Super Secret Soviet Submarine Base opens for Tourism

by Neil Woodburn on

It’s very rare in life, but occasionally some of those super-secret, underground complexes that house submarine bases or other military facilities are actually opened to the public.

A regular diet of James Bond movies while growing up has always made me excited to seek out and explore such villainous lairs despite the fact that they were merely the dreams of scriptwriters.

The reality, however, is that such places actually exist. They are not the creation of super villains wanting to take over the world, however, but rather super powers wanting to take over the world.

Recently, one of the world’s most secretive Soviet cities, Balaklava, has decommissioned the nuclear submarine base stationed there and has now opened up the underground complex for guided tours.

Located 10 kilometers from Sevastopol in the Crimea, the complex actually bores right into solid rock; submarines simply disappeared into the secret entrance. The rock, as well as outer doors weighing 120 tons, would have protected the facility from a direct nuclear strike. If one had occurred, the complex was designed to support a full staff for up to three years.

The attack never came. Instead, the Cold War ended and all the secrecy surrounding this city has been lifted. The submarine base was stripped of its technology and transformed into a museum.

For a detailed and very cool James Bondish photo tour, be sure to click here. Or click here for a video tour.

World’s 10 Most Polluted Places 2006

by Adrienne Wilson on

Make sure you include a respirator or some type of breathing mechanism on your packing list if heading to any of the destinations found on the Blacksmith Institute’s World’s Worst Polluted Places list. Keep in mind there will be no smelling of roses as you stroll the contaminated paths in Haina, Dominican Republic; Kabwe, Zambia; La Oroya, Peru; or Linfen, China. Instead, imagine whiffing the scents of sulfur dioxide, lead, Strontium-90, cobalt and Caesium-137.

On a very serious note the list is very disheartening and if you take an opportunity to read site descriptions in full it gets even worse. Numbers of the potentially affected population are included as well as types of pollutants (some longer than most), site description and cleanup activity. If you’re unable to connect with the dangers of what unusually high levels of any of the toxins noted can do — the pictures make it quite real. I mean, we’re talking some 3,500,000 people in Ranipet, India who could potentially be affected by disgusting, life-threatening toxins found in Tannery waste. This certainly won’t be the kind of information you find in tourism brochures or places your might ever consider for a holiday unless you’re into nuclear power plants, like Ukraine’s ever-so-popular Chernobyl. Chernobyl travel has most certainly been done before, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Then again, I’m just another sucker for fresh water and clean air.

via Gridskipper

Red Corner: Tea Time in Kiev

by Neil Woodburn on

Tea is the second most popular drink in the world after water.

I’m not a huge fan of it myself, but sometimes on cold evenings in dark cafes, I like to hunch over a little mug and sip away.

Tea is especially beloved in Ukraine. But where is the best place to sit and indulge in its warmth? Expat newspaper, The Kiev Post, has a few recommendations. And, as they proudly point out, none of them include Lipton.

I was particularly impressed with their write-up on the Chayny Club where patrons must don slippers upon entering and can leisurely mull over 80 different styles of tea.

There is something so very soul-calming to tea houses such as this and I really do miss the atmosphere back home in Los Angeles.

Red Corner: A Slice of the Time-Frozen Carpathians

by Neil Woodburn on

Here’s a wonderful little photo essay about a tiny, obscure corner of the Ukrainian Carpathians called Dzembronya.

Slovak photographer Lucia Nimcova describes the location of this small farming town as “in the Chornohora range not far from the Romanian border, in the Carpathian National Nature Park, near the town of Verchovyna, under the highest peak in Ukraine, Hoverla.”

Thanks, Lucia, I’m sure we all know exactly where you’re talking about now!

For those of you unfamiliar with the lay of the land in this part of the world, Dzembronya, simply put, sits in the southeast corner of the Ukrainian Carpathians.

The small town is populated by Hutsuls–a unique ethnographic group of highlanders who live in the Carpathian range and speak a slowly dying dialect that combines elements of Ukrainian, Polish and Russian.

After looking at the photographs, I was surprised to learn that the remote, isolated town is actually somewhat accessible and locals will put visitors up in their houses and feed them. There are fears, however, that the Ukrainian government might develop the area, perhaps as a ski resort, and further endanger this unique slice of culture that won’t survive in its originality if busloads of Western tourists arrive toting skis and snowboards.

Thanks go out to Lucia Nimcova for exposing us to this little slice of the world where time has frozen and the 21st century seems decades away.

Photo of the Day (9/1/06)

by Neil Woodburn on

Today’s Photo of the Day comes to us from Carpetblogger–a talented photographer we’ve honored before who has a great knack for capturing the essence of the former Soviet Union. Here we have a street performer in Uzhgorad, Ukraine working hard for his money. I’ll bet the tune he’s playing is one of melancholy.