TOM: We filmed a lot of B-roll all over Pripyat
and the zone and there is no way we are going to get to use it all.
We also think we'd get a lot of questions about how we got to the zone,
So I thought I'd put up a load of really cool footage
of what we got up to, and then
answer some of the questions that are gonna come up.
PAUL: Getting here's actually very simple.
It's not a big deal. There's no
drama about it. It is as straightforward as
organising an excursion on a regular holiday.
Pretty much. There is some
technicalities that you have to go through,
there's all of the paperwork that has to be signed off
but, a company does that for you.
There are very many different levels,
we've gone for a private tour,
you can join a bus full of people--.
TOM: I'm sure there are-- is a level above what we're doing.
because we're not in a bad hotel here,
Considering we are in the middle-- We are actually staying in the exclusion zone.
Yeah, I've got a shower, I've got a bed, I've got a
screen door that won't let insects in,
PAUL: Wi-fi internet?
TOM: Yeah that's a point!
We could upload this from here if we wanted to.
We've got like 5 megs down, 1 megs up.
And again, we are in the exclusion zone, here.
PAUL: Permission is not handled by us - we're not the magicians that make that happen
That's down to the tour company and that's relatively standard paperwork
TOM: Yeah, the answer is you pay your tour company the right amount of money
Um, we don't really want to recommend a tour company
Uh, because in case we broke any rules anywhere - we don't want to get a tour company in trouble
and also, by the time you watch this if it's a few months down the line
it may have changed hands. So do your research, look at reviews, get a recommendation from a friend if you can.
But ultimately, permission comes from them
TOM: We saw a lot of abandoned buildings in Pripyat
uh, obviously that's kind of...
PAUL: A lot of them start to merge into each other as well...
There's only so many rooms with a couple of cupboards, some appliances that have had all of the copper stripped out
that you can see before they start looking a little bit samey
TOM: But then you've got things like the cultural palace, the culture palace
PAUL: That was distinctive
TOM: That was the moment where I...
I sort of walked out of there and onto the main plaza in Pripyat
and there's a hotel that's abandoned, the main plaza's overgrown there's trees coming through the concrete
and that was the moment when I went...
This used to be a city with 40,000 people in it
This... this used to be thriving and this is what happens if you just abandon it for a while
That was that moment of going, oh, ok
PAUL: It brings the scale home as well. I mean...
40,000 people kind of...
it's a good figure but it doesn't mean much until you recognise the scope compared to a town in the UK
TOM: Yeah, or wherever you live
PAUL: And this was a young town, this was a professional town, the average age here was about 26. Which is where I am and-- Tom is timeless
And it was people like us, it was, I mean I'm not a physicist but I have a reasonable understanding of science
and that was kind of the level of most people working maintenance here
they had to be reasonably qualified to get into the town
It was a very nice one, by standards of the day. It was a model city
And because of that, there's quite a lot of footage out there of the city in operation
You can go back and see it in its heyday
and when you place yourself there, in its current state of disrepair
it adds a, hell of a gravity
TOM: Yeah, yeah. It's sombre
Um, I mean there is always a question when you do something like this because it is, essentially, disaster tourism
It's 30 years on...
It's already been looted, trashed, pillaged
There is nothing intact there
Anything of value that could have been taken, has been
Anything of sentimental value has either been taken by its original owner
or has just been trashed
You're not treading on hallowed ground
But equally it's not a fun 'let's go do things' holiday
PAUL: Yeah. You expect to go with smiles and thumbs up and yeah there's some of that in the more...
TOM: Yeah I have a really inappropriate...
I took the selfie...
You get to see the Chernobyl reactor
you stand about 100m away, on the spot that tourists are allowed to be in
you stand 100m away from the reactor that exploded
And, ok...
Its... I...
And I just kinda instinctively smiled at the camera
That... that felt wrong
PAUL: It feels a little bit wrong but we are tourists, we are on a holiday of sorts
and at the same time, everyone's Geiger counter's alarm's are going off
which can't be muted so we're all beeping loudly and here we are with cheesy grins
which does seem a little inappropriate but...
TOM: We went past the red forest as well
PAUL: Oh yeah
TOM: We had to go through that at speed because even in a vehicle going by at speed your Geiger counter goes off
because it's the forest down wind from the power plant
so it basically sucked up all of the radioactivity and it's now, quite happily, emitting it again
PAUL: Yeah, for whatever reason they didn't clear that particular bit.
