Interest in the site of the 1986 nuclear reactor disaster has grown hugely in the wake of the HBO series – but it is a long way from being a place of solemnity and reflection Last November, I stood in the forest of Pripyat – the town that was evacuated after the Chernobyl reactor exploded 2km away in 1986 – being alternately laughed at and shouted at by Ukrainian soldiers. I was wearing the faintly ludicrous hazmat suit I had been compelled to don when getting off the tour bus, idly dragging my uncovered hands over the top of a little bramble bush. Touching anything at all isn’t allowed in Pripyat. I was in trouble. Chernobyl was once a destination exclusively for extreme-disaster tourists, but it has gradually opened up, with affordable tours and basic accommodation readily available. Interest in the site has grown hugely in the wake of the HBO show Chernobyl, which dramatises the aftermath of the reactor disaster and has quickly become a smash hit (on IMDb, it is currently the highest-audience-rated show of all time). The main tour operator for the area, Explore, has said that bookings were up 40% last month compared with May last year. Continue reading... |