Sarajevo: West meets East

We take another excellent drive to a campsite a few kilometres outside Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

In many ways, Sarajevo symbolises religious tolerance; within the (mostly Moslem) population, there are orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and a small number of Jews. There are Orthodox Christian churches of note, a small Synagogue and a Roman Catholic Cathedral in addition to the foremost Mosque in the country. The people and guides we have met here seem to mirror the tolerant attitudes we have already encountered in Mostar, with a pride in their multicultural stance - not fully tested that, of course.

Gazi Husrev Mosque

Synagogue

Roman Catholic Cathedral

Orthodox Church

And, of course, a London Bus masquerading as an Irish Pub...

We take both a group guided walking and coach tour of the city and a trip back in on our second day under our own steam, using the somewhat dilapidated but still functioning pre-(1991) war trams.

By far the most moving part of our tour is the explanation of the Siege_of_Sarajevo, when the Serbian army surrounded the city and continued to shell it while under UN supervision. The guide was ex police with scars to show for the horrendous experiences of risking life to bring in essential supplies to the beleaguered citizens. We see the tunnel under the UN held bridgehead that they constructed in order to achieve this. The death toll was extremely high and we wonder if the atrocities committed can ever be forgiven. It is almost as if the pride in tolerance and multicultural attitudes is seen here as a proud rebuttal of the genocide and torture so recently experienced.
The  stories of each country we visit are startlingly different; more on this later.

'Roses' .. grenade explosion site with red painted 'petals'

The tunnel of hope

We force ourselves to visit the Museum of Crimes against Humanity and Genocide to understand more. It is a deeply, deeply moving experience for us but something we are glad to have done.

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Stepping back from recent history, however difficult, we find a really relaxed city with a vibrant cafe culture that we really like. Yes, tourist shops abound but many of these are fed by workshops at the back, where goods such as Bosnian coffee sets are manufactured.

We have become somewhat addicted to these..

We spend some of our own time to see the Gazi Husrev Mosque and Museum, the Eternal Flame and the place where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated (thus starting WW1) in addition to time spent browsing the shops, cafes and people watching. There is so much to do here, we are in danger of exhaustion..

WW1 started here

The Mosque at Ramadan

The Eternal Flame

OK, that will do, I think. We're moving on to Jajce tomorrow - still in Bosnia Herzegovina. That's another post then...

Into Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mostar

It's a short but beautiful drive into into Bosnia and Herzegovina as we head towards our camp at Blagaj, some 15km or so from Mostar. The border crossings around these parts are somewhat confusing as we cross and recross before we finish up in the right country.

We call in at Pocitelj  village with a fort and attractive mosque on the way, which makes a fitting introduction to this mainly Muslem country.

There's a more atmospheric 10 sec mini movie  HERE

We settle into camp and, the next day, we travel together into Mostar old town for a guided mini tour. The old town is both beautiful and fascinating, if a bit of a tourist haven.

Our first view of Mostar

This mosque was, at one time, used as a synagogue once a week. It still bears a Star of David (no prize for spotting).

 We stay on after the tour and venture into the main town and visit an additional 'Turkish house' dating from Ottoman times. 

Although Muslem, the town seems relaxed, with very few women covering their heads in any way. Our guide has a mixed faith marriage, which is certainty not unknown here. Despite the war and radical positions of recent leaders, it seems that the people, at least here, are far more enlightened. 

A privileged place to be.....

The old bridge, Mostar

There are signs of the war damage everywhere and we find it quite a moving experience walking down the main street between bullet-marked buildings, some still shells.

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The following day, we explore the local town with fellow travellers, climbing some 400m to see an old fort which provides a fantastic view of the valley.

After lunch, we motor on to see some local sights, including the pilgramage town of Međugorge and the falls at Kravice after which we return to Mostar for an excellent traditional meal to end the day before returning to camp.

Ready for the worshipping hoards

The Kravice Falls

Sarajevo tomorrow, so a new post. See you then.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

A trip of some 140km along the wonderful winding coast road takes us to a spacious campsite on the fringes of Dubrovnik. As we cross the border into Croatia and the EU, the country's increased wealth becomes immediately obvious: newer cars, better roads and finished buildings. (We'll have more to say about Croatia when we return later in the trip).

Pausing en route

Made it

We wash and brush up and take the bus into the old town to take in the atmosphere before our guided tour tomorrow morning. We end up staying quite late, eating at a harbour-front restaurant and taking a final drink in a bar in an atmospheric square. Dubrovnik is all that we hoped it would be and more - if only it wasn't full of those damn tourists. There is a cruise ship in town though.

