To tempt fate

As you may know, extreme tourism becomes more popular. Stationery sights, works of art, and captivating landscapes do not satisfy sophisticated travellers no more. Cautious tourists choose mountaineering, kayak-paddling, parachute jumping or survival tours in Siberia. The most desperate tourists set off to places of warfare, epidemics or cataclysms to tempt fate.
In Ukraine the favourite place for such local and foreign sightseers is Chernobyl`, with Prypyats', the «dead» town. It is called so not only because of its oppressive atmosphere, destroyed buildings and frightening silence, but also because of real mortal danger of high radiation background.
In the nearest future an alternative to tours to the place of the nuclear reactor`s explosion will be trips to the east of Ukraine. Some people consider this statement absurdity, nevertheless the trips of this sort to Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia and other hot spots have been in demand for years.
While crafty guides are musing how to make a fortune on a human tragedy, the most inhabitans of so-called People`s Republic are forced to be survivers. They spend their nights in cold basements without food and water, learn to render first aid, become refugees. And here, in conrast to previous one, appears another kind of tourism – charitable tourism. People, who are indifferent to the misfortune and suffering, come from all over the world, offer clothes, medicines, food and money. Some of them even give in a temporary use their own houses to families with kids, to disabled persons or seniors. I think, that charitable tourism is not only an honourable, but also a really useful pastime. It will help the participants to learn by other`s mistakes and appreciate universal values.
If serious motives or needs make you set off to a hot pot, to a mutinous country with revolution or strikes, prepare for all possible situations, by reading information at embassy`s site, by monitoring internet, by following current events. Also, I am going to share with you my own experience that I have encountered on my travels:
- do not show off your gadgets, money and other valuables, because it can provoke a theft and violence ;
- keep calm, being surrounded by men with weapon, because a tantrum can cost you a life;
- do not take pictures of the military hardware or soldiers, it can be considered as spying;
- try to avoid a furious crowd – such groups lose common sense, follow herd instinct and make damage in an affective state.