Category Archives: Chernobyl

Time has stood still for 18 years in the cities around Chernobyl. Newly constructed buildings, parking lots full of cars, and houses full of personal belongings all sit open and abandoned because of lethal levels of radiation.

Imagine riding alone through silent cities on a motorcycle and seeing sights like this abandoned oncological hospital. The hospital had continued to operate for 40 days after the disaster, then the head doctor died of cancer and people abandoned the hospital.

You owe it to yourself to read this poignant photo essay by Elena, a Russian woman who lived there as a child. She revisits the scene of the disaster on her Kawasaki ZZR 1100 and aptly compares it to the last days of Pompeii.

UPDATE: Her site has been changed and the old links are broken. See my post on Elena’s return to Chernobyl for an updated account and new photos.

Continue reading →