Second trip to Chernobyl. Why alcohol can ruin everything (Patreon)

On my first trip to the Chernobyl zone, I promised myself not to return there anymore. The road last time made me so tired that for two years I had absolutely no desire to return there. But one thought didn`t leave me, I didn’t even see what Duga radar looks like. The desire to visit and climb that place was more and more. I categorically didn`t want to go on legal excursions. After all, there you will see all the famous places, but you will not climb the Duga.

I wrote to my friend, who, like me, has been in the zone once, but this time we were going to be guides with him. There was an idea to gather a group of people, and go all together. I wanted to gather 10 people. I understand that this is a lot, moreover for such a place. The idea was that: there were many of us, so it would be difficult to catch us, and it wouldn`t be boring. I had 2 thousand of followers in my profile, mostly people were local, from my or neighboring countries. I created a story on Instagram, where I asked who wanted to go with me to Chernobyl. Few people responded, one of them was from Estonia and a couple of people were from Ukraine. I tried to choose the date of our trip and get everyone together.

The first day

Remained a couple of days before the trip, everything went according to the plan. A man from Estonia was already arriving in Ukraine, guys from another city were also going on our hike. I also prepared my things a bit. That time I bought my own things for a hike. And I already understood a little how everything works. Everything should have been fine, but suddenly unrealistic difficulties started to go. While the man from Estonia was traveling to Ukraine, his bag with a passport and money was stolen. He was already in our country, and on the day of our campaign he had to have gone to the embassy. My friend, who was supposed to be the second guide, also couldn`t go with me (something happened). All people didn`t answer, and I was shocked. I was already ready to go, so I could do it myself. It was a little scary, but I decided to go. When I left the house, I was picked up by guys who also went camping and told me to go with them. Well, at least something was good for the day. I came to them and we were 7 guys and one girl. I thought: "Here is a small company gathered." I was glad that I would not be alone.

When we arrived at the station, our taxi driver was in Kiev too, and said: "I can pick up 4 people, they will pay the same as for the bus". 4 people went by car, me and 4 more people went by bus. The guys who were traveling with me were in camouflage clothing. And if people see that young guys go in camouflage clothing, and also with large backpacks, they understand that they are going to the Chernobyl zone. A lot of people looked at us suspiciously on the bus, but we pretended that we didn`t notice. As we reached the village, it began to get dark. I got out at the bus stop and called the taxi driver, he said to go into the yards and wait for us there. Each private house has its own dog, and when we walked near the house all the dogs barked. Well, you can imagine, there are 3 people with huge backpacks in camouflage uniforms in the evening, those who saw us were probably scared. We put things near the closed store and sat on the ground, waiting for our taxi. After 10-15 minutes, police cars drove into our place very sharply. I haven’t seen such a thing yet, as the police saw that we were just sitting, calmly got out of the car and asked for documents. It turned out that one of the locals called the police and said that we were going to rob something. I gave my documents, realizing that they would just check me and let me go. The police immediately realized that we were going to Chernobyl. Without even trying to stop us, they wished us good luck, gave the documents and drove off.

After 1 hour, we went to the beach, where there was the river Uzh. None of us wanted to walk across the river, but that was expected. Outdoors was very cold, it was April 13th. One of us decided to go in order to check the depth. He took the cloths of and began to enter the water. Immediately after a meter, the depth was up to the knee, so it was embarrassing how deep could be further. But it turned out that the whole river was knee-deep. I was so glad because of that. I took off my sneakers and rolled up my pants. The water was icy, but it was bearable. I crossed to the other side, put my things on the ground and started pull on my shoes.

Unfortunately, one of us ran up and said that it was not a river yet. I set my shoes aside and walk along the sand. We ended up on a small island. Before that, we walked about 5 meters in the water, and on the other hand, we had to walk about 20 meters. Everyone hoped that the water level would be the same, but we were very naive. When one of us went to check the depth, everyone was shocked. At first it was okay, to the knee. Next was a sharp hole to the waist, which made the guy fall and plunge into the water completely. It was scary to watch, realizing that the water is very cold and you still need to carry the backpacks. After this pit, the sand rose to the level of the ankles. It was only half of the river. If there would always be such pits to the waist, then it wasn`t so scary. But when you move forward, then, again, the pit to the waist and the abyss. The depth was greater than my height. And there was also a very large flow. To cross it was possible, but how then to move the backpacks. The guy who checked the depth didn`t swim to the other side, but returned back. Everyone was in shock, and no one knew what to do.

