Where East Meets West

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I took the train to Sarajevo from Mostar where I have spent my first 2 nights in Bosnia & Herzegovina. It was the first train I've taken since catching the 12 hours ride from Tbilisi to Zugdid over a month ago and a change of Maskruktka to Mestia. The train departed at 7:50am from Mostar and started its way slowly below some dramatic Balkan mountain ranges capped with snow in late May, going over bridges and through countless tunnels and stunning lakes, and loads of U-turns upon arriving into Sarajevo after 4 hours ride.

My first impressive of Sarajevo was really weird, it is full of wounds and bullet holes from the siege in 1992, but the city, is full of funky cafes, hippy restaurants, and Irish Pubs, without seeing bullet holes outside the buildings, I thought I was in Jerusalem rather than in anywhere in Balkan.

The highlight of visiting Sarajevo is the famous Tunnel Museum.

During the siege in 1992, the Bosnians and UN took 4 months and dug a 800 meters tunnel under the UN controlled airport runway, from the western part of Sarajevo to the opposite of the Bosnian territory, because the Serbians troops came to Sarajevo and sealed and cut off the city, not to mention how many innocent Bosnian killed but the city was also not possible to get any food, gas, water, arms and material to Sarajevo, therefore this tunnel helped alot, in order to get these materials in and out from the UN.

The main town of the city is very Turkish and Jerusalem in feel, with a lot of small cobbled streets, lined with little cafes, bazaar, mosques and shisha bars.

Describing Bosnia & Herzegovina to someone who hasn't been in this country is confusing, because most people have its in mind is a result of news report of the terrible siege in the 1992, but this is history and it is over, although Sarajevo is now starting to recover slowly and evidences of siege are everywhere in the city, but I am sure there are so much more to explore in this impressive country, rather than the evidences of the siege.

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