One of the most bizarre and macabre websites I’ve seen recently is GHOST TOWN, the story of Elena, a young woman who rides her Kawasaki Ninja in through the surrounding countryside of Chernobyl. While other sites may contain more information, the pictures snapped by Elena are eerie and compelling. The events of April 25th and 26th, 1986 uprooted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people who were forced to evacuate.

Looking at the pictures and reading Elena’s broken English makes it seem somehow more real.