After failing at one hurdle last time, I was going to make sure that I got to the Chernobyl Nuclear Exclusion Zone, so flew direct to Kiev in Ukraine. Meeting up with Andrew from Red Catz, and Sergeii at Kiev's Borispol Airport there was no time to spare before the event in the Ukrainian capital.

A quick bus to the town, change up some currency, grab some food, then make our way to Club Bingo to meet up with everyone before we were live. I was impressed with the club and soundsystem, and we even had our own DJ restroom to prepare in and drink !!! Ive never been one to hide in a back room so was out in the main arena to speak to everyone there. I was made very welcome by those that I spoke to, which got me over the slight nerves of performing in front of yet another international audience. Cheers to everyone who enjoyed my set, as I know now only too well that uk jump up isnt something that is heard much of in Russia, Belarus or indeed Ukraine. With each event I do in that region now its clear to see that the different flavour brings a refreshing change to everyone there. Some amazing sets from all of the other DJs there made the night something very memorable for me.

The sun was coming up as we left the club, and Andrew and myself were hungry so off to McDonalds for breakfast. Maybe we picked a bad morning, but it didnt taste as good as it does in the UK. Anyway time for the bus to Chernobyl !!!

There was only space on the trip for me to go, so Andrew dumped me with a load of Ukrainians who couldnt speak english for the day... hahaha. I was gutted that Andrew couldnt come with me, but everyone on the bus was superb and helped translate everything for me. It took about 90mins to get from Kiev to the border control into the 30km Exclusion Zone.

It was the first time I had seen my name written in russian on the attendees list, which confused me when they asked me to sign next to my name. We drove up the long road towards Reactor 4. First stop was the almost abandoned town of Chernobyl itself. There are a few of the old residents living there in a condensed area, but for the most part it is deserted and has been left to decay since the incident back in 1986. It felt wierd going into peoples homes and looking through there windows in a place that time has stood still for over 20 years. The next stop up the road gave us a chance to see some of the vehicles that had been involved with removing people and helping to remove the waste material from the reactor itself as they tried to contain the fire and radioactive waste. Our guide had a radiation meter to show us the increased levels that were present in the area.

Before we had entered the exclusion zone we had seen that normal background radiation levels are around 0.04. I dont know the scale but it gave us an idea to compare against as we got closer to Reactor 4. After Chernobyl Town we kept driving up to the 5km exclusion zone and to the memorial for the firefighters that saved the world from a disaster much worse than it was. It was a chilling statue of those brave men and women who contained the situation as best they could. The faces of the firefighters showed the intense pressure of the task they were undertaking.

We could tell we were getting close as we drove past other factories and what Im guessing was the other 3 reactors alongside Pripyat River. We stopped by the roadside to have a look around. By now we were about 2km from the reactor and could see it in the distance. The radiation meter was going crazy by now and had changed from just its normal fast beeping to the warning siren. Our guide had warned us not to step on the grass as that had a much higher radiation level than the concrete road. He showed us on the meter as the levels were now up from the normal of 0.04 up to 0.224. We didnt stop long and headed off again to drive around the reactor itself. There are basically 2 areas where you can take pictures of the reactor from a close distance and we stopped at the main one that I think was as close as anyone would have wanted to be anyway. The levels here were up to 0.423 so around 10 times normal. People have asked me since ive been back if I could feel the radiation, but there was absolutely no way of telling apart from the radiation meter going crazy at us. The reactor itself looks in such a state, and the dark reddish rust areas on the Sarcophagus (The Shelter) almost look like blood running down it. It was chilling to be so close to something that caused so many deaths. The memorial next to the reactor pays tribute to the firefighters and rescue teams that built the shelter that stopped the tragedy from being any worse than it was.

