense - had listened to every rustle and movement. By nightfall, we safely crossed the border of the city, which is a moat filled with water and strung around the perimeter of the fence from the grid. We match up shestnadtsatietazhek located on the outskirts of the city. Houses high, so we decide immediately climb to the roof of one of them.
I can not convey the feeling, when I first saw from the height of the "dead city"! In dozens of kilometers. It extends around the darkness. Not a single light bulb! And only a powerful glow emanating from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and a lone flashlight at the entrance to the PPC Pripyat (pictured right) "diluted" outer darkness.
We still have a lot to get around and explore, and is now gaining strength ...
Source: polesskoe.blogspot.ru