Where will you go?
START date: TBD. Location: Budapest, Hungary.
The Budapest-Chernobyl Run will take place in December / January, for a total of 9 days. This presents a unique opportunity for celebration as the Catholic Church celebrates Christmas on December 25-26 and the Orthodox Christmas is January 6, matching almost exactly the starting and ending dates of the challenge. Fulfill your childhood dreams having two Christmases in one season!
Along the 3,500 kilometers of this 9 day event, you will see the most scenic and spectacular parts of Hungary, the mysteriously romantic country of Romania, the valleys of Moldova, the disputed region of Transnistria, and notorious land of Ukraine. You will hear unfamiliar languages, meet people whose heritage you may know little about, and see magnificent sights that will be surreal and otherworldly.
FINISH Location: Chernobyl, Ukraine.
What should you expect?
After leaving Budapest, Hungary, we cross the Great Hungarian Plain.
Shortly after entering Romania and for the following 5 days, the Carpathian Mountains will be in our sights. We’ll get lost among the old villages of Transylvania before we hit our destination for the New Year’s Eve party. First thing next year, we leave the Carpathians and visit the last operating hospital for leprosy in Europe and then enter Moldova… enter twice to be precise, as we also visit the infamous breakaway republic of Transnistria, the last communist country in Europe. We’ll also take time to visit the Kalashnikov factory and stunning wineries. With a long final run, we’ll get closer to our final destination area, the abandoned Chernobyl Zone.
Before we indulge into our second Christmas and the final party, we will spend an entire day touring The Zone visiting the famous 4th Block and the abandoned city of Pripyat, listening to the true story of the biggest nuclear disaster on Earth. (Get a Geiger counter on eBay! Helps nothing but looks good on your photos!)
See the map above and check the rough route of the Budapest-Chernobyl Run 2009!
Budapest-Chernobyl Run 2009 on a bigger map
