Less than three weeks left. What the...?

---

Mostar has a beautiful old town, mostly rebuilt since the war of '93. The world famous bridge, originally built in the 16th century, was rebuilt in 2004 after being demolished by the Croats. As for the rest of the town, it is decently habitable, but depressing as hell. The first thing you will notice is all of the bombed out buildings, especially on the Bulevar stretch, which acted as the main front during the war.

I just stayed one night there at Magdelena-Lena hostel, run by Lena, a born and bread Bosnian and the sweetest woman in the world.

As for the rest of the Bosnians, they are a pretty damn grumpy people. I've decided I'll let them off the hook for thirty post-war years, but by 2024 they better have shaped up. The woman running the ticket office at the bus station hated everyone who came her way, but she seemed to especially hate me. When I asked for the trains times, she gave me an answer that may as well have been, "You want to know the train times at the train station? Who the hell do you think you are?" Later I asked her the price, to which she may as well have responded, "You want to know the prices at the ticket booth? Are you mad?" Finally, I asked for a ticket, to which she may as well have said, "I hate your face," in loud, cynical Bosnian.

This became an ongoing joke with the people at my hostel in Sarajevo. Every time we asked someone something, we would inevitably follow it up with something like, "You want stamps at the post office? Jesus!"

The other great Bosnians were our host family in Sarajevo.The father, Theo, fought for four years in the Bosnian army against the Serbs. He runs for his guests a daily war tour, in which he takes you to many of the battle spots and areas designated to the fighting. When you look at Sarajevo, you can see how easy it would have been to beseige. The place is basically surrounded by mountains on all sides. The tour was an incredible experience. The area is still littered with mines, so at times we had to be sure to step exactly where he told us too. That‘s right, I have walked through a mine field. (Got a sweet shot of a green mine still buried). Much of what he said reminded me of my Holocaust tour from last year. Call it the portion of my trip full of dissolution about the evils in the world.

Also took in the tunnel museum, where once lay the secret tunnel used by the Bosnians to sneak in supplies during the seige. Part of it is still there, and walkable. Over all, Sarajevo was a blast (um, poor choice of words?), featuring maybe my favourite fellow travellers yet. The beauty of the Balkans is you seem to get less of the superficial, I'm-just-here-to-drink backpackers. You know, people who probably couldn't find Bosnia on a map.

Took a loooong bus to Belgrade. Gritty place, that Belgrade, and the Serbs are uber nice. Any hostility towards them that might have been generated in Bosnia dissipated the minute a person went out of his way to show me to a hidden street I was looking for. I, of course, have never been one to blame the many for the actions of the few. Still, it was interesting to see "Fuck Nato" graffittied all over the place.

Took a night train to Bucharest. Look for a retelling of my night train stories in an upcoming entry called 'Terror Train.'

Bucharest is as equally gritty I actually dug it, despite being told to stay away. Good enough for a day or two, anyway. After Croatia and Bosnia, I actually kind of found myself missing the big cities. In London, Kristen was telling me how, after five months in Europe, she was straight sick of the big cities. I kind of find the opposite. Sure, I like a nice nook in the middle of nowhere as much as the next person, but there is also something awfully liberating about getting lost in a big city. Everywhere you walk there is something to see. Then again, Kristen is from Brandon, so... 😊

Bucharest holds nothing on Transylvannia though, a scenic area of mountains and medieval towns. Got to Brasov just in time for Oktoberfest. Yeah, you read that right. It happens here too. Who needs Munich? They had a tent set up and a bunch of German music playing. A bunch of us from the hostel went, ten Australians and . . . me. Naturally Australians are everywhere all the time, but now that the western summer is over, they are practically all that you meet.

Drinks were had. Hangovers were had. Regret is having. I actually got into the wine over beer. I know, you're supposed to drink beer at Oktoberfest, but I'm officially beered out. It just won't go down smoothly anymore. I need a serious detox. Not that I've been a hopeless alcoholic or anything (can't afford to be), but, of course, everywhere you go people are telling you to 'try this beer, try that beer.' It's too much after a while, and I'm so done with it.

Headed back to Bucharest today for one night, then off to Bulgaria, and soon, Istanbul.

Oh yeah, and Grouplove's debut album hit shelves today. Life is good.

---