I have some sort of weird attraction to dark tourism.

A place with a dark past is strangely appealing to visit, as you get to experience something completely out of the ordinary, something amazing and terrible, something utterly mind-blowing.

Rob and I visited Prypyat and Chernobyl during our time in Kiev. The photos we got were haunting – abandoned townships and schools, crumbling buildings, and soviet propaganda. We rented a geiger counter to test the level of radiation, which was so high in some areas that it was melting the snow.

I’ve also got a post on how to travel inside the exclusion zone, which includes some answers to FAQs about the Chernobyl tour.

Crumbling dwellings in the Chernobyl township.

The ‘robot cemetery’ holds robots used during the power plant clean up. They are still very radioactive.

Day beds and a nursery rhyme on the wall of a kindergarten in the Chernobyl township.

Nuclear Reactor no. 4 stands almost 28 years after the explosion.

The new sarcophagus under construction which will cover the reactor to confine the radiation and should last about 100 years. The EU is funding the project which will cost about $1billion.

May Day propaganda.

An abandoned sports centre in Prypyat.

Deteriorating remains of a high school, including children’s gas marks from the Cold War.

Prypyat’s Amusement Park was never enjoyed by the public as it was due to open for May Day celebrations that never went ahead as the power plant accident happened 4 days prior. The city was evacuated the next day.