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| ChernobylCon 2008 |
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gnolam
Member #2,030
March 2002
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Despite an initial lack of participants, I'm happy to announce that ChernobylCon 2008 was a resounding success! But without further ado, I present pictures! Taking a break in the Ukrainian countryside, waiting for the guide: Our guide: Zone checkpoint: Briefing on the Exclusion Zone: Signing away our rights ("I understand that I will be subjected to external and internal radiation..."): Abandoned ships: Our guide taking a radiation reading: ... and demonstrating why it's bad to venture off-road: A.cc group shot by the cooling pond, with the Chernobyl NPP in the background: Reactor 4 in all its glory: Entire group by the Sarcophagus: The ghost town of Pripyat: Whatever you do, don't step on the moss: Pripyat's fairground: Back in Chernobyl, checking for radioactive contamination: A hearty meal in the Outer Zone: After a final check for contamination, we're free to leave the Zone: I have more pictures from the trip (2.5 GB from just the Chernobyl tour!), but I'm still going through them and working on a proper page for them. I also need to type up a proper summary of the tour. So... consider this a preview. Anyway, it was a great trip. Pripyat is one of the most interesting places I've ever visited, and the tour was worth every single penny (and mSv /gnolam out -- |
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Erikster
Member #9,510
February 2008
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Dang. I don't think that I would have the courage to do that, well, not without getting totally drunk. So, do you still believe that less than 100 people died because of Chernobyl? Cat! I'm a kitty cat. And I dance dance dance, and I dance dance dance. |
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FrankyR
Member #243
April 2000
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Wow, really cool pictures. I've always been enthralled by the look of the ghost-towns in the area. I remember seeing this site: http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html a few years ago and being really amazed by it. |
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blargmob
Member #8,356
February 2007
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Reminds me of zombie movies. --- |
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OICW
Member #4,069
November 2003
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Looking at the pictures I feel the shame for not joining. On a sidenote my family thinks that it's quite stupid to get irradited, however I'm of an opinion that the dose you get there is the same you would get from a röentgen. So you guys were having a good time, right? Edit: by the way, those pictures reminded me heavilly Half Life 2. [My website][CppReference][Pixelate][Allegators worldwide][Who's online] |
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nonnus29
Member #2,606
August 2002
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Quote:
I have only one thing to say: you should have joined us. Yep, looks like a very fun trip. Few people can say they've been to Chernobyl. My sister thought I was nuts when I told her about traveling over seas with people from the internet, and going to the site of the worlds worst nuclear disaster.... Ah well, the cost was prohibitive anyway. Congrats on doing it though, now we can be vampires and share the experience via your pictures and words! |
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FMC
Member #4,431
March 2004
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Pretty cool, i actually envy you! Pripyat seems the perfect place for some parkour. [FMC Studios] - [Caries Field] - [Ctris] - [Pman] - [Chess for allegroites] |
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Richard Phipps
Member #1,632
November 2001
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Nice pics. Shame you all dressed like real geeks. |
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bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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I watched a special on Chernobyl that showed Pripyat and it seems like a lot of the same sites that you photographed were in it... The fairground looks familiar, for example... It's kinda cool seeing pictures of it though. Pretty scary that the radiation levels fluctuate so much even just inches away. The moss is extremely scary. It's also scary that they scan everybody before allowing them to leave... Overall, it looks like an exciting trip. I think I'd prefer to be in a Hazmat or NPC suit though, just in case. Richard Phipps said:
Shame you all dressed like real geeks.
pwnt. -- acc.js | al4anim - Allegro 4 Animation library | Allegro 5 VS/NuGet Guide | Allegro.cc Mockup | Allegro.cc <code> Tag | Allegro 4 Timer Example (w/ Semaphores) | Allegro 5 "Winpkg" (MSVC readme) | Bambot | Blog | C++ STL Container Flowchart | Castopulence Software | Check Return Values | Derail? | Is This A Discussion? Flow Chart | Filesystem Hierarchy Standard | Clean Code Talks - Global State and Singletons | How To Use Header Files | GNU/Linux (Debian, Fedora, Gentoo) | rot (rot13, rot47, rotN) | Streaming |
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OICW
Member #4,069
November 2003
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Quote: It's also scary that they scan everybody before allowing them to leave... They have to, plus it's for your own safety. And the radiation stays in the soil and grass. From the pavement it was washed by rains. [My website][CppReference][Pixelate][Allegators worldwide][Who's online] |
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imaxcs
Member #4,036
November 2003
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I have played through Stalker, so I know Pripyat well enough! Now seriously, great you really pulled it off. I envy you. edit: and what Richard said.
