Ukraine, Tuesday, January 15, 2008:

Do you remember breakfast at McDonald’s-ski:

Kyiv is a lot bigger than the places we have visited so far. It has two million more people than it did 12 months ago.

This could be the result of factory closures in neighbouring villages.

There are lots of police and security guards walking around or travelling in cars with blacked out windows.

It is quite intimidating and you get the impression that people look at you with suspicion.

Petrol is about £5 a litre.

We have a long journey ahead of us to the Chernobyl area today so we call in at the local McDonald’s – much to the horror of some members of the party.

It is fairly standard McDonald’s fare and I think it is standardised the world over and you can even get a beer for the equivalent of 55p – although we decided against “breakfast beers” bearing in mind what lies ahead today.

It is the sign of the global domination of the golden arches. The food is very much the same as you get back in the UK and the rest of the world.

After the ubiquitous chicken sandwich, fries and chocolate shake I decide to take a few pictures in the surrounding area.

But I hear a rattle behind me and I realise a tram contact has dropped off from the wire. However it is quickly fixed and the passengers are soon on their way.

We start on the road north to the Chernobyl area only to soon get pulled over by the police. However, it is soon sorted and we start on our long journey proper.

We are told that we are taking our own food and drink into the area because of the residual radiation and we should be on our guard for large critters such as wolves.

Chernobyl:

It is almost 22 years since the disaster in April 1986 and the surrounding area has suffered the effects of the resulting fallout ever since.

Most of the people do not want to move from the area – quite right as the problem was not their creation – but there are lots of empty and abandoned houses.

And the children have suffered lots of health problems as a result of the radiation.

There is nothing there but the children smile and are very friendly. It was not what I was expecting, I probably expected more physical disability. Apparently there are tales of severely mutated animals living nearer the epicentre of the disaster.

One of the team complained that we weren’t getting many of their stories – this is what the volunteers want to take away with them – but I think there is a bigger picture and the event in 1986 is at the root of all of their problems.

Hiccup:

The only hiccup was that there were not enough boxes at the last school. There were too many boxes for girls.

Organisers promised to look into the problem and look for ways to improve distribution.

They also promised that all those who missed out will each be given a box at a later date.

Kyiv:

It seems like an endless journey back in the dark and we eat in a shopping mall in Kyiv.

It is the usual story – you queue for ages and your food is cold when you finally get to your table.

We have an early start tomorrow and to catch the flight we have to leave the hotel at 6.15am.

So I spend the last night in the hotel room watching a dodgy, dubbed, horror movie starring Christopher Lambert. You can’t beat a good slasher film.