After some time, we decided to return to the forest to eat. In the morning, when it wouldn`t be so dark, we wanted to go to the river and decide something there. That was the right decision, because of the darkness it was difficult. We made a small fire near the forest and started to cook our food. We unpacked and went to sleep. The guy who was without equipment fell asleep on a log.

The second day

In nature, I slept so well that I didn`t want to get up. But we had to get up as early as possible in order to walk more in the light. We had an easy breakfast and started to pack. On the way to the river, I mentally prepared to swim. We came to a small part. At night that place looked completely different. If you look with a day light, it’s immediately clear how deep it was there. Without any effort, we went through the first part and thought how to overcome the second, main part. The flow was really crazy. Even if you just walk, the flow could knock you down.

After running around this island, I found a large long log. But it was heavy, so it was poorly kept on the water. We decided to let one person on the other side so that he could make a fire there. This was necessary so that when you get out of the water, you could run to the fire to warm up. Of course, I knew before that I needed to cross the river and took plastic bags in advance. We put the most expensive (digital devices) in one package and wrapped it with tape. Each wrapped his backpack in a bag and rewound it with tape. My package was torn several times, since I have a very large backpack.

After a couple of hours, it turned out that 4 people were on the other side of the river, and nobody carried things. On the other side, the guys found something like a rope. But it was small, and grabbed it to the middle of the river. We did a little trick. The man on the opposite side tied the rope to his hand and swam to the middle of the river, where there was ankle deep. We tied a log and thus were able to transport things. That was, one person went to the middle of the river, caught a log (it needed to be thrown correctly) so that it flowed towards you, then the second person brought your things to you and you grab the log with one hand, and with your second hand you support your things and 3 people pulled it to themselves on the other side. We were very noisy, and it was very strange that nobody didn`t notice us, because that road was observed by a guard. This whole procedure took more than 6-8 hours. Some had to cross the river 2 or even 3 times to pick up all their things. And I gathered all the things at once and tried to swim with things at a one time. Because of this, I almost lost things in the river.

After a difficult test, we all packed up and continued on our way. After such a great rest, it was easy to walk in the beginning, but with such a heavy backpack as mine, I was getting tired more and more. We got to a small abandoned farm, all the time I asked the guys to stop and wait for me, because I wanted to shoot a video. After, we came across a village. This time, I already wanted to walk around the houses, see what's in the middle. Very few houses could be found with things or furniture. Each house was in a state of destruction. I visited one of the village houses. The floor was already rotten and somewhere you could easily fall through. When people describe Chernobyl, they show or talk about children's things, so that it would be scarier, for example, children's gas masks, or already mutilated Soviet dolls. But when I see such things, then I don`t have such fear. Maybe this is because I listened to few stories or don’t know about the existence of “mutants”. The house also had children's things, toys, books, but I had more interest than fear. I examined one of the houses and continued on my way to Pripyat.

After 5 km, I`ve been exhausted and asked everyone to stop. The guys decided to help me. Each one took from me a little and put to their backpacks. They emptied almost the half of the backpack, I was pleased, and it became much easier. It was getting dark outside and we didn`t set ourselves the goal to reach Pripyat as quickly as possible. There was a lot of food, we had enough for a week to live in the zone. But there was a small problem with water. None of us expected us to be 1 day behind. We walked only 15 kilometers and decided to take a long break to eat. The guys, like real Ukrainians, took vodka with them. Everyone cooked something, and someone drank a little. I am not one of those who drink much, so I didn`t do it.

It was a deep night outside, this time the moon was not so bright. I had to turn on the flashlights. Those who drank vodka were very sleepy, and it was necessary to stop somewhere, because they were practically unable to go. We reached the nearest village and decided to stay there overnight. From any furniture in the house there was nothing but one mattress. We decided to give this place to a guy without a sleeping bag. I went to look for firewood to burn it in the stove. Someone unpacked their things, someone began to kindle the stove and heat the house, because the weather was pretty cold. I laid out my things and went to sleep.

