On the heels of yesterday’s post about profit-mongers arranging tours of Katrina-destroyed New Orleans, I recalled another, far more insidious tour that takes place in an even worse disaster zone: Chernobyl.

Yep, that’s right.  If you’ve ever wanted to book a trip where the most important item to bring along is a Geiger counter, than head on over to Ukraine.  Although Erik already posted about this back in June, I couldn't resist revisiting with a few more thoughts.

TourKiev.com offers full day trips into the “Zone of Estrangement” where lucky tourists can get up close (100 meters) and personal with the infamous reactor #4. The tour also passes through the “dead” town of Pripyat—once home to 48,000 people but now a modern-day ghost town—as well as a couple of small villages populated by a handful of locals who have returned against government wishes, to live out their final days on the contaminated land.  Like any quality tour, lunch is also included, and promises to be “ecologically clean.”

I’ve been thinking about this trip for a long time, but frankly it scares the pants off of me.  TourKiev.com is full of information about how “safe” the tour is, claiming that visitors are exposed to only the same amount of radiation one experiences on a transatlantic flight.  A fascinating article in The Observer written by a journalist who went on the tour, maintains the same. 

Whatever your fears, however, take a moment to check out the fascinating photos on the site.  Then decide for yourself if the risk of future mutation is worth it. 

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Ukraine