May 07, 2004
Elena's Motorcyle Ride through Chernobyl
Although this does not have anything to do with Central Asia, I thought it might be worth putting up. Elena, a Ukrainian bike-rider, has made a photo-documentary about her favourite destination, the Chernobyl death-zone - which became a 'no-go' area after the fatal accident in 1986. The website was reviewed quite often in Germany, however, I don't know whether it found attention over here. It showcases breathtaking insights from the inner circle - a place where life suddenly came to an end. A visit to the website is highly recommended, though it leaves you with a strange feeling in your stomach.
From the website:
I travel a lot and one of my favorite destinations leads North from Kiev, towards so called Chernobyl "dead zone", which is 130kms from my home. Why my favorite? Because one can take long rides there on empty roads.
The people there all left and nature is blooming. There are beautiful woods and lakes.
In places where roads have not been travelled by trucks or army vehicles, they are in the same condition they were 20 years ago - except for an occasional blade of grass that discovered a crack to spring through. Time does not ruin roads, so they may stay this way until they can be opened to normal traffic again........ a few centuries from now.
As I pass through the check point, I feel that I have entered an unreal world. In the dead zone, the silence of the villages, roads, and woods seem to tell something at me....something that I strain to hear....something that attracts and repels me both at the same time. It is divinely eerie - like stepping into that Salvador Dali painting with the dripping clocks.