The third day

In the morning we were not in a hurry, so we didn`t have to get up early. Everyone woke up at 9 in the morning. Everyone began to cook, we all had a common food, so oatmeal was cooked for everyone. For breakfast, this is a pretty good meal if you sprinkle with dried fruit and pour a little condensed milk. Half the way we have already passed, it remained to get through the forests and fields. Water was already running out, and we didn`t know what to do. It was necessary to search for some sources along the way. We got together pretty quickly and started moving forward.

We were using maps all the time, even though one of us already went this way, but he always consulted with me. All the time I felt like a guide, I told where to go, and we all went there. It was spring outside, the birds were singing, the animals were running, the flowers were blooming in some places. The road, as usual, was a sandy one. I don’t know why, but tire tracks were everywhere. Maybe after the liquidation of accident, the cars drove along these roads to check the level of radiation, or maybe I made up it so. In the entire exclusion zone there are quite a lot of inexplicable things, on which there are no logical answers. We moved to the road of eternal electronic towers, it was morally easier, realizing that very little was left. Well, in truth, one-third of the whole way was left. For a very long time we didn`t stop, considering that we had absolutely no water, so we moved fast. 

In the Chernobyl zone there are a couple of areas with a radiation. The first 5 km are not very radioactive today. 10 km from Pripyat are the most dangerous, because after the explosion, the wind carried a decent dose of radiation to this place, which remains nowadays. 20 km from Pripyat is a little dangerous, if you go through the forests, you can have a large dose of radiation. The area from 20 to 40 km of exclusion zones is the cleanest. It may have been different before, but in the first 20 km (from Kiev), there is absolutely no radiation. At that time, we were already 15 km away, and when we crossed the road, a radiation level began to increase slowly. We decided to run. We turned on the dosimeter to make sure that the background radiation was reducing. When it fell significantly, we took a break. 

On the way was the last village. On the map it was drawn that there are some sources of water and we decided to check it out. When we approached the village, I saw traces of horses. I thought that the cars just couldn`t have driven there, so maybe the police were patrolling on horseback. I said this to others, so everyone was wary. And on the other hand, if a policeman on a horseback saw us, we couldn`t run away from him. The search for water failed, in the place indicated on the maps, there was only dirt and pits. After seeing this, everyone silently turned around and went towards the city.

For all the time, we haven`t met any car or any person. I wouldn`t say that we were hiding well or that we were quiet. Maybe we were just lucky. We crossed the main road and reached the railway. Only 5 km remained to Pripyat, and we were so tired that we didn`t want to go anywhere anymore. It was very difficult without water, but in the city we could certainly get it there. Therefore, with the last forces we moved forward. It remained to go through the field, barbed wire and we would be in the city.

I knew that there were a lot of barbed wire, but when we approached there, I was shocked. All the pillars were thrown to the ground. A whole row of barbed wire simply laid on the ground. It became interesting who could do this, and most important is how. After the barbed wire, there was a small forest with garbage, where were some old cars, mechanical devices and other things (glasses, metal, paper). Also, it seemed to me, there was a popular and unique sign in this area with radiation. Of course, everyone took a picture with it and went on. The street wasn`t dark enough to move freely around the city, so you had to run a lot. I didn`t have to much interest for this place, except the city`s environment. 

We went into one of the many houses and decided to find an apartment there. Somewhere on the 7th floor, we found a nice apartment with two mattresses and a good door. We decided to split up, someone will go for a water, while others will equip the apartment. I didn`t want to go for a water, as I was very tired. I walked up the floor and found another mattress. I called another man, and we brought it into our room.

After some time, the guys came with water, and we began to cook and rest. The road seemed to me very difficult. Maybe because we walked for 3 days, or maybe because of the weight of the backpack. I could not answer this question. We cooked a very huge dinner, and went to sleep.

The fourth day

It was very good to sleep after a hard road, but I had to get up at 6 in the morning. I wanted to meet the sunrise on the roof of a 16-story building. With much effort we got up and began to gather out things. When we left our house, it was already light on the street. We went to the nearest 16-story building, the sunrise was beautiful, but not like it was at my first trip. There was very calm and picturesque. Most of the trees were still without leaves, and because of that, everything seemed gray and gloomy. We were not on the roof for long, because we still had to explore the city until the guards arrived.

