Dark tourism

When beach holidays, sightseeing tours in a bus with a guide, package tour with a full board aren't enough, what to do then? A DIY vacation. Go to a place where your neighbor and work colleagues never go. Visit Chernobyl, Pripyat and other  areas. Some people call it "dark tourism" or "extreme" to say the least, but to me it was something unique. Something that can't be explained to anyone else, because just 1/10 people would ever understand why I need to go to a place like that. At times I felt some parts of the tour were "staged", but still there are so many other interesting, weird and creepy things to see, so who cares if it staged or not?
Silence.It was something that I did not expect, because the world has sounds, people, animals, airplanes and birds in the sky, traffic, TV, radio, cellphone networks and towns and cities. There was nothing like that in Pripyat. An eerie silence. In some places I heard my own heartbeat, nothing else and the sound of your own footsteps on a gravel road. All those empty buildings and streets, and still expecting that a group of people would appear out of nowhere and the world would be the same. No faces in  the windows- not even zombies.
The nature has taken over. There is more greenery than signs of civilization. I did not see wildlife, but I saw the people: those who are working in the Exclusion Zone and of course my fellow tour group members. If all of them were gone, I would have thought I am the only one left in the world. I would have reached a dead end. At the same time I wondered if it was safe to spend a night in Pripyat? Probably not a good idea. If the radiation did not get you, then maybe a lone wolf or a collapsing building? Or maybe it would be just like any other night in your own bed? Who knows? I don't think I'm going to try.

In February, God willing I will return just one more time. Winter in the area is beautiful.