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For a change we took the day train out of Serbia....mainly because it was the only train available to get out of Belgrade to Sarajevo. We had to detour though Croatia for a few hours, so we were expecting plenty of entertainment with our friends in passport control.
While waiting for our connecting train in Croatia we bumped into a fellow InterRailer and world traveller extraordinaire!! He was 62! ...and travelling Eastern Europe for a few weeks. He had travelled all over the world and had many entertaining stories and words of wisdom to pass on to us...
On the train down to Sarajevo we got taking to a local business man who was working with the Bosnian government and international organisations, to put Bosnia on possible progression towards EU membership in the years ahead. You really feel like a bit of a dummy when you have to ask, “so what was the war about again?” but knowing that the quality of your life is dictated by the quality of the questions you ask and that this sort of opportunity doesn’t come knocking too often, - I ploughed on… Five hours later we had completed our first workshop on
the train around the Bosnian war; Serbian, Albanian and Croatian history; the different political structures and troubles surrounding the Balkans countries; and the break-up of Yugoslavia... interesting or what!
Bonus - our new Bosnian friend (Zoran) also gave us a tour of the city when we arrived. And - passport control you may ask??... What passport control? Bosnian’s seem to love “Irishman”, no problem, welcome!! Another stamp! EU citizenship strikes again! Gold Star for Bosnia in my eyes…
Sarajevo is beautiful; fabulous scenery of the numerous surrounding mountains as it is set in a valley, it has windy cobbled streets, and a warm friendly welcoming feeling. The new shopping centre opened in April just gone and it carries all the “BIG” name clothes brand companies. After being here for the past number of days I can’t even begin to imagine the level of psychological damage done to these people during the 4 year siege on Sarajevo between 1992 - 1996. Many young people limping are visible throughout the city. The city though has made remarkable progress and many of the buildings have been restored or rebuilt with the help of the international community and other Muslim countries.
While we were here we met a young Bosnian women who took the time to tell us about her experiences of life in Bosnia. She was 26 and had lived in Bosnia though the war years. She informed us that during the war years soft commodities like coffee and sugar got as high as €50 a kg. She only ate pasta, rice and vegetables for 4 years. There was no running water or electricity in the city and many people ate shrubbery and grass as they had no food. The signs of war are everywhere and many buildings thoughout the city are still riddled with bullet holes.
The government was authoritarian communist before the war and has since moved to capitalism and democracy. Naturally you'd expect people would have embraced this move. She informed us that many people have found the transition difficult and many would like to return to communist times, especially as during communism everyone had a job and had to work less hours. These days there is a brain drain on the economy as the young people leave, and government pensions for the old are minimal and often paid late.
In fact Sarajevo is the
first city in which we have seen several people openly rooting for food in the rubbish skips on the sides of the main streets. These are the forgotten people in a developing capitalist regime forcing survival of the fittest. Now what would Darwin have to say about that.....
Heading on to Croatia to see what Zagreb is like before we head further up though Eastern Europe towards Moscow in Russia.
Some Trivia *After Bosnia and Herzegovina had declared independence from Yugoslavia, the Serbs (whose strategic goal was to create a new Serbian State that would include part of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina) encircled Sarajevo with a siege force of 18,000 stationed in the surrounding hills, from which they assaulted. From May 2nd 1992, the Serbs blockaded the city. The Bosnian government defence forces were poorly equipped and unable to break the siege.
*It is estimated during the Siege on Sarajevo that nearly 10,000 persons were killed or went missing in the city, including over 1,500 children. An additional 56,000 persons were wounded, including nearly 15,000 children.
*Did you know Bosnia has its very own
pyramid? I know! I didn’t believe it either until I saw it with my own eyes! The pyramid structures are just outside Sarajevo and have been covered by general terrain over thousands of years and now blend right into the background countryside. Scientists from around the world have actually come to study this (including the Egyptians). Be sure; they're not going to have their parade rained on without having a good gawk…
*Finally; its all cake and ice-cream parlours here still, so any brave entrepreneurs who want to introduce salad bars, juice bars & the 'Sarajevo smoothie' - here’s your chance - and it looks like you’ll have first mover advantage…
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