# Take A Ride Across The Russian Front **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856 "2004-11-20T19:39:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/1 "2004-11-20T19:39:26Z")
[That hot mama Elena’s back, this time riding around WW II battlefields.](http://www.kiddofspeed.com/serpents-wall/index.html) Not quite as creepy as her ride through Chernobyl, but still unsettling when you realize that the Soviets bore the brunt of German aggression for a good part of the war. Not to mention they had to deal with their own insane leader at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/2 "2004-11-20T21:13:26Z")
Ooh! Thank you for sharing this! I loved her Chernobyl page. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/3 "2004-11-20T21:20:34Z")
Her Chernobyl page was complete fraud, sadly. Hopefully this one is not. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/4 "2004-11-20T21:25:22Z")
> [@Wikkit](#): > > Her Chernobyl page was complete fraud, sadly. Really?! I’m utterly disappointed. Where did you hear this? ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/5 "2004-11-20T21:36:34Z")
I’m an urban explorer, and Chernobyl is the stuff of wet dreams. Everyone loved the original site, but the community is small enough that eventually people got in contact with locals and people who knew her and found out the truth. [http://www.uer.ca/forum\_showthread.asp?fid=3&threadid=8951](http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp?fid=3&threadid=8951) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/6 "2004-11-20T22:33:54Z")
> [@Wikkit](#): > > Her Chernobyl page was complete fraud, sadly. Hopefully this one is not. Actually, from some of the things I’ve seen (I’ll try to dig up some cites tomorrow), it’s _not_ a complete fraud. Yeah, she did lie about a few things, but she did go riding about in some of the areas she talked about, and most of the photgraphs were taken by her or someone riding with her. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/7 "2004-11-20T22:35:24Z")
Damn it, what a con. Oh well, it was a good fiction while it lasted, and she’s still a cutie. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/8 "2004-11-20T22:42:41Z")
A married cutie. Some of the tour operators in the area really don’t like her, so if you ever go there, don’t bring her up. There are connections between her and other people who have staged photos to make things look more dramatic than they are. It is, after all, the site of a huge nuclear accident. That anyone sees the need to stage anything at all is absurd. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/9 "2004-11-20T22:49:43Z")
> [@Wikkit](#): > > That anyone sees the need to stage anything at all is absurd. I agree. I don’t really get the motivation behind the deception, especially using a hideous tragedy like that - profit? Ego wank? So, now, are you going to tell me what an ‘Urban Explorer’ is? ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2004, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/10 "2004-11-20T23:32:28Z")
There’s a [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_explorer) on UE, but it’s still rough. More or less, urban exploration is people going to see parts of civilization that are forgotten or just rarely traveled. Things like abandoned buildings, storm drains, decommisioned missile silos, ghost towns, utility tunnels, and so on. There was a [UE photo contest](http://infiltration.org/contest/) a while back, it [had](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/192.htm) [some](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/191.htm) [good](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/239.htm) [examples](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/159.htm) [of](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/213.htm) [interesting](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/149.htm) [places](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/109.htm) (and at least one photo of [mine](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/111.htm)). ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/11 "2004-11-21T00:44:08Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > [That hot mama Elena’s back, this time riding around WW II battlefields.](http://www.kiddofspeed.com/serpents-wall/index.html) Not quite as creepy as her ride through Chernobyl, but still unsettling when you realize that the Soviets bore the brunt of German aggression for a good part of the war. Not to mention they had to deal with their own insane leader at the same time. Let me get it right. This person is digging in a former battlefield, thrilled at the prospect of finding plenty of human remains and unexploded ordinances??? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/12 "2004-11-21T07:53:43Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Let me get it right. This person is digging in a former battlefield, thrilled at the prospect of finding plenty of human remains and unexploded ordinances??? Actually, she tends to avoid the remains and the ordinances when she can help it. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/13 "2004-11-21T09:13:08Z")
> [@Wikkit](#): > > There’s a [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_explorer) on UE, but it’s still rough. More or less, urban exploration is people going to see parts of civilization that are forgotten or just rarely traveled. Things like abandoned buildings, storm drains, decommisioned missile silos, ghost towns, utility tunnels, and so on. > > There was a [UE photo contest](http://infiltration.org/contest/) a while back, it [had](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/192.htm) [some](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/191.htm) [good](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/239.htm) [examples](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/159.htm) [of](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/213.htm) [interesting](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/149.htm) [places](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/109.htm) (and at least one photo of [mine](http://infiltration.org/contest/gallery/pages/111.htm)). Now _this_ is interesting. I used to do things like this constantly as a kid (though considering where I grew up, I guess most of it would be “rural” exploration; abandoned barns and silos, storm drains, etc.) These days I have the sense to be scared of running into some hostile homeless folks or drug dealers, but I’m intrigued nonetheless. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/14 "2004-11-21T10:27:25Z")
> [@Wikkit](#): > > There’s a [Wikipedia entry](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_explorer) on UE, but it’s still rough. More or less, urban exploration is people going to see parts of civilization that are forgotten or just rarely traveled. Things like abandoned buildings, storm drains, decommisioned missile silos, ghost towns, utility tunnels, and so on. What an excellent hobby. Seems I’ve done a bit of this without realising it. I used to hike to a ghost village I on an island in Hong Kong harbour, abandoned overnight when a quarry was built the other side of the hill, with rice bowls still on the tables of the houses, and toys still on the floor, populated with packs of feral dogs. Also did a climb/walk through an abandoned silvermine. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/15 "2004-11-22T00:26:21Z")
It’s a popular hobby, and there are thousands of people like you two who say “Oh, I’ve done that” when they hear about it. Yes, “urban exploration” is a bit of a misnomer, but nothing better has been thought of. I like the disused MIT term “vadding”, but it doesn’t cover everything. I started with rural culverts and abandoned houses or barns within biking distance from my house when I was a kid. There is always some risk, but it can usually be minimised. Take someone with you, or at least make sure someone knows where you’re going, have a backup flashlight, try not to eat the sewage, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/take-a-ride-across-the-russian-front/275856/16 "2004-11-22T00:29:09Z")
> [@Wikkit](#): > > It’s a popular hobby, and there are thousands of people like you two who say “Oh, I’ve done that” when they hear about it. > > Yes, “urban exploration” is a bit of a misnomer, but nothing better has been thought of. I like the disused MIT term “vadding”, but it doesn’t cover everything. I started with rural culverts and abandoned houses or barns within biking distance from my house when I was a kid. > > There is always some risk, but it can usually be minimised. Take someone with you, or at least make sure someone knows where you’re going, have a backup flashlight, try not to eat the sewage, and so on. Also take along a wooden stake, a silver crucifix and some holy water in case you stumble across a vampire. 😉