We didnt stay too long at the reactor itself, and headed only about 1mile north of the reactor to the town of Pripyat. A highly populated town that was evacuated almost 2 days after the explosion. The damage to its inhabitants had already been done and there were large numbers of deaths due to radiation exposure. The town itself is in the state it was over 20 years ago, largely untouched and left to decay from the rushed evacuation. It was clear to see as we looked around some of the buildings, schools, and hotels that kids were in the middle of classes and were told they had to go now. We saw half written chalkboards with school books on desks from primary schools, we even saw gas masks on the floor in the cloak rooms as people scrambled to find whatever protection they could find. We were reminded not to tread on the moss on the streets and roads as it had much higher radiation levels than the concrete. The radiation meter showed it at 0.523 making it higher than right next to the reactor itself. One of the last stops of the afternoon was to what just looked like a deserted street. We then saw what looked like a mechanical claw. This is the claw that was used to move most of the radioactive material into the shelter and to remove the debris from the explosion. It is the most radioactive iten in the entire zone and has a level of around 0.9 on the meter.

We thought that was it as we started the drive back towards the edge of the exclusion border, but then the radiation meter on the bus started bleeping mad again as the bus driver sped up. We were about 3km away from the reactor but the levels jumped way over 1.0 for around 40secs as we sped through this particular area. Im guessing a bit, but we were told that there were a lot of bunkers dug in the surrounding areas for more of the waste to be stored in. Im assuming this was one of them and also by the increased levels that its not protected as well as the main reactor shelter.

It looked like we were stopping by the reactor before we left but it was to the canteen to have a bite to eat before we left. The food gets brought in to the zone fresh every day so we knew it was safe to eat. There was too many rolls for everyone to eat but the guide had picked them all up as we walked over to the river to see just one last thing. He threw all of the rolls in the river and we watched as some giant fish grabbed everything they could. Now im no fisherman, but trust me these were BIG fish !! For a small inland river i was never expecting to see anywhere near that many and the size they were. The river was clearly infected badly by the disaster so maybe they are part of the genetic deformities that have occurred as part of the incident.

Back to the border and time to see if we were safe to leave the zone or if we needed to go for radiation treatment. The radiation meters looked very 80's but did there job and tested us and gave us a green or red depending on our levels. Fortunately everyone on our trip came out fine and we made the trip back to Kiev. I met up with Red Catz Andrew who had sorted us a hotel in Kiev for the night before the flight up to Belarus. The temperature was dropping all the time and Minsk was around 4 degrees. A few more beers with Andrew, Alex, Zeb, and Val but it was an early night before my interview in the morning. Alex and myself looked like something from the Blues Brothers as we headed out on tuesday morning to get to my interview. A quick trip across the metro system and we were there. One wierd thing I had noticed with there underground is that it tells you the current time, and how many minutes you missed the last train by... call me a bit old fashioned but surely it should tell you how long you have to wait....

The interview went well and the trial class was always going to be hard but it was fine. Its wierd but DJing in front of a lot of people is something that doesnt worry me any more, but standing up in front of 20 people and trying to teach them was something completely different. Things are looking good to me moving there in the very near future. Alex and myself popped into a local bar for a beer afterwards and talked about how we can start to build a real event in the Belarusian capital as KRISIS and RED CATZ join forces with other local DJs and promoters to develop a more varied scene in the city. There are so many possibilities and between us we can do something thats never been tried before.

Time for dinner before my overnight train from Belarus back to Ukraine. We arrived at the train station with plenty of
time to see one of the biggest trains I had ever seen. It looked like something out of an american movie. A massive beast and I had a sleeper carriage to myself for the long trip back to Kiev. I didnt get much sleep really, the smoking area got a lot of use, and plenty of coffee and with a border crossing between Belarus and Ukraine all done I was back in Kiev ready to get to the airport for the flight home.

Cheers to Andrew and Sergeii for showing me around Kiev in Ukraine. Cheers to Fade and everyone I met at Club Bingo, and also to everyone I met on the trip to Chernobyl. Cheers to Alex, Zeb, Val and Andrew for my time up in Belarus even though I didnt have much time there.