Chernobyl 01:23:40

Author:Andrew Leatherbarrow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Chernobyl nuclear disaster
Publisher: Andrew Leatherbarrow
Published: 2016-04-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

RADIATION

My alarm interrupts an unbroken eight-hour sleep. Feels more like two. Staggering out of bed, I gather my discarded clothes from the floor, rub the sleep from my eyes, then amble through to our cramped kitchen for a wake-up mug of sweet tea. We head out early; today we explore Pripyat.

I deliberately pack light when travelling. It’s a practical decision, I don’t want to waste time worrying about suitcases going missing, nor dragging unnecessary weight around with me. Danny, for example, brought an armful of huge photography books with him. Two sets of clothes, a toothbrush and plenty of deodorant will suffice if I’m only away for a couple of days. I concede that it’s a little unpleasant, but I hate carrying more than one bag, the only exception being my tripod in its case. Naturally, I counter this by taking far too much superfluous camera gear, and lenses weigh more than socks! More lenses than I’ll ever use; more batteries than my numerous memory cards could make use of; battery chargers for my phone, camera and laptop; card readers (two, in case one breaks); cables for everything under the sun (just in case both card readers break); lens hoods; a wide variety of cleaning utensils; tripod attachment for my phone (for video recording - I’ve never used it), and a menagerie of other random bits and pieces. The predictable result is that the weight and space saved by my lack of clothing is more than compensated for, both in weight and bulk, by a ludicrous, tangled mass of camera equipment. I find myself most regretting this philosophy on long, relentless days with few breaks - days like this one.

I’ll need as much energy as I can get, so I devour my plate of chicken, cucumber and tomato with all the fervour of a sprinter at the Olympics. After gathering our gear and filing out onto the damp street, we’re greeted by a spectacular sunrise - the nicest I’ve seen for months. Our entire group assembles to watch red bleed across a vivid blue sky, bringing life to the day and splashing slivers of light on nearby puddles and window panes. Like yesterday, tired-looking men and women drift towards the train station in almost absolute silence. It’s like a funeral procession, even conversation between ourselves is scant; perhaps everyone feels more serious after the previous 24 hours. I assume the train travels here straight from Chernigov, some 40km due east of Slavutych. It arrives at the platform empty, save for the driver, so it must not stop at any other town or village along the way. We board - I stand - and are soon rattling past miles and miles of cold, quiet swamps and marshland in every direction. It’s October, so no flowers are in bloom, but the landscape beyond my condensation-smeared window is so bleak I can’t imagine bright colours ever trespassing here. Despite this, the land of northern Ukraine is some of the most fertile in Europe, so the view must look very different during spring.

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