Advertisement
Published: October 10th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Well, this is definitly the hardest entry I have made yet. I returned late last night from a 4 day trip to Sarajevo and Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and although it was a fascinating trip, the entire thing seems a little bit surreal right now. I could go into a lot of detail, but I will spare you all and try to give the gist of it the best I can!
A group of 6 of us took the night bus Wednesday and after a long and bumpy 13 hours we found ourselves droopy eyed and seriously lacking sleep in a dreary, raining, foggy Sarajevo. After a short ride (with a man I decided I was 75% sure was going to drive us down a strange alley and kill us all), we arrived at our fairly dingy and VERY dirty hostel (http://www.hostelljubicica.net/). Well, the rooms were decent, but I wouldn't have planted my but on the toilet seat if my life depended on it! Despite the dirt, it was PERFECTLY located - we were right in the heart of the old shopping district, within 500 meters of a mosque, catholic church, serbian orthodox church and a jewish synagogue and just a
Don't ask me why, I just like this one
...and not because it looks like the McDonalds M as my conscience so clearly just pointed out. stones throw from the National Library and the "Franz Ferdinand" Bridge.
Because of the rain, the 6 of us decided to jump on the Hostel's Bus Tour of Sarajevo to stay dry, learn a little history, and get some good city views. Let me see what I can remember from our quick recent-history lesson...
The entire city of Sarajevo, along with most of Bosnia/Herzegovina, was under siege for 3 years when it was surrounded by the Serbian army in 1992. The Serbian snipers and tanks litterally had the city, which lies low in a valley surrounded by green hills, from all sides and the Croats, Bosniaks (and Serbs) within the city had no connections to the outside world, save an 825 meter tunnel under the airport which was completed in 1993. For 3 years they had no power, no water, no sewage systems, no phone connection... but this was not the worst of it by far. Daily shells launched into homes and streets sometimes killing 20 to 30 people as they lined up for bread, snipers firing at children as they ran across open streets to gather the family's daily water supply, UN-abandonings of supposedly safe refugee camps
leaving thousands of people to be slaughtered - it is all so very beyond anything I can even begin to grasp or comprehend. And after 3 years of this with UN forces in control, they finally let NATO in and the whole thing was over in 5 days. (**For those of you searching for historical content or an objective view please do your own research.,.. this is just from memory, and also just from the Bosniac perspective. I'm sure those working for the UN or from the Serbian side would have a different story, this is just the version I heard and so I relay.)
The signs and scars of war are still, of course, very apparent throughout the city, and the entire country as I would find out on our day trip to Mostar. Walls are riddled with bullet holes, hundreds of roofs remain collapsed or bombed, buildings are marked with "Unsafe Ruin" signs warning tourists to stay away, warning signs are strung along open, empty fields where wretched land mines still lie in waiting for unknowing victims. The National Library which I mentioned earlier actually contains no books and is not open for viewing as the entire
thing was torched in 1992 by "Serbian Criminals" and has not yet been restored. And it is not only in the structures but also in the people and daily life that the scars of battle are still healing. But despite the healing wounds and recent political tension, life in the city is very vibrant, very charming, and for the most part extremely tollerant. People are generally friendly (except for the neighborhood pick-pocket... watch out for the old lady surrounded by 3-4 children when in the centre!), and the city seems to have modernized without moving itself into a state of full-blown Westernism. Really, a great place to go and I hope you all get to visit Sarajevo some day!
Ok, back to my storey... so, after the bus tour the gang took me out for shisha at a little hookah bar me and Elise found right next to the Hostel, and later for cake because... it was my birthday! It was actually a really nice way to spend my 21st, and surely a rainy birthday that I will always remember. The shisha was great and SO cheap, and we went to a local "Slasiscarina" (I think it means like
"dessert house") for cake, so we all sampled different kinds! The tiramisu was the best! yum!
Friday, after getting a good night's sleep, we walked to the war museum, which despite the plain-ness of it, was one of the better museum's I've been too because of it's smaller size and layout. There were some heartbreaking and (for this emotional girl) tear jerking photos there - things that are way beyond anything Western media would even consider publishing. We also walked to the "Bridge that started it all" - the bridge from which the shot was fired that killed Franz Ferdinand and thus started World War One. Later, after a long lunch, we all wandered into an Orthodox church just in time for mass so we stayed. Quite a cultural experience for all of us. Listening to the chanting of the priest and the others over top of other nearby chanting and ringing church bells was pretty haunting, and watching the rituals of waving incense and the priest giving his blessing was definitly interesting to see, if not even a little bit of a spiritual experience. After the mass, me and Caroline watched a great game of giant chess being
The bridge that started it all...
Nothing special about the structure, but its funny if you ask locals for the "Franz Ferdinand Bridge" they get mad because its actually named after the guy who SHOT Ferdi... that guy was a hero for them! played by cheerful and VERY competitive older men in the park before we wandered back to the Hostel.
Saturday the six of us plus one Australian straggler (love you Tony!) took the 2 hour bus ride to Mostar. The bus ride, despite our lack of sleep the night before, was great because of the INCREDIBLE country-side throughout Bosnia-Herzegovina. The country is filled with rolling hills and mountains, rocky peaks that tower above quiet lakes, and deep cut valleys with rivers rushing through the bottom. Reminded me a LOT of home, and really made me want to go hiking, which is unfortunately a little dangerous in Bosnia due to the still-present threat of land mines.
We arrived to a gorgeous, sunny day in this beautiful, beautiful little city that, again, still showed, much more so than Sarajevo, the signs of recent warfare. After a quick lunch we all took our own paths for the day, and I quickly found myself on the other side of the river looking up at the magnificent old bridge. It was such a grand sight that I actually sat down and spent over half an hour on the river bank just admiring it and
etching its graces into my memory. Its very very obvious when you sit there why they chose that bridge for the photo on the cover of the Lonely Planet guide for the entire Balkan region!
Later I wandered up a frighteningly narrow mosque tower to get a view, and then found some stairs up through the city that I decided to climb which eventually led me to an old graveyard and some ruins above the city. At the top, I was pleasently surprized to hear some Canadian english being spoken by a group of 3 people (you can always tell another Canadian when you're travelling...), and so I sauntered up to the group and after introductions found out that the older couple was from Victoria, and the young man from Toronto, and they were all living and working in Mostar. They were REALLY great people - told me all about the history of Mostar and showed me the front lines of the war, gave me some travel tips, talked about home - and it was just such a treat and SUCH a coincidence to meet such fantastic people (ahem - Canadians) at the top of a hill in a
cemetary in Mostar! God works in crazy ways.... So I basically spent the whole afternoon with them, talking, walking back down to the city and then going for a cold Schwepps Bitter Lemon after being in the blazing sun on the hillside for so long!
We arrived back at the Hostel Saturday night from Mostar, and then early Sunday took the loooong train ride back to Ljubljana... and then this morning I had to get up bright and early for class!
Well, that's it... not in a nutshell but I tried! Love you all very much,
Mel.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.299s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 12; qc: 76; dbt: 0.1298s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
madmommy
non-member comment
I miss Sarajevo
Your photos are beautiful, and remind me so poignantly of what I miss about Bosnia. It is so wonderful to see the "Ferdinand" bridge finished...when I was there in 2003 it was being renovated, so the sensation wasn't as strong. Althought I was stationed there as a US soldier, I had many opportunities to travel throughout the country. It is a beautiful place and I hope to visit again someday.