Visit to the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power station

PROGRAM

1^st Day

13.45 – Group gets together near the bus.

14.00 – Minsk- Khoiniki (333 km) journey. Information on the way.

19.00 – Arrival to Khoiniki.

19.00- 20.00 – Visit of the Monument of Sorrow, Khoiniki town

10 years from the accident at Chernobyl nuclear power station passed, this monument was opened (on April 26, 1996). It is dedicated to the villages of Khoiniki region that were evicted after the radioactive catastrophe and were not reconstructed. On a marble slab, it is possible to see the names of the villages forever removed from the maps. Today 3 letters are added to the names of these villages “o.n.p.” – left-off residential place or “b.n.p.” – whilom residential place. Every year in the evening on April 25^th, thousands of people come to visit this place all around former Soviet Union to commemorate the memory of brothers who became victims of the Chernobyl nuclear power station catastrophe.

20.00 – Dinner

21.00 – Check-in, Hotel «Zhuravinka», Khoiniki region. Overnight in the Hotel.

2^nd Day

08.10 – 08.50 – Breakfast

09.00 – 09.30 – Khoiniki – checkpoint “Babchin” (10km) journey

Checkpoint “Babchin” is situated in the left-off residential place called Babchin in Khoiniki region. Scientific part of the State environmental research institution "Polesski State radiation and ecology reserve" is located in this o.n.p. It includes three scientific departments – radiation and ecology monitoring, ecology of herbal complexes and ecology of the fauna as well as laboratory of radioactive measurements.

09.30 – 10.00 – Instruction about the rules to follow in the exclusion zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power station. Radiological control at the entrance.

10.00 -  10.20 – checkpoint “Babchin” - checkpoint “Maidan” journey 

Checkpoint "Maidan" is located on the border of so-called 30- km evacuation zone, effective from 1986. On the left and on the right from the checkpoint rows of barbed wire are visible, same as thirty years ago. Only in those years mountains of white "petals" - disposable respirators- were laying on the roadside near the checkpoint . These "petals" wore "liquidators" when entering through the gate in the 30-km zone, and happily threw them away, so annoyed during the day of work, when leaving the area.

10.20 – 10.50 - checkpoint “Maidan” – Wisent breeding ground journey

In the Polesski State radiation and ecology reserve (Khoiniki) wisents were installed at the beginning of the year 1996. 16 wisents were introduced from the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha": 4 males aged -3.5-7 years old and 12 females from 3 up to 12 years old. They were released in an aviary area of 75 hectares adjacent to a hangar-trough. Captive keeping lasted 16 months. This type of holding was necessary for the formation of a single herd of wisents (in Belovezhskaya Pushcha they were captured in different places), to give them habit of local conditions and area. In the aviary wisents got the first offsprings.

In 1997 with the beginning of the vegetation period group wisents - 19 individuals- was released into natural lands. Throughout the time of the free leaving in the reserve wisents are fed every year in the period between November and March.

10.50 – 12.20 – Wisent supervision.                         

12.20 – 13.30 - Visit of the left-off residential places in the evacuation zone of Chernobyl NPS.

Under the supervision of a health physicist, you can go into a former school building in the village of Borshhjovka, see touching inscriptions on school boards and walls, pass through the streets of abandoned villages. Fallen fences, failed roofs of buildings, former gardens, miles of overgrowth along the road, wild animals...

13.45 – 14.45 - Lunch

14.45 – 15.45 – Visit of the museum in the o.n.p “Babchin”.

A museum of fauna is created in the reserve. In the Museum visitors can see the stuffed birds and animals found in the reserve; collection of household items of the local population.

15.45 – 16.10 – checkpoint “Babchin” - Khoiniki journey

16.10 – 17.10  - Visit of the Khoiniki regional Museum, located in the Manor of 19 century, including an exposition of "the tragedy of Chernobyl".

In the Museum, it is possible to see natural and geographical conditions of the region, its unique flora and fauna, geographical and landscape features. Stuffed animals and birds, including wisents, deers, wild boars, grouses and black kites are presented.

There is an exposition covering the history of the area since ancient times up to 1917. It provides materials, illuminating the archaeological past of the area (stone, bronze, Iron ages, early Middle Ages). Among the exhibits there are fragments of pottery and jewelry, Silicon utilities, stone battle axes. In the windows, it is possible to find materials reflecting periods of occurrence of lands in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish Commonwealth, their inclusion in the Russian Empire.

A large part of the exposition is devoted to ethnographic identity of the area. You can see examples of folk art, national traditional costumes; follow the evolution of crafts, such as weaving, pottery, woodworking, metalworking, etc. By the way, Khoiniki region stands out for its women costumes-their patterns are unique for Belarus.

Special place in the Museum is dedicated to a special exposition "Tragedy of Chernobyl" about bravery and heroism of the people who took part in extinguishing the fire at the reactor in the early days of the accident, as well as works on liquidation of consequences of the Chernobyl accident.

In the display, there is some information about many firefighters, different pictures, documents and memories.

17.10 – 22.00 - Khoiniki – Minsk journey

Cost of the tour

Charges include

• Transportation and excursions on the way
• Stay in the Hotel «Zhuravinka», Khoiniki town

Extra charges

• food
• souvenirs

В стоимость входит

• Transportation and excursions on the way
• Stay in the Hotel «Zhuravinka», Khoiniki town

Дополнительно оплачивается

• food
• souvenirs