Mostar

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After having travelled from a country where begging is illegal, it was a mini shock to the system to encounter lots of gypsies begging on arrival at Mostar bus station. It was a bit stressful because I had tourist touts trying to get me to stay at their hostel etc and one of my flip flops fell apart while I was running to get my luggage off the coach which I had forgotten about, so I had to change shoes.

Following that ordeal, I paid the luggage storage and set off for Stari Grad (Old Town). The route there took us (me and a girl I knew from my previous hostel in Dubrovnik) past burnt out and bombed buildings. I felt almost in awe as the recent devastation in Bosnia was now a stark reality. We walked past what used to be hotels, shops, apartments – now just dangerous ruins with weeds, shrubs and trees growing out of them. The most sobering thing for me was the cemetery just by Stari Grad, with all dates of death being 1993.

I continued on to the Stari Grad. It’s tiny cobbled streets rammed with tourists walking past countless little shops selling Turkish souvenirs. I crossed the famous Stari Most with difficulty trying to stay upright. I think they overdid the Mr Sheen and polishing cloth on this beauty’s steps! I admired the beautiful river flowing underneath me, longing to be swimming in it as it was stiflingly hot – got to have been nearing 40 degrees. The colour was absolutely stunning, as you can see from the photos. I walked to the other side where I found a nice little riverside restaurant and ordered spiced kebabs (see photo) with potato chips (I’m not American – they were literally potatos freshly cut and cooked – not like normal chips).

I then walked carefully back across the old bridge and made my way to the famous Koski Mehmed pasa Mosque which was built in 1617 during the Ottoman period. I wasn’t so interested in the mosque, but rather its minnett, which helped me get my most treasured travel photo, of the Stari Most.

I then walked towards where I could see a fisherman trying to get a catch. This took me out of the Old Town - one minute I was amongst the swarm of tourists and the next it was just me and some abandoned, bombed buildings. I had to walk down some stairs to the pebbled riverside ‘beach’, where I dipped my toes in the ice cold water, savouring it as soon I would be boiling again. The fisherman, who was actually really fit, was trying to make conversation with me but the language barrier was a bit too much 😞

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Photos

Stari Most from Minnett
My favourite photo

Hmmm banana anyone
with extra flavour!

Used to be a hotel
Now a dangerous ruin

Dangerous ruin
Former hotel

Cemetary
Majority with death dates of 1993

Spiced Kebabs
Nom

Stari Most
This was insanely difficult to walk on - so slippery - should have worn grippier shoes

War was here
Clearly

A random underground bar
Wondered what was down some steps and found this underneath a burnt out building