Maybe it just wasn't useful to them in their continued operations but uh...
TOM: Cause they did continue that's the important thing
The town wasn't abandoned immediately
The other reactors kept going for a decade after. Something like that?
PAUL: Yeah, mid 90s if I remember correctly
TOM: It's an interesting place. There is a lot to see, although admittedly a lot of it is just, here's another abandoned building
If that is your sort of thing, this would be wonderful
PAUL: Technically yes but...
TOM: No
PAUL: Most of what you'll see online is exaggeration
because it makes a good story
and I'm not going to deny it, it really does make a good story
if someone claims they've broken into the zone
woah, brilliant!
And they'll provide the photos, they'll provide a brilliant tale
But then they start leaking really obvious information that you know they were on a tour
because there are certain things that you have to have pointed out to you
there would be no way you would find certain details within the zone unless you had a guide
TOM: Yeah, and you are required to have a zone guide
Like, not only would you have to somehow get past all the checkpoints
which involves going through some radioactive forests
PAUL: And into Pripyat centre you would have to go through 3?
TOM: You'd have to go through three seperate checkpoints
or avoid them
You would have to not get picked up by any of the police that are patroling
And you would have to know your way around anyway
Yes, it's theoretically possible
In practice, no I don't think many people have actually broken in
TOM: If you follow your guide, if you don't do anything stupid, no it's not particularly dangerous
You're not going to go into a high radiation area
You're going to have a Geiger counter on just in case
There's really not much that's dangerous there
That said, the rules on what you can and cannot do, seem to change regularly
And aren't always followed by different guides and different groups
PAUL: Yeah, so this trip for example, the official guidance from mid-2012 was 'you're not allowed in buildings' and
TOM: Everyone was in buildings
PAUL: Everyone was in buildings. It's the most interesting thing
You're obviously going to go in buildings
We climbed to the top of one
TOM: Yeah, we did. 16 floors up
Which, again, not dangerous
Guides knew it. We went up there
PAUL: Don't get me wrong. The health and safety advice here is "don't hurt yourself"
The roof was not well railed
There was some of shin height rails to stop you obviously falling off but...
you could still, if you wanted to be silly, you could and hurt yourself
The lift shafts in that 16 story building were open
TOM: They were open and there was a cord across, in front of one
PAUL: Yeah, just in case...
TOM: Just in case you wanted to, yeah...
PAUL: Perfect
TOM: Don't risk the tap water
I can't say that you will get the screaming squits in the middle of somewhere where there are no toilets
In a [laughs] in a nuclear accident zone
But I wouldn't want to risk that if I were you
Bottled water is cheap
Everything here is cheap. How much was the beer here?
PAUL: I just enjoyed 2 pints for £1
TOM: Yeah, um. Cigarettes, if anyone out there is a smoker, is about 20 or 30p a pack
It is, astonishingly cheap here
How long that will remain is another matter
TOM: I was going to say no
PAUL: I'm going with yes
TOM: What's your reasoning?
PAUL: There's every now and then, and it happened in the tower that we climbed
We turned a corner...
A dark corridor...
A bunch of postal boxes, a sort of pigeon's hole with colours...
A gust of wind came along and they all creaked all at once
And I though I saw something at the end of the corridor
Kind of, mind snaps to a bit of a horror film situation
TOM: Ok, maybe I just wasn't in a situation where that happened
PAUL: Seconds later, absolutely fine
TOM: Cause, I don't know. Middle of winter, dead of night
If it gets cold and bleak and dark and rainy
Yes I can absolutely see it. But we were here in mid summer
It's a very odd place but I wouldn't say it's creepy
PAUL: No, there's definitely a gravity
which we've alluded to
TOM: You'll have noticed that parts of it are staged as well
There have been a lot of photographers along here before us and some of them are not quite as...
Not quite as careful of leaving things untouched
PAUL: No, there's not a single original shot to be had here and we're not going to pretend that there is
I mean, we're going to try and do some. We've got a drone, that's pretty cool but even that's been done
TOM: Cat!
Cat! Cat!
There's a cat
TOM: Genuine...
PAUL: The concerned looking cat is back
TOM: Genuine Chernobyl cat. Hello cat!
Say hello to people
[meow]