In 1986 Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Site exploded in the worst nuclear disaster in mankind's history. Today, we went there on a tour.

It was an early start, making our way via the metro to the rather austere hotel that was the meeting point for the tour. There were maybe 25 of us split into 2 minibus loads with 2 seperate guides. Most of the men on the tour seemed to either be American, German or had very fancy facial hair (most likely both).

It was a long drive through Ukraine's deep dark forsts north to Chernobyl. After two hours we came across a checkpoint where we had our passports checked and got our tickets before making the driver to Chernobyl town.

The town of Chernobyl still has a couple thousand reisdents. It's far enough from the nuclear site to be safe for habitation and the residents are largely the workers who are involved in the clean-up operation. After a stop to get photos of the sign and stock up on what was surprisingly the best meal we've had in Ukraine - gorgeous potatoes and stick of pork - we headed back onto the road in our luke warm minivan.

The first truly gobsmacking site we bounced down a dirt track to was a huge missile detection site. I mean huge. I mean, would cause an earthquake and doom humanity by releasing the tonnes of plutonium still locked up in Chernobyl if it fell down - huge. A vast mass of wires and almost bullet-like structures designed to detect whether missiles were being sent from NATO bases in western europe towards Soviet Russia, all powered by the once mighty Chernobyl power plant.

We then wended our way to the ghost town of Pripyat. This was the city that housed the workers of Chernobyl and the closest to the actual reactor and so is now a ghost town for it was the epicentre of the blast. On our way there we actually stopped within a couple hundred metres or so from Reactor Number 4. Since 2016 it's been covered by a huge aircraft-harrier style with remote control robots reaching down from its roof attempting to dismantle the plutonium leaking reactor.

The final part of the tour was strolling, nay, feet-freezing snow shovelling our way around the old ghost town of Pripyat. It was an especially eery place, wandering around abandoned schools with gas masks scattered on the floor (placed for dramatic effect - no gas masks were worn at the time of the blast) and around swimming pools and highly radioactive claws.

It's been an incredible day, a bone-shatteringly freezing day as well but fascinating. On the one hand the disaster of Chernobyl is pretty depressing. Many died or received life-changing deformities thanks to the lethal doses of radiation that could have been avoided had authorities reacted quicker, given those fighting the blast adequate protection or given residents warning about the serious quantities of radiation they were consuming.

On the other hand, the incredible bravery of all those who fought the blast and how the Chernobyl disaster was the final nail in the coffin that brought down one of history's most tyrranous regimes is enlightening to. A really fascinating place, one of the bizarrest and most eye-opening places I've been.

We've spent the evening knackered, shovelling a dominoes down our mouthes and having a broken English conversation about football and Ukraine with a man from Poltava. Tomorrow it's another early start as we head to the Black Sea. Am beginning to think we may have almost packed a little too much into this short time, the brutal cold and lack of sleep is a killer combo. That said, gotta make the most of it and this has still very much been worth it. Not to say, it's also been ridiculously cheap!

Laters!