Dytiatky checkpoint. Special control.
Here we go! At this point you are voluntarily saying goodbye to your usual life for the next 10 hours and are stepping into the unforeseeable. The special forces officers will check your documents, read out the safety rules for the Exclusion Zone and … disclaim the responsibility for anything which will happen to you THERE. Be all ears. Perhaps, you will need something they are telling you in just a couple of hours. On the way to the legendary town of Chernobyl, you will cross the Uzh river, pass through the villages of Cherevach and Zalissya. Be attentive as your first task might be waiting for you somewhere there! You will have to solve the puzzle!
The deceptive town of Chernobyl …
Tension is growing as we are approaching Chernobyl. The whole world is afraid of this place, and you will have to immerse into its atmosphere. This town is in a way double-faced. The first face is gloomy, eerie, burnt with the explosion. Lots of things there remind of the tragedy: the sign of Chernobyl on entering the town, the exposition of the robotic machines and equipment used to mitigate the consequences of the accident, To Those who Saved the World memorial, and the alley of the evacuated settlements. Practically desert streets, empty windows of the blocks of flats… At the same time, though, there are some people living in this preserved museum of the catastrophe! So, the second face of Chernobyl is quite lively. Your eyes won’t believe it, but the town is somehow still alive! The nuclear power plant is also still operating maintained by the personnel. Cars are driving back and forth, there are some shops and even a functioning church! I find it hard to predict what will startle you more: real evidence of the tragedy or the fact that the town is virtually not as dead as people say. Stay alert!!! As you dared to defy the Zone and your adventures have already started, follow the instructions and unravel all the stalker puzzles.
Leliv checkpoint. Special control №2.
Are you ok? Is your heartrate still fine? Get a short rest before reaching the second checkpoint on the way. Just to be safe, check whether your documents are on you after the first raid. Now you are entering the 10-km zone. Here the things are getting rough, and chance-comers just won’t stay here long.
Kopachi village. The ghost kindergarten.
It is almost impossible to pass this locale without getting some grey hair. The history of this village is one of the most terrifying ones. Located just 4 km from the power plant, it had no chances to survive. All the houses of the village got buried under the ground. Afterwards you will be able to tell how it felt like to walk on the ground having the whole world underneath.
As for the kindergarten in Kopachi, you might have already seen lots of photos and know about it. People say that souls of the children who died because of radiation come to play here. Most likely, these are nothing but tall stories, but the Quest will make you check it … Stay focused and don’t let emotions overwhelm you as the clues to the puzzles of your notebook are hiding somewhere around there. Should you find them, you will move on. If not, …
ChNPP, the unconquerable killer.
Everyone who is 6 and more years old has seen, read and heard something about this place. By this time, you might have understood that you will have to summon all your knowledge and energy to do the next tasks. This is the very heart of hearts. On the right you will see the unfinished nuclear units 5 and 6. Unit 5 was actually almost ready to start operating, but the accident stopped its construction. So, what you will see is not just a facility.
Stay on edge! On your left there will be units 1, 2 and 3. The latter one was working for 15 years after the explosion. The day it was shut down might still be in memory of at least half of the Earth population. So, take photos of these unique sites! Where else would you see such gigantic structures? The unfinished cooling towers, that were supposed to deliver cooled water to units 5 and 6, are absolutely enormous!
By the way, have you taken something yummy to feed the fish? If you are lucky with the weather, you will be able to see immense catfish in the artificial cooling pond of the nuclear power plant. It is still a debatable issue whether the fish are so big because of high radiation rates or due to the tourists feeding them with white bread. So, you will get a chance to ask them personally. Who knows, maybe they will answer. You never know how radiation may affect living beings … 😉 And probably it is here that the next task from the old bird stalker will be waiting for you. What will it be about? Are you ready to get back to THAT DAY? In order to complete the Quest task, you will have to come close to the exploded monster. Exactly, the notorious unit 4 will be just in front of you. Mull over why you are here and do your best to do the tasks of the old quester.
Pripyat, the god-forgotten town.
And here you will go through real hell! Lots of people get lost in Pripyat. The dead town, the ghost town, the town of death – this is how people describe it. Stay concentrated and don’t let the adrenaline rush in your blood beat you out of reason while doing the next task. Many people have a déjà vu feeling as if they have already been in Pripyat. However, its’ nothing else but a mere game of their memory and imagination as they might have seen the locales in numerous photos, computer games, documentaries, and feature films. The exposure seems to have been so massive that people claim to “recognize” the Red Forest, the Bridge of Death, the sign of Pripyat, etc. Enter the supermarket which in fact was one of the first supermarkets in the whole Soviet Union (yes, Pripyat was a progressive town, one of the MOST progressive ones in the USSR), Prometheus cinema, a kindergarten and a school, the hospital and Azure swimming pool … It is up to you to decide whether to surrender to these mind games. Perhaps, they will help you win or go completely crazy. Anyway, you must see the amusement park. Here you will understand that all these dreadful stories about mutants, legends about ghosts and touristic fairy tales are nothing but … Though, why should we go that far now? You will understand everything yourself in the due time. Just keep solving the puzzles and filling in the notebook. You will not leave this town… I mean, you will not leave it being the old you. I guarantee, that the Quest and Pripyat will turn your conscience upside down.
The secret object of Chernobyl-2. Over-the-horizon radio locative station DUGA-1.
If by this moment you have not conceived the scale of everything that happened in the Zone, if the phrase “the object of the all-the-soviet-union importance” doesn’t inspire you with awe, the DUGA will do it once and for all. Gigantic dimensions of this object make everyone stand motionless watching it. When the military race is getting aggravated with megalomania, such colossal all-mighty objects appear. Stay alert to solve the problem and get the right answer. The history of the Russian Woodpecker will give you a hint. Yet, looking at these huge antennas, at the tall piles hitting the sky, one can’t but think “What the fuck?” The whole world hasn’t fathomed yet the point of these giants, do you know that? And you will have to unravel the mysteries of the old bird stalker, complete his tricky (or just weird?) tasks and then, after a short rest, leave this half-real half-dead world.
Radiological control and the way back.
The adrenaline level and emotions are running high. It feels like you won’t be able to fall asleep in the next three days under the loads of impressions and experiences you got in this one day … Usually this is how our questers feel in the evening. If so, then the quest was worth it. There remain solely a few things to do: to go through the radiation control (though I am sure this is the thing you will think about least of all, but this procedure is a must), get back to the bus and enjoy the landscapes once again, but this time in a different light. The Chernobyl Quest changes people. The Exclusion Zone also does. If you are not ready for a change, you’d better put it off. THERE you won’t only touch the living history. The QUEST will make you its most painful, most touching part. However, the Zone Gifts warm up the heart. Do you remember about the presents? Having done all the tasks of the Quest CORRECTLY, you will get a hash printer photo report right on the way home. So, please do install Instagram and sign up beforehand.
By the way, during the quest there will be an opportunity to have lunch. And please keep in mind that it’s all in God’s and the Zone administration’s hands. Therefore, the program of the quest can be subject to the weather conditions, the duration of the daylight and the instructions of the Zone administration.