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The walking tour of the town is great and our guide is particularly good at putting the complex historical context together for us. It's not long since Serbia and Montenegro were shelling the city, after all; 1991, to be exact.

From the city wall

The main street as the hot sun goes down

..and in the hot sun from the city wall

We visit churches, museums and walk the city wall (a must) - all included in our tour, as we are provided with a one day inclusive tourist ticket.  Being a tourist town, there are restaurants everywhere and we have two great meals. The local beer isn't bad either.

We catch the bus back (thanks Google Maps for showing us where to get off), leaving Dubrovnik with very positive feelings of both the town and it's people.

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On our last day here, we can't resist a final trip into the old town. We use the cable car to visit the fort above the town that was instrumental in resisting the 1991 attacks by the Serbian forces and see an exhibition detailing the events of that time, including the severe bombardment of the old city of Dubrovnik; a fitting end to our time here. We also visit the Etnographic Museum which charts life in the area in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The Old Town from the fort

The moving start of the exhibition at the fort

Communications tower on the hilltop

Let's not forget that people live in this historic place..

So we leave Dubrovnik with some regret but looking forward to a complete change as we move into Bosnia tomorrow and head for our camp near Mostar.

Goodbye until then, then...

Montenegro: Mountains, Lakes & Sea

Moving from Serbia into Montenegro, we know we are moving into a small country, only some eleven years independent from Serbia, that has just joined NATO and is also ambitious to join the EU, so we are fascinated to try and understand how this country works.

We drive through Serbia to Mojkovac in northern Montenegro, noticing that the quality of the roads improve as we cross the border. They become increasingly steep and winding before we stop at a mountain campsite. As in Serbia, we notice unfinished houses as we travel; we later learn how families tend to provide extensions or additional houses for their sons as they mature, building as they can afford, daughters moving away to live with their partners' families; unsurprisingly, some modern women are railing against tradition, it seems

From this campsite we all take a 4x4 trip in convoy to visit the national park which proves to be a quite breathtaking experience, revealing a country with remote inaccessible parts and canyons 1.3 km deep. The campsite is run by a family who have lived here for generations and make it clear that they want us to feel part of their family; it certainly gives us warm feeling, which is not a bad start in Montenegro.

The 4x4 trip

 Yes, it's snow

The Tara Bridge

A small monastry church near the campsite

After three enjoyable nights here, we journey south to a site on the coast Petrovac.

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We take an all-day coach trip from the site to explore the nearby National Park and the surrounding Lovćen mountains, only some 5km from the sea but rising rapidly to 1.5 - 2 km. The coach journey is an education, not least in how to negotiate narrow roads with dozens of hairpin bends with traffic in the opposite direction. Terrifying.
See for yourself
We see the old city of Kotor and Cetinje, the original capital. A long but brilliant day, rounded off with a drink at a beachside café.

Sveti Stefan - holiday island

Cetinje

The seat of religious power....

Looking down to Tivat from on high

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It's Saturday, a free day.. so it's up later, buy ant killer (don't ask), chat, relax, beach, lunch... then we explore the coast a little in the Touareg.  We arrive at the unique St. Stevan (see above), park the car and then the lightening flashes and the heavens open. After sitting it out for a while we head further north to brighter skies and, after a supermarket shop, arrive at Budva, where we visit the wonderful old town.

Sitting in a beachside café, the six o'clock church bells call the orthodox Christians to prayer and we have the chance to see and experience this in the old town setting; another memorable moment.

We eat in a restaurant just outside the town wall, next to the marina, with wall to wall with luxury yachts: interesting indeed. In the high season, this town is swelled by a considerable number of holidaymakers from Europe but most travel from Russia and the Ukraine. We like it as we see it now...

We make it back to the campsite at dusk and pick up details of tomorrow's itinerary from the tour leaders; no lie-in tomorrow, then.

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So, it's tomorrow now, if you see what I mean, and we take a group coach tour to lake Skadar and the town of Bar. We take a boat trip on the lake, visiting one of the lakeside monasteries, which includes a personal tour of the church by a resident monk.

Lakeside

Happily photogenic monk

The town of Bar is our last town visit in Montenegro and is, therefore, tinged with a note of sadness as we explore this historic Muslem settlement.

Mosque from old town Bar

Old Ottoman aqueduct (well, it would hardly be new, would it...)

So, we're off to Croatia tomorrow, visiting Dubrovnik for three days and that means goodbye beautiful Montenegro and goodbye from this post.

See you soon.