At the beginning we went to the park. There were no obstacles along the way, we walked freely through the streets, tried not to make much noise. When I came to the park and saw the Ferris wheel, I didn`t quite understand why people so admire it. It isn`t very large and not at all high. In a huge park there is a small ferris wheel, a carousel, and a race track. I looked around, walked over and shot all the rides. The most amazing thing I could notice was a carousel. After so much time, this carousel still worked well. We rode a couple of times on the carousel and began to move on. Next stop is the cultural center Energetik. This building is located near the park, so it wasn`t very far to go. When I got to the first floor of the building and saw these drawings, I was a little impressed. There the times of the former USSR are very well felt. Quotes in the style of “study, study and study again”, “work well - bread will be born”, “glory to work”, immediately let you know in what epoch you are.

I walked around the rooms, found a large assembly hall and a training room. Everything was destroyed to such an extent that it wasn`t immediately clear what this room was intended for. All the glass from the windows laid on the floor. The view from the gym was to the park and the Ferris wheel. We examined everything around, and I wanted to leave that place, and there was already not enough time to walk. Finally, we decided to climb one of the 16-story houses, with the emblem of the USSR. We moved very fast, because there was little time. I wanted to shoot the video from above, therefore, it was important to me. The weather was bad. The sky was gray, cloudy and it was going to rain. I took a couple of shots, recorded a video and was ready to go down. That time, it was impossible to walk the roads, there was a chance to meet the guard. We moved as quietly as possible and were careful. Without any adventures we got to our house and began to relax. I preferred to sleep, to be more cheerful, and in the evening go for a walk again. I woke up from a loud conversation. My friends, let`s say, celebrated their visit to Pripyat with vodka. Only 3 people drank, and they began to argue about something. I can’t remember exactly what they were arguing about, but it all came to a fight. One with his blow broke a lip of the other guy. There was a lot of blood both on the first and on the second person. As they quickly began to fight, they made peace just as quickly. It all ended in laughter, but that alerted me. For the second time, they were drinking, and the situation got out of control.

That was a second half of a day, very soon tourists would disappear. I started making a coffee to drink something hot. Suddenly one of our guys ran into the apartment and said: “There are tourists walking around, inspecting houses, and one of the groups went into the neighboring entrance, so we need to be quiet”. Climbing the roof was not a good idea, as you can run into tourists, or they can see you from the street. Therefore, you need to observe the environment from the windows. You know, I did not believe that from one cigarette butt there could be a fire until I got into this situation. Among us there are smoking people, and one of them threw a cigarette butt into the room. The wallpaper that laid on the floor caught fire. As well, we quickly noticed and put out everything. 

When the tourists left, you could relax on the roof. Have coffee, sit in front of the reactor and enjoy the view. There is the good Internet on the roofs, so you can also watch something or to call somebody.

Suddenly, the noise of a broken window from our house appeared. I went down from the roof as quickly as possible and ran into our apartment. There were 4 people in the apartment shouting at each other. One of the guys drank and smoked a lot. As a result, his girlfriend could not stand it and decided to hide his cigarettes. The drunk guy started yelling at her and getting angry. He was throwing everything around. The girl cried and looked at him. Suddenly the guy took the door and threw it out the window. As for me, the biggest mistake of this trip was to take a girl with us. All the way she was whining most of all, and, as it turned out later, she ate our common sweets secretly. After such stories, I want to think carefully before taking the girls on a hike.

When I ran, they continued shouting at each other, I asked them to calm down, but that didn`t help. Others began to quickly collect their things. Two guys before this went for a walk. When I was packing, they came running with the words: “We heard that something was broken. We started to run and along the way we heard a bunch of cars that were going one way. An alarm started, and it must have been security”. After these words, in my head I began to work out a plan of action. I didn’t want to be caught in the same place again. I packed up my things and started discussing what to do next. The culprit of all this said: “I understand that you don’t want to go with me, so we’ll separate, and then we'll see. The most important thing now is not to get caught”. I discussed that with others, 4 people agreed to go with me. The drunk guy, his girlfriend and another one decided to go separately.

