Visited abandoned wooden church, found soviet books, slept in forbidden places - read more to discover s.t.a.l.k.e.r's setting in real life :).
One of the worst feelings in the hiking or trekking trip is the feeling that you have taken extra things with you. It could be some device, a suitcase, another pair of shoes, products. It is not about having overweighted backpack, some (even minimal) hiking experience allows you to be quite comfortable with the weight of everything placed behind your shoulders. Rather, you feel frustrated: you are carrying something you could leave at home.
So, my friends and I went for a short walk in a rather deserted and slightly radioactive forest in our Kyiv region. Well, we trespassed Chernobyl zone :).
I was invited to join at the last moment and it turned out that my friends had already bought all food, and due to a misunderstanding I decided that I also needed to bring some food. As a result, I have almost a kilo of buckwheat and 2 cans of stew in my backpack, plus a few more edibles - so, I can cook for myself for a couple of days.
Along with the disappointment with the exra contents of the backpack, the idea of looking at some abandoned villages, after finishing the route planned with friends, appeared in my mind. Those former settlements are on the other side of the Exclusion Zone. But not far enough to prevent me from doing so.
After few days of our trip I said goodbye to our friends. They were heading out of the Zone, and me, illuminated only by the starry sky, realised I am on the asphalt road heading to Pripyat.
7 kilometers in the dark, Chernobyl nuclear plant lights could be seen somewhere in the side. I spotted a car near the Red Forest. And heared voices of people, sneaked out of the road.
Finally get to Prypyat ghost town. I was there few times. I do not linger and continue my way along the radioactive dump to the railway bridge across Prypiat river.
This is the only road from the rightside of the Zone to the Left, except for the Chornobyl car bridge. It is far away and there is hardly to reach if you are illegal traveller like me.
Over the Prypyat River, at the early dawn. Behind me - the lights of the Chornobyl NPP and the famous railway station Semykhody, used by workers of Novarka (the company that builds New safe confinement) and other working people every day.
From the bridge to the railway crossing near Zimovyshche - I am already on the left side of the Zone. At first there was a dirt and gravel road (it's time to bother myself for having decided to go hiking in sneakers, to walk comfortably on the ground, but the stones feel 100% by feet and because of that the feet get tired faster), then the asphalt began. I come to the junction, from here just a couple of kilometers to the state border of Belarus.
The day began, the sun came up and here I was finally on the beginning of the Krasno village.
The wooden church in Krasno is the only one preserved in the Chernobyl Zone. In general, of all churches besides it there is only 1 in the town of Chernobyl.
Everything is perfectly preserved here, periodically the priest arrives and holds the messes - which are attended sometimes by former residents of the village, who can get here by obtaining a permit.
You can see notes that include the names to be remembered in prayer.
There are candles, icons and a donation box with money in it.
The village school has preserved books and portraits of Lenin.
The villages of the Left sidek of the Zone are known for their good "preservation" - much less looters have visited here than on the right side.
And "stalkers"-illegal visiters like me here are much less frequent.
Inside the houses - beds, tables, toys, household items of ordinary poor peasants.
In one of the houses I decide to sleep. Cooked buckwheat with stew - this dish I have for breakfast and dinner for the whole time of my walk.
To be continued ...
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