Ghost Town - Chernobyl from the back of a motorcycle

[Jaron]

Reminds me of New Orleans

[grumbler]

That was kind of my opinion, too, Tyr. Though, she wasn't on a bus tour, apparently, but rather drove through several times with her husband and a friend. She has since ridden her motorcycle through, as well, but not until after the controversy.

BTW, I disagree with calling this a hoax. She did take the pics, she did go through the area, and the area really does look like that. A hoax is, to me, something that didn't happen at all, but that is told as though it did. This is more an exaggeration of facts in order to make a better story. Not the same at all.

The story she tells is a hoax, as I understand it: the original pictures were taken by her during a regular tourist tour through the area (supplemented by some pictures she didn't take at all), and she created the motorcycle fiction deliberately to make her story more compelling and "romantic."  The motorcycle trip is something that didn't happen, but is told as though it did.

She has changed her story a couple of time over the degree to which she actually wanted people to believe her motorcycle story.  I get the strong feeling that she isn't really sure herself how much honesty is obligatory in telling the story she wants told.  I remember seeing a post by her some years ago in which she sounded baffled by the fact that people cared that she hadn't been on a motorcycle at all.  So, yeah, it was a hoax as presented, but the presentation may have simply looked dishonest because of a cultural misunderstanding as to its nature.

I think she has corrected all the factual errors in her motorcycle "diary," though, so at least one doesn't have the misnamed places and wrongly-identified pictures.

[merithyn]

The bus tour operator was incorrect, from what I've read. She didn't take a bus tour at all, but instead drove around the area with her husband and friend. That aspect of it was completely wrong.

As for the rest of it, I still don't consider it a hoax. An exaggeration to make a story, yes. A hoax, no.

[grumbler]

The bus tour operator was incorrect, from what I've read. She didn't take a bus tour at all, but instead drove around the area with her husband and friend. That aspect of it was completely wrong.

As for the rest of it, I still don't consider it a hoax. An exaggeration to make a story, yes. A hoax, no.

I guess we have to believe one side or your side.  The tour guide says she drove around in the standard tour (which is by automobile) with that specific tour guide (who was able, later, to photographically document the changes Elena and her husband made as they staged various pictures).  I believe the tour guide.  If Elena claims she drove around without a tour guide, I place that fib in the same category as her claim she did this on a motorcycle.

Don't know about any "bus tour operator" who is incorrect.  Where did you get this "bus tour operator" info from?

[Razgovory]

What it all boils down to is Elena is a liar.  Like all women.

[merithyn]

I guess we have to believe one side or your side.  The tour guide says she drove around in the standard tour (which is by automobile) with that specific tour guide (who was able, later, to photographically document the changes Elena and her husband made as they staged various pictures).  I believe the tour guide.  If Elena claims she drove around without a tour guide, I place that fib in the same category as her claim she did this on a motorcycle.

Don't know about any "bus tour operator" who is incorrect.  Where did you get this "bus tour operator" info from?

Museum of Hoaxes
Boing Boing

Where do you have the tour guide's story and proof? I haven't seen that, only a comment here or there from random people, but nothing anywhere with that actual story or pictures.

[grumbler]

I guess we have to believe one side or your side.  The tour guide says she drove around in the standard tour (which is by automobile) with that specific tour guide (who was able, later, to photographically document the changes Elena and her husband made as they staged various pictures).  I believe the tour guide.  If Elena claims she drove around without a tour guide, I place that fib in the same category as her claim she did this on a motorcycle.

Don't know about any "bus tour operator" who is incorrect.  Where did you get this "bus tour operator" info from?

Museum of Hoaxes
Boing Boing

Those sites don't mention any "bus tour operator" and the first, in fact, directly supports my statement that they used a car, not a bus.

Where do you have the tour guide's story and proof? I haven't seen that, only a comment here or there from random people, but nothing anywhere with that actual story or pictures.

I don't have the tour guide's story and proof at my fingertips all these years later, and I am not going to go looking for it at this point, because it would prove nothing that we don't already know:  Elena was lying when she said her father got her access, lying when she said that she was on a motorcycle, and lying when she said she was alone.

If some "tour bus operator" claims she was on a tour bus, I would doubt it based on evidence from the tour guide who actually could produce some evidence that she had been Elena's tour guide at Chernobyl.

[DGuller]

Other pics here:

http://magna.aimoo.com/General-Discussion/CHERNOBYL-24-YEARS-AFTER-1-459656.html

For some reason, they remind me of Fallout 3... 

(everything's radioactive, of course)

Meh, looks like a typical Soviet city, although usually there are more people around.

[merithyn]

I don't have the tour guide's story and proof at my fingertips all these years later, and I am not going to go looking for it at this point, because it would prove nothing that we don't already know:  Elena was lying when she said her father got her access, lying when she said that she was on a motorcycle, and lying when she said she was alone.

I... see.

I still wouldn't consider it a hoax, rather a stretching of the truth, regardless of this alleged tour guide. She did go to Chernobyl. She did take pictures. And she did put the information out in a way that brought attention to the situation. That she was with her husband in a car instead of on a motorcycle alone doesn't negate the point of the website, which is to bring Chernobyl back into people's conscientiousness.

To me, a hoax is completely unreal. Had she simply trolled the web for pics, posted them, and pretended she'd gone to Chernobyl when really she'd been in Newark, NJ, instead, THAT would be a hoax to me. This girl did go there, did take pics herself, and did post them along with her personal observations. The stuff she lied about is immaterial so far as I'm concerned.

[Razgovory]

Why would anyone want to draw attention to Chernobyl.  It's a household word.  It's like drawing attention to Detroit.

[grumbler]

I still wouldn't consider it a hoax, rather a stretching of the truth, regardless of this alleged tour guide. She did go to Chernobyl. She did take pictures. And she did put the information out in a way that brought attention to the situation. That she was with her husband in a car instead of on a motorcycle alone doesn't negate the point of the website, which is to bring Chernobyl back into people's conscientiousness. 

Chernobyl is not a hoax.  Elena as the wild biker woman who rode alone through Chernobyl is a hoax.  The photos were staged (and some not taken by her), so they are not completely accurate either.

To me, a hoax is completely unreal. Had she simply trolled the web for pics, posted them, and pretended she'd gone to Chernobyl when really she'd been in Newark, NJ, instead, THAT would be a hoax to me. This girl did go there, did take pics herself, and did post them along with her personal observations. The stuff she lied about is immaterial so far as I'm concerned.

What you describe would be a hoax to me as well.  I would also consider a trip that was made out to be something other than what it really was to be a hoax.  To me, a hoax involves the intent to mislead, which this Elena (not a girl, BTW) clearly had. If the existence of any element of truth removes the charge of hoax as far as you are concerned, then we can agree to disagree.

I think her hoax fairly harmless and fairly well-intentioned:  she was creating a fictional cyber-identity that she probably liked more than her real identity, and she knew her fictional elements would attract more viewers than the truth would.  For her purposes, perpetrating the hoax probably was the correct move.

Still a hoax, though.

[Grey Fox]

Could it just be a lie?

[Ed Anger]

What it all boils down to is Elena is a liar.  Like all women.

Yesssssssssssssss. I feel your hate flowing. Together, we can rule the galaxy as father and son!