First of all, I told everyone to pack their things as quickly as possible. Then I went to the roof. It was a good point of view, and you could run out of any staircase. When I climbed the roof, I looked around. A minute later, in the distance, I saw two people on the roof. My vision is not very good, I could not consider who it is. My friends waved to them, and those people answered us the same. At first, I thought it was stalkers. However, a minute later I saw the same guys below, going to our house. When they were already below, I was able to see them better. Camouflage clothes, gloves, military helmet, I realized that this was security. Considering where they were going, I told us to run to the very last entrance. We went down as quickly as possible. I decided to go down from the balconies of the first floor, and not to pass through the main exit. When we were on the street, I thought not to run far from the place, so as not to make a loud noise. I wanted to stay in one of the apartments for a couple of hours and leave the city at night. I told everyone to stay in the apartment, and I went up to the roof to see what was happening. When I got up, I heard some sort of rumble again. But now that sound was far away. I went down and told all the guys. Among us was one drunk who needed to sleep. I decided to spend the night there, we laid out our things and went to sleep.

The fifth day

By 4 a.m. the alarm has rung 5 times already, but I didn’t want to get up. For other guys that was very difficult too. Everyone understood that today it was necessary to leave the city, because it was dangerous to be there. We went for water, and continued our way. After everything we experienced, we were very tired. The next task was to get to Duga Radar. It is 15 km from the city. At first, we walked along the common paths, just as we came to the city. And when it was necessary to turn off, I decided, according to a map, to go through the forests directly. I didn`t know the area at all. It was very difficult to go. That heavy backpack really disturbed me. I didn’t eat as much food as I took with me. But it is better, than vice versa. I wasn`t sufficiently aware of what animals are in the exclusion zone. I knew that there were chances to meet wild boars, elks or deer. But on our way, I met a deer leg. There was a bone on one side, and a hoof on the other. It’s like someone hasn’t finished it (to be honest, there are a lot of wolves). This discovery scared us a little, but we continued to go to the Duga.

To walk through the forest wasn`t a good idea at all. The terrain was terrible. I was going up and down continuously. In addition, it was necessary to cross rotten trees lying on the ground. When you step on the logs, the leg falls through it. You feel like a Hulk when you stand on a tree and it breaks into 2 parts. After 5 km of such a road, everyone was very tired. Nothing happened at all along the way. We were making stops, cooking and gradually moving to the place.

By 4 o'clock in the evening we were already close to the Duga. It was visible from afar. When I first saw this large structure, I was pleasantly surprised. It is a very tall and very long tower. My desire to get to the top was more and more. Around the territory there was a high fence with barbed wire. This was a secret military facility in the past. The fence in many places was destroyed, and this was certainly not a new to us. It would be more surprising if it was whole and untouched. We arrived on the territory at 5 o’clock in the evening. Hid backpacks, covering with foliage. And began to go to the place. When I approached the structure, I looked up and froze. Even the view from below is amazing. While I stood and looked at the Duga, some of us went to inspect the area. Our reconnaissance wasn`t for nothing and it turned out that there were tourists nearby. The Duga is considered to be a tourist destination. Especially in these places they put radiation signs for photographs, but there isn`t any radiation. This is one of the attractions of Chernobyl. We ran away not far and waited for these tourists to leave.

After 30-40 minutes, we again went to look around. Everyone left, and finally there was an opportunity to go upstairs. A long time ago, security specially removed all the stairs from the first floor. However, it didn`t stop anybody to get to the very top. There are very large, thick rods on which you can conveniently climb onto the first floor. The stairs, as elsewhere, are the worst. Very staggering, sometimes when you climb, it seems that you are about to fall. Anyway, the whole structure seems to be collapsed.

It was difficult for me to climb to the very top, because before that I had not done anything for a long time. Hands hurt badly. At such moments, I feel like an old man. In general, I don’t like to climb such stairs, because you don’t know how tight they are. When I climbed to the very top, I felt relief. The first 10 minutes I could not get up, the whole trip affected my body. Too big and unexpected loads. The guys climbed the whole arc, took pictures, rejoiced. The view was one of the most spectacular, under us only the forest. In the distance you can see the whole station, and part of the city. The design of the arc was very dubious. At the top there are sides. When you go along this side, everything shakes. This is very scary, and I tried to move without sudden movements. I took a couple of photos, shot a video and was ready to go down already.  

It was still light outside and it was surprising that we were so lucky. Tourists should come every half hour or hour, but there was absolutely nobody. Without much haste, everyone got down. We did not have much water, therefore, it was necessary to get it somewhere. I walked around the Duga and found nothing. I did it very quickly and accurately, because tourists could come at any time. As well as the security guard, which ensures that no one climbed. None of us found water, so we just took things and went out. Before the exit you need to walk 30 km along the forests. It quickly began to get dark outside, as the weather got worse. A little later it started to rain and I wanted to go faster and faster. Fortunately, each of us had a raincoat. 

