Travel for Love

Unconventional, maybe. But visiting the Chernobyl site and surrounding area is definitely on my list of dream trips.

Luckily, my dad is a nuclear physicist and can get me government issued documents so I can enter the Chernobyl area. That way I can ride my Kawasaki Ninja all over the radioactive zone because I’m special. I’ll bring my very own personal Geiger counter and everything!

Just kidding!! Everyone’s favorite Chernobyl internet hoax aside (google ‘Chernobyl motorcycle lady’ if you’re one of the 5 people who haven’t seen this website), many people are surprised to learn that it’s now possible to take a tour of the Chernobyl area and the nearby deserted town of Pripyat.

drmonowsky via Flickr

For those of you who don’t know me in real life, I work in the nuclear industry. My particular engineering discipline actually requires a lot of understanding of how accidents can occur and progress in power plants, and which safety systems are needed to mitigate them. We’ve studied the Chernobyl accident and the sequence of events that caused it, although not in super great detail because we don’t work with that type of reactors.

Here are a couple facts about the accident.

1. The fuel did not explode. The Uranium-235 is not enriched enough to sustain a fusion-like explosion. What did happen was a large steam bubble formed due to the uncontrolled heatup of the cooling water, reacted with the core, and blew up due to the intense heat and pressure.

2. This accident could not happen in the US. All US plants (and most other plants around the world) have a reactor containment building of 3 foot thick concrete that would have prevented the release of fission products in the event of a meltdown (as with Three Mile Island).

3. “Fun” fact: the accident was not discovered internationally until a worker in Sweden entered a nuclear plant and set off the on-site radiation monitors due to low levels of airborne radiation in the air from Chernobyl. The Soviet government has been accused of trying to cover up the incident.

Given my background, I definitely want to visit the site.

stuckincustoms via Flickr

Here are some reasons a someone who’s not a nuclear engineer might want to visit Chernobyl.

It’s a Historical Site

Many of us remember hearing about this when it happened. I was only 3, but I definitely remember learning about it when I got a little older. It’s always interesting to visit a place we’ve seen on TV and heard about so often. It would definitely be neat to see the site in person, learn more about the history, and meet the people who were impacted by the incident.

Visiting the area would also afford an interesting glimpse into the former Soviet Union. Reportedly old Soviet propaganda was left (planted?) in the buildings, and the town of Pripyat is a good example of a planned “nuclear-city.”

See the Nuclear Ghost Town

The tours also include a visit to the nearby town of Pripyat, which was evacuated after the accident. I can’t think of too many places in the world you can tour a town that’s basically been abandoned as-is. While many areas around Pripyat are reportedly contaminated, some of the abandoned buildings of the community are included in the tours. It seems like the old school, ferris wheel, and swimming pool are very popular. Plus, the tours do offer an opportunity to meet “resettlers,” people who moved back to their homes in the exclusion zone to continue living as they always have. I think this would make for a memorable experience like no other.

drmonowsky via Flickr

Way off the Beaten Path

I’m sure lots of people have no interest in seeing this old beat up reactor or abandoned town. Ukraine certainly isn’t on the list of your typical Europe vacationer and many people don’t even know a tour to the Chernobyl site exists. It’s definitely a destination off the beaten path. Plus, it’s a bit tough to get to and not really easily accessible. There’s just a certain travel “street cred” associated with going here. I don’t know anyone who’s been on a Chernobyl tour.

Here are some specifics of the Chernobyl tour that I found through SoloEast Travel. They’ve been doing it since 1999.

It’s $160 per person (if you have a big enough group), they’ll pick you up in Kiev for a full day tour.

They have several selected days of each month that they’ll conduct tours.

The website even offers a special package that allows you to spend 1 or 2 nights in the Chernobyl hotel!

So far my list consists of places that start with “Bal,” since my first post about my list of places I want to go discussed Bali. It’s just a coincidence that I decided to write today about why I want to visit the Balkan countries, and there are lots of other places on my list (in my head) that don’t even start with B!

Here is a map of the Balkan countries, although if I were the one defining the region I would not include Romania. Not my decision though.

I first became interested in this part of the world when I saw a documentary about the falling lakes of Plitvice National Park in Croatia. The program gave a lengthy overview of this stunning area, including discussion of the interesting wildlife in the dense forest of the area, noting that tourism is finally starting to pick up now that the war is over.

Isn’t that stunning? I found this photo in a post about lakes on www.simonseeks.com.

I didn’t quite understand what war they were talking about until I started doing a little more research. I am just old enough to remember the news coverage of the wars that went on in the 90s, with terms like “Kosovo,” “NATO,” “Serbs,” “Slobodan Milosevic,” sounding very familiar. I just didn’t really make the connection at the time when hearing about these far off places that these wars were occurring right there in Europe, right next to Greece. So between seeing the beautiful Plitvice region and realizing that these borders were drawn during a war that I remember, I became very intrigued by the Balkan region.

Burning building in Sarajevo during the war in 1992… all over the internet.

I’ve done some research on this lesser-known region over the years and came up with some reason why I want to go there.

The History

The history of this region is so complex I have trouble understanding enough of it to summarize here. Just the recent history yields enough political changes in the Balkans to make your head spin! This fascinating map from Wikipedia shows how the region has changed since 1796. Considering the US has been it’s own country since before then (though not quite as large as it is today) it’s incredible how many changes the Balkan peninusla has had in the same time period.

