Let's go.
[Panting and excited laughter]
It’s really 89, the number of our apartment. I got it right.
This is where Lyudmila Honchar lived as a child, in Pripyat, Ukraine.
The last time she was here was 35 years ago, when she was just four.
That’s the kindergarten. That’s my kindergarten. Next to it there was one more.
Around 50,000 people used to live in Pripyat until it was…
evacuated following the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Now, 35 years later, Lyudmila is on a journey home…
Not the right one [laughter]?
starting 120km away at her cousin Petro’s old house.
She lived here during the evacuation.
It was in the summer of 1986. I stayed here while my parents worked. And then we moved to Kyiv and began to build everything from scratch.
My parents said for a long time that we would return [to Prypiat] and everything would be fine.
I have so many thoughts in my mind. The whole week before this trip I was remembering and reflecting on how it might have been different if I grew up [in Pripyat].
Radiation levels have dropped over the last 35 years…
and the abandoned city has become popular with tourists.
You know, for me it’s like very sensitive and something painful, and really painful, and I don't understand how people can sell and buy such souvenirs.
Many of the people who lived in Pripyat worked at the…
Chernobyl nuclear power station, around 3km away.
Lyudmila’s father worked on its construction and helped…
build the protective sarcophagus following the meltdown.
She says people weren’t told how dangerous it was.
My father said they all were given sunglasses. Obviously they were told to wear them while working. But nobody wore them.
My father's eye lenses were burned. It was only later we found out that it was because of the radiation.
This is the nursery school Lyudmila went to as a toddler.
But finding her old apartment was the reason she wanted to return.
It’s really 89, the number of our apartment. I got it right.
The Chernobyl disaster was caused by a fire and explosion…
that destroyed a reactor building releasing lethal radiation.
The number of people who died remains highly contested.
Reports range from under 50 first responders, to estimates…
of many thousands over the years that followed.
Lyudmila's parents both died from illnesses linked to radiation.
My parents used to say that it was great here before the disaster. There’s no reason to doubt their words.
I thought it was my home. But after visiting it I realised it’s not mine
Maybe, because of this experience, I grew into a strong person.
This helped me always achieve my goals. I’m a very happy person.
I can’t say that Chernobyl helped me be who I am. But it made my parents show me that you should never ever give up.
Ahh, cool [laughter].