The sixth day

The road was difficult, we couldn`t stop. We chose the road that led across the bridge. As I remember from the last time, that place is busy, so you need to cross the bridge no earlier than at 2:00 a.m. Outdoors it was raining, every hour it was getting worse. My feet were very wet. By 1:00 a.m., I decided to stop and eat. It was unrealistic to cook, so I opened my canned food and handed out it to everyone. Food was cold, but quite edible. We sat under a tree, covered with a poncho. From the fact that almost everything was wet, we quickly froze. After we had finished our meal, we moved on. We hadn`t had any water at all, and when you move very fast, you really want to drink.

Walking to the bridge, we went out onto the road, and walked along the highway. The road was very bad, there were many holes in it. The guys decided to take a cup and try to drink rainwater from the pit. I didn’t really want to drink this water, I didn’t like that idea, and I refused. We were already approaching the bridge, I told everyone to be ready and run in bad case. It was raining heavily, its sounds wouldn’t allow to listen, if the car appeared. But it was so dark that I didn`t see anything in front of me. So at least in the distance we could see the headlights. Inside me, everything told me that everything would be fine and I walked calm and confident. I thought that just a little was left, I survived too much for this trip and I will survive everything that will happen. Without any problems, we crossed the bridge, and I told the guys to go down under it to rest a bit. Under the bridge, there were many dry branches, which the rain didn`t reach. We quickly made firewood from these branches and made a bonfire. I wanted to dry a little and keep warm. Everybody was to tired to think about food.

It was 3:00 a.m., and only 5 km was left. We had to go through them in 2-3 hours, and when we got out, we would have nowhere to stop to wait for the bus. This is the only place where you can sit dry and warm ap near the fire. Each opened his sleeping bag and was warming himself as best he could. Everyone fell asleep. When the fire went out, and a very cold wind began to blow, the first to wake up was a guy without a sleeping bag. He woke everyone and told us to pack. To my surprise, it was already 6:00 a.m. We could hear how cars were already driving across the bridge. When we went out on the road, we thought that we were too wet now, so we decided to go along the road. If police caught us, they would take us to warmth. I already didn`t care. As we walked, we met more than 10 passing cars. Somebody didn`t care about us, somebody was flashing their lights and honking their horns.

On the last kilometer another car drove, but that time it stopped and 2 people in uniform got out. It turned out that it was the police, which simply went to their post, met us and decided to pick us up. They drove us to the border checkpoint, but before that point they got out of the car and began to go to the barbed wire in the bypass. Everything was pretty weird. To my question, where were we going, their answer was: "You went as a stalker, you also need to go out as a stalker." It was funny when I found out that we crossed the border and left the exclusion zone without even seeing the barbed wire. The police took us out of the zone only in order not to take us to Chernobyl, to draw up a protocol. Indeed, otherwise, at the checkpoint, nobody would let us go.

When we crossed the border, the policeman put everyone in a car and drove to the station. Since I was the only one who was an adult, they made the protocol only for me. It was very disappointing that all responsibility was transferred only to me. They also gave us hot drinks to keep us warm. The policeman tried to delete all my video files. But I was able to save the most important. All the fuss with the documents didn`t last long. They gave me the protocol and said that we were free. When we asked how to get to the bus stop, one of the policemen said that he would pick us up. It was nice to meet the good cops who decided to help us. 

This story was cautionary for me. I always understood that alcohol can lead to bad things, but I didn`t think that everything could be so bad. What about the rest of the guys who were with us? Their story came out very short. When they left the house (they were drunk), they tried to run away. Not seeing what was underfoot, the most violent guy (who was with a broken lip) fell into the hatch. So, he was damaged even more. After, they went to the checkpoint for help, and the guy was hospitalized. It was necessary to sew up his lip.

I know, the second trip and the second time I was caught by the police. But doesn't that make me more experienced? Already 2 times I was caught by genuine stupidityю. From this I learned several lessons. I know what and how it works now. Also, now I know what to say to the police if they catch me. In the next story, I will tell about my third trip, which turned out to be no worse than this one.