Mostar, Bosnia (commons.wikimedia.org)

The region’s colorful past includes ruling by the Greeks, Normans, Slavs, Venetians, Byzantines, Ottoman Turks. Each empire undoubtedly left its mark on the region’s architecture, food, and culture. There are Roman ruins, Ottoman mosques and hammams, Serbian monasteries, and medieval castles. Some of the Crusade battles were fought here. And, the recent bloody wars in the Balkans give visitors a unique opportunity to see the consequences of modern warfare like nowhere else.

Beautiful Scenery and Nature

Beautiful mountain ranges, clear blue Adriatic beaches, and wilderness come to mind when I think about this area. The mountain regions offer hiking and skiing in the winter while the beautiful coasts and islands are popular for relaxing beach vacations. Dense forests in the area harbor wolves, bears, the Balkan lynx, and lots of Europe’s migrating birds. I think visiting some of the natural scenery would be a pleasant contrast to the deep and sometimes dark history travelers will find in the more urban areas.

I did see PBS has a special “Nature” episode about the Balkans, which I am going to watch if I ever finish this post. It can be found here for anyone interested!

The Culture

The region is a bit of a melting pot of Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Islam; it’s a bit of east meets west with influence from Europe, Russia and Central Asia. Balkan folk music sounds to me like a mix of Turkish, Middle Eastern, and Gypsy music (in a broad generalization – there are many diverse musical types). Belgrade, Serbia has a reputation for great nightlife. I can only guess that this region, at a crossroads of east and west, has a culture like that of nowhere else. Muslim call to prayer, women in Babushkas, Eastern Orthodox churches, shopping bazaars, those are what I picture. And they must really have some “street cred” for going through all they have.

Bosnian folk dress on www.HiddenBosnia.com

Off the Beaten Path

I don’t know anyone who’s been to this region except on a cruise stop in Dubrovnik, or coworkers who’ve visited Soviet Era Nuclear Plants in Bulgaria and Slovenia. It really seems to be off the radar, at least among American tourists. Prices are still supposed to be low here too, considering many of the countries are still rebuilding crumbled economies after the war. But that’s starting to change. Cruise ships stop regularly in Croatia now, and the region is becoming more and more popular among tourists. Paris Hilton even apparently owns a home somewhere in the area. This is all the more reason for me to want to visit the Balkan countries before everyone else does.

It was really ambitious of me to try to squeeze all these countries into one post, and hopefully I am not lumping them together too much or over-generalizing. It’s hard to write about a place I haven’t been, but I am totally fascinated with this region. And why not? It has everything – incredible history and culture, beautiful natural scenery and wildlife, and it’s an up and coming destination that desperately needs tourism to help its economy.

Old city of Dubrovnik (www.touristmaker.com)

What’s on your list?

I’ve been meaning to make a list of “dream trips” to include on here to figure out the top places I want to visit. Instead of just putting up a list I thought it would be nice to write a little more about each destination and why I really want to go there. I think I’ll include them together in their own page once I’ve written about them (I’ll try to limit it to 10 or so). Hopefully then, as I continue to cross places off the list, I can compare my trip to my expectations. I think that will be fun!

So, I thought I would write about Bali first. I’ve been intrigued by this Indonesian island for a long time now. It all started with this photo:

It’s a plunge pool (or some kind of water feature) at the Four Seasons Bali at Jimbaran Bay. I saw this picture years ago on some website and decided I wanted to go to Bali. Even though it was just a resort picture, the architecture It seemed to be so exotic and far off, so different from anywhere else.

I still feel this way, but as I learn more about the island I continue to find new reasons to want to go there.

Bali is a small island in the archipelago of Indonesia. Just south of the equator, it’s a volcanic island surrounded by coral reefs. It’s largest industry is tourism, with agriculture (especially rice cultivation) also very important.

So why do I want to visit Bali?

The Balinese culture sounds so interesting. The island is nearly all Balinese Hindu, a minority in mostly Muslim Indonesia. Bali is famous for its art of many forms, including paintings, handicrafts, and performance arts. Balinese dances look amazing, with choreography down to the fingertips and eyeballs. There are also many beautiful celebrations and rituals throughout everyday life in Balinese culture. There are interesting-looking temples throughout the island.

There is something just, well, exotic about Bali. It’s far away from here. I don’t know anyone (in real life) who’s been there before. There are beautiful beaches and rolling rice patties, Hindu temples and religious shrines. The Balinese Hinduism seems to encompass so many aspects of life there that ritual and tradition are found everywhere, surely creating an exotic setting for any visitor.

It also seems like a good combination of scenery and culture. A trip to Bali would have to include some nice laying on the beach and snorkeling time. But, at least as I envision it, there are also plenty of opportunity to see traditional performances and visit shrines and temples.

So why haven’t I gotten there yet? The main reason is it will be a long and expensive flight. I don’t want to know how many stops it would take to get there from Pittsburgh, or how many hours flight time. I would probably want to combine a stay in Bali with a visit to other places in the region, and that’s just not possible with 3 weeks of vacation.

It is starting to sound like Bali is becoming more and more popular with Western tourists. Apparently it’s also a popular international conference spot. All the more reason for me to get there sooner.

A couple more random tidbits about Bali: Anthony Bourdain almost decided to stay there permanently on an episode of No Reservations (or at least that’s how they staged the episode), and Bali is where Elizabeth Gilbert met her Brazilian husband in Eat Pray Love. That fact alone was enough to get Roberto to read it. In English.

While it’s kind of hard to write about a place I’ve never been to, it’s fun to think about why I want to go there and organize my thoughts about those “I’ve always wanted to visit!!!” places. I’ll continue to write similar posts about other places “on my list” in the future.