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Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Natnasci
If you decide to visit, let me know, I could give you some tips.
Yes... If nearby (neighbors), It's good go often to Vancouver and Victoria! and BC has great camping.
Get your Nexus card! (Better and cheaper than Global Entry)
We took a yr off and lived on a Gulf Island when the kids were age 5 and 7. That was great fun and adventure, and gave us an opportunity to better understand and explore BC. (We were at a camp with students from over 30 different nations)
I know I shouldn't but ever since the HBO special I've been thinking about Chernobyl and the Exclusion Zone. Apparently the place is overrun with tourists and tours these days. To do the entire tour takes about 11 hours, they say. Wear closed toe shoes because you'll be stepping on broken glass. Oh, and take a roll of toilet paper since there is none on site. And bottled water.
It would be a different kind of vacation, that's for sure.
We did this a couple weeks ago.
The shoes thing isn't so much broken glass but skin exposure, you also have to wear socks that extend to shin and long sleeves. There are bathrooms, both before you arrive and in the exclusion zone. It's not overrun with tourists, there is a daily limit that they let in so what you get is a crowd at the checkpoint in the morning then everyone disperses so it's not too bad.
They also give you a thing to wear on your neck that they collect at the end to know your radiation exposure, which apparently is less than what most get from being on a flight to Ukraine. Some people rent geiger counters and that's interesting because they all spike at the same time, especially when driving past red forest. Highest readings we saw were at that iconic ferris wheel on the bottoms of the cars, no idea why. Also any source of water collecting like drainage inlets were hot.
It was interesting from a historical perspective, and from a weird creepy perspective as well. You do actually get really close to the reactor with the new containment structure over it, as seen in first pic below.
Also, we were mainly there for visiting Ukraine and Kiev was such a beautiful city for still being mostly off the tourist radar. Those cats ain't afraid of color.
I know I shouldn't but ever since the HBO special I've been thinking about Chernobyl and the Exclusion Zone. Apparently the place is overrun with tourists and tours these days. To do the entire tour takes about 11 hours, they say. Wear closed toe shoes because you'll be stepping on broken glass. Oh, and take a roll of toilet paper since there is none on site. And bottled water.
It would be a different kind of vacation, that's for sure.
I am not sure that visiting a nuclear site with residual nuclear chemicals in the land and air is a good idea. Just me. Why would any visitor want to take the risk on their own bodies? The nuclear accident was so profound that many died "burning" from the inside out. Such a sad way to die. It is suggested that you bring your own bottled water due to the contamination of the water system as well.
Maybe if you already have cancer and are terminal, or have a heart condition and are dying anyway. If this were the case for me, I would find a lot more beautiful places to visit than Chernobyl.
There will always be residual radiation. Go at your peril.
The more dangerous radionuclides will have been greatly reduced, but half lives are only that. Start with a HUGE number and even a thousand half-lives later there will be some that remain or are converted to other radioactive forms. If you go, wear a radiation detecting badge that you can have analyzed later if something medical happens. You might only detect a couple types of radiation but at least that's something.
I think people are nuts to risk their own health by going there. It is just the fascination with death. You have to bring your own water in bottles for a reason.
My "idly considering" list:
Egypt
St Petersburg (the borscht one, not the early bird special one)
South of Sweden trip (too many Wallander movies with English subtitles). Fly into Copenhagen.
Azores
Canary Islands
The more "actively considering" list for the next couple of years:
South of Spain
Sicily, Sardinia, off-the-beaten-track southern Italy
Greece, Turkey, ex-Yugoslavia
The most likely trips for 2020 are London/Paris in May and Bay of Naples in October. We already have a May 17th LHR-BOS flight to use or lose. Those are trips where we don't need a rental car so they're relatively inexpensive.
It all kind of depends on the strength of the dollar.
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