Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Time to leave not only Trogir, but also Croatia. Yuri and his family had been great hosts, so if you are thinking of going to Trogir and want to be in the thick of it, head for Trogir Stars Apartments.

The highway had barely any traffic on it. There were many tunnels cut through the landscape on the way. We saw how the roads are in really good nick (better than our local UK ones) and driving was a pleasure.

I had come up with the bright idea of 'popping' to Mostar on the way through Bosnia Herzegovina. NatNat, as the satnav is now affectionately called, decided to take us along the A1/E65 and to the old border crossing at Veliki. It was a happy accident, as we would never have seen half of the beautiful rural areas and the proper BiH at all. It became apparent that the country is very poor, with lots of unfinished, empty factories and people farming the land. From what Simon read the Homeland War claimed the lives of many men and the women had to go back to hands on agriculture to survive, with very little help from anyone. There were only single lane roads, most of which were a bit worse for wear. In fact, later on they became really narrow, with crumbling tarmac and the local drivers became more extreme in their driving style.

Arriving in Mostar there was evidence of the war everywhere. Some of the buildings are now ruins, whether they are traditional stone ones or those resembling a multi-story car park. One, known as Sniper's Tower, is a concrete edifice in the centre of town, with amazing street art adorning the walls. We saw it on the way in to town and went back later to capture some images. There was something so poignant about kiddies paintings of animals being used to try and cover the bullet holes.

The Stari Most bridge is actually a reconstruction. I have written a little more about it with the pictures below. The view from the top is stunning, with the river water a similar hue to the Plitvice Lakes. However, the surrounding area is one restaurant and tourist shop after another, which kinda ruins it. On the upside, at least the locals must benefit from the trade. We didn't stop long as the temperature had reached a whopping 37 degrees.

The next part of the journey we used the 17-3 to Stolac and then for some inexplicable reason we were instructed by NatNat to go through the Dabarasko Polje mountains to Fatnica down the E20 to Bileca. During the journey we made it to about 7000 feet above sea level. We skirted a deep valley with a large flat plain at the bottom of it that was reminiscent of the Rift Valley in Kenya and was dry farmland as far as the eye could see. Bileca (first recorded as Bilechia in 1286) used to be an important caravan cross-roads and in the 15th century was held by the Turks. Now it's border control.

It has to be said, all of the parts of Bosnia we saw we loved. It seems an interesting place to be and one we want to go back to. I've heard Sarajevo is worth visiting and have now added it to the Bucket List.

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Photos

Even in Mostar You Get Tourist Toot
Crossed between Morocco and Clovelly the main cobbled street up to the bridge is full of stalls aimed at the modern Tourist.

Stari Most (Mostar's New Old Bridge!!)
A reconstructed version of the original 16th century Ottoman Bridge that stood for over 400 years, that crosses the Neretva river. It was destroyed by Croat forces in November 1993 and then rebuilt. The new Old Bridge opened in 2004 and became an UNESCO heritage site in 2005.

Don't Forget
Commemorative STone to remind tourists of the 1993 siege and those lives lost.