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Vanneto
Member #8,643
May 2007
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Quote:
To the rest of you, I have only one thing to say: you should have joined us.
Sure, rub it in real good! I really like the pictures of Pripyat, that must have been a very exciting experience. I would have loved to join actually, I'm just too young. Maybe in 50 years when I'll be as old as you are now, I'll join on the next ChernobylCon! I too envy you! In capitalist America bank robs you. |
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Jakub Wasilewski
Member #3,653
June 2003
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Quote: It's also scary that they scan everybody before allowing them to leave...
I thought this was supposed to be reassuring, but hey Quote: Shame you all dressed like real geeks.
We are real geeks. I had doubts about Tore (gnolam), but that Matrix overcoat cleared it up right away Anyway, the ChernobylCon was a success - even if we (the Polish party) spent 10h at the Ukrainian border waiting for passage back to Poland. Kiev is also a cool city (if a bit... challenging All in all, it was an intensive weekend for me, and Chernobyl was definitely a very interesting place to see - Prypiat even more so. It was actually a surprising trip: I expected a gloomy and depressing place, and while parts of the tour felt that way (the ship cemetery, for example), Prypiat in particular was uplifting. The photos can't convey the atmosphere of that place in its entirety. Everywhere you go in this city, you see dense vegetation and hear birds singing. Trees grow even out of the concrete, and the whole place radiates an aura of nature reclaiming what was once it's own. Definitely worth the time and the money. Meeting the people from A.cc was also an interesting experience - and I can testify that gnolam is much more likable in person --------------------------- |
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bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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Jakub Wasilewski said:
I thought this was supposed to be reassuring, but hey
That depends. Do they scan you as if to say See, the radiation levels are harmless or do they scan you as if to say This one's over the limit and can't leave. Take him away! >:( -- acc.js | al4anim - Allegro 4 Animation library | Allegro 5 VS/NuGet Guide | Allegro.cc Mockup | Allegro.cc <code> Tag | Allegro 4 Timer Example (w/ Semaphores) | Allegro 5 "Winpkg" (MSVC readme) | Bambot | Blog | C++ STL Container Flowchart | Castopulence Software | Check Return Values | Derail? | Is This A Discussion? Flow Chart | Filesystem Hierarchy Standard | Clean Code Talks - Global State and Singletons | How To Use Header Files | GNU/Linux (Debian, Fedora, Gentoo) | rot (rot13, rot47, rotN) | Streaming |
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gnolam
Member #2,030
March 2002
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Erikster said: So, do you still believe that less than 100 people died because of Chernobyl? Just counting cancers, it's probably surpassed that by a factor 100 or so... FrankyR said: Wow, really cool pictures. I've always been enthralled by the look of the ghost-towns in the area.
So have I. I've wanted to go there ever since I found out you were actually allowed to. I've always liked ruins, and I do have sort of an eschatonic streak. And as I said, the tour was worth every penny. OICW said: Looking at the pictures I feel the shame for not joining. On a sidenote my family thinks that it's quite stupid to get irradited, however I'm of an opinion that the dose you get there is the same you would get from a röentgen. So you guys were having a good time, right?
A very good time. Both during the tour and the trip in general. FMC said:
Pripyat seems the perfect place for some parkour.
It probably is. But it's not a place you'd want to get any scrapes where Nasty ThingsTM can enter your bloodstream. nonnus29 said: Congrats on doing it though, now we can be vampires and share the experience via your pictures and words!
Well, when I get my page done you'll have the pictures in higher resolution at least. bamccaig said:
Overall, it looks like an exciting trip. I think I'd prefer to be in a Hazmat or NPC suit though, just in case.
