Gas masks can be found in many schools here. They used to be stored in the basement, but were brought upstairs by looters who removed the silver filter elements. The gas masks were there in case of nuclear war with the United States and had nothing to do with the Chernobyl plant.

Besides visiting the site of a nuclear disaster and the former home of my friends, this trip was also a cultural lesson about the Soviet Union and how, during the Cold War, they prepared for a possible confrontation with the United States.

On a hill by the edge of the Pripyat River stands a small restaurant, the Pripyat Cafe. Behind this building is a small dock on which we recorded the highest radiation levels of the entire trip, 3,400 µR/h. This is certainly a high level, but is still far below the current level in Reactor 4's main hall. There are areas of the city with higher contamination levels, but we did not visit them.

We then drove back to the city's central square. One of the buildings that frame this open plaza is the Hotel Polissia. This was the only hotel in the city, though there were plans to build others. When Sasha and Lyubov first moved to Pripyat, they lived here until their hostel apartment became available.

The Cultural Center, DK Power Engineer, is also at the central square and was the main social site in the city. It contained a disco, lecture halls, a theatre, and a gymnasium amongst other things. Many social clubs also operated out of this building. Lyubov worked here in the literature department.

Cultural Centre Theatre : Pripyat

Cultural Centre Gymnasium : Pripyat

I exited the cultural center and spent several minutes in the central square, scanning the area. Standing there, the silence of this city becomes both disturbing and deafening.

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