Radioactive ice-cream and penis graffiti: how toxic TV tourists took over Chernobyl
First came the army of HBO fans snapping selfies in radioactive rooms. Then came the love locks … and the tourist deaths
Visitors to Chernobyl can now buy jokey “radioactive” ice-cream and $19 canisters of Chernobyl air so they can inhale “the unforgettable smell of abandoned concrete structures of the Soviet Union, the dampness of basements, mixed with the aroma of Pripyat roses”.
Visitor numbers to the region, devastated in 1986 by the worst nuclear accident in history, have been rising over the years. This has been prompted by less dangerous levels of radioactivity and the trend for dark tourism: who needs Venice when you can take a selfie in Pripyat?