A suit that'd make you look like you were made up by the GM? Jakub Wasilewski said:
Meeting the people from A.cc was also an interesting experience - and I can testify that gnolam is much more likable in person
Jakub Wasilewski said: We are real geeks. I had doubts about Tore (gnolam), but that Matrix overcoat cleared it up right away :). Hey, it's the best clothes purchase I ever made - I had just ripped my jacket, and I found that coat for 150 crowns (~ 16€) used (it is from the '70s, but it's well preserved). Works in spring, autumn and as a raincoat. I can't see why more people don't wear 'em. :) Jakub Wasilewski said: All in all, it was an intensive weekend for me, and Chernobyl was definitely a very interesting place to see - Prypiat even more so. It was actually a surprising trip: I expected a gloomy and depressing place, and while parts of the tour felt that way (the ship cemetery, for example), Prypiat in particular was uplifting. The photos can't convey the atmosphere of that place in its entirety. Everywhere you go in this city, you see dense vegetation and hear birds singing. Trees grow even out of the concrete, and the whole place radiates an aura of nature reclaiming what was once it's own. I agree completely (we had that discussion in the minibus back home, but you guys can benefit from it as well). I was expecting something a lot more... ominous... but instead, the general feeling I got was one of hope - mankind left that place in 1986, and in just 22 short years, nature has gone a long way towards reclaiming it. In another 80 years, if left undisturbed, it'll probably once more be... pristine. It left me with a feeling that there is hope for the planet after all. :) bamccaig said: That depends. Do they scan you as if to say See, the radiation levels are harmless or do they scan you as if to say This one's over the limit and can't leave. Take him away! >:( :o The latter, just like in nuclear power plants (although it's technically more like "This one's over the limit - go and scrub yourself down until you can pass"). But we interpreted it as a mutant detector. ;D -- |
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Neil Black
Member #7,867
October 2006
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Quote: I had doubts about Tore (gnolam), but that Matrix overcoat cleared it up right away That Matrix overcoat just looks awesome.
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Jakub Wasilewski
Member #3,653
June 2003
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Quote: But we interpreted it as a mutant detector. Unfortunately, no mutants were actually found. Guess the detector was not sensitive enough. Quote: But I can say this: if Jakub had been living here, we'd at least be drinking buddies.
As long as it's not Hedda's Unholy Irradiated Wine As for the summer project: it'd be nice to meet again. Although Lublin is not a tourist attraction in itself (I mean, it is an old city and you can do a bit of sight-seeing, but you probably won't find it interesting for more than a day), there are a lot of interesting places nearby. And I'm sure you could find a lot of interesting stuff to see in the rest of Poland - probably starting with Kraków. --------------------------- |
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OICW
Member #4,069
November 2003
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Quote: Unfortunately, no mutants were actually found. Guess the detector was not sensitive enough.
You know, no mutants allowed Regarding a trip to Poland - if you are going to pull this one, post it here in advance. I might have a time and it's not that far away from here... (but I don't promise anything). [My website][CppReference][Pixelate][Allegators worldwide][Who's online] |
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Steve Terry
Member #1,989
March 2002
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That's definitely pretty sweet [edit] ___________________________________ |
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Matt Smith
Member #783
November 2000
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I can't say that would be my first choice for a holiday, although that Ferris wheel looks like a fixer-upper. |
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wiseguy
Member #44
April 2000
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Really cool pics... glad to hear the trip was a good one |
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Erikster
Member #9,510
February 2008
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Steve Terry said: From the thumbnail it looked as if Andrei was peeing in a corner of one of the abandoned buildings.. instead he's taking a radiation reading Dang it! I was just about to post that. Cat! I'm a kitty cat. And I dance dance dance, and I dance dance dance. |
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GullRaDriel
Member #3,861
September 2003
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That trip is really one of the trip I would have. A pity I am so far away from ya. "Code is like shit - it only smells if it is not yours" |
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Richard Phipps
Member #1,632
November 2001
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I have no interest in visiting a nuclear reactor. |
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OICW
Member #4,069
November 2003
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I doubt they've been at it. Besides I understand why you don't have an interest in it. It's pretty boring place. I've visited one stationed on my uni and all you see is 5 meters deep water tank with fuel rods at a bottom. The water is still and 30 degrees warm and the only thing they'll tell you is, that somewhere in the deep neutrons are flying. [My website][CppReference][Pixelate][Allegators worldwide][Who's online] |
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I have tons of pictures from my recent trip to China to visit my wife so I will have to post them soon as well 
