Sarajevo and Mostar


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July 3rd 2009
Published: August 20th 2009
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Sarajevo and Mostar day 6-8 (July 3 - July 5)



An amazing bus journey from Belgrade to Sarajevo through the ? Mountain range. Granite outcrops on top of high mountains, and gorgeous valleys. We took a local trolley bus upon arrival, once the electrics had been restored as there had been a problem down the line.

As we drove through you could still see the scars of the recent war marking the building with bullet and mortar holes visible in many buildings, with others you can see the patches but the painting was yet to be completed.

We were staying in a lovely Pension and we even had a lounge suite. Our room had ensuite while the others had to share. Our orientation tour took us through the modern area of Sarajevo, with Austrian architecture and then to the old town which was much like Turkey. Both Austria and Turkey had ruled over Bosnia-Herzegovina in the past and their influences were everywhere.

We met our local guide Mohammed who was a really funny guy who gave us a broad sweep of the older history of Sarajevo and a sense of the culture of the people. They do like to have a good joke at their own or others expense. . He spoke well of the long multi-cultural past of this country and this town in particular, and that it was still an important part of the place even today. There are within short distance to each other a Mosque, a Roman Catholic Church, an Eastern Orthodox Church and a synagogue and that this has always been the case.

The town is very pretty and surrounded on all sides by mountains and hills. He recounts that Sarajevo is known worldwide for 3 things, 2 not so good but one very good. The first was the assassination of Franz Ferdinand that proved to be the trigger of WWI, this was done by the group the black hand, more in a bid to protest the Austro-Hungarian rule here. The second was the Winter Olympics in 1986? This was this good thing, with 3 mountains nearby hosting all the events, and they are hopeful that one day again they will be host. The final is the siege of Sarajevo during the recent Balkan war. The siege occurred for almost 4 years and really impacted the place in terms of civilian lives lost to mortar and sniper fire, but also the impact of having to go without so much during that time.

He spoke of those years, where all that they knew was life in the basement, not being able to go out to play. He confessed later, that he was so desperate to go out, that while his mother was out working at the hospital, he doped his grandmother and he was free. He has a scar from the shrapnel to show for his trouble, just a flesh wound but he learned his lesson. He was 10 at the time.

Sarajevo had a great source of water from the cisterns that the Turks had installed, and so they were able to source from there and also the local brewery the water at least in the old town area, which they then traded with the new town area who were able to get greater access to food. He said they were a stubborn people and were not going to give in. The bombs and sniper fire hit Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian people and buildings alike, with the Serbian orthodox church itself sustaining heavy damage from the Serbian army. The Bosnians were poorly armed, because they did not have much in the way of Army bases built here under the Yugoslavian rule, so when the countries began to break away they could only recall their national soldiers and did not retain much in the way of hardware.

The next day we went to the tunnel museum and learn more of the struggle. Here we saw how the Bosnian soldiers and civilians dug right under the airport, which by this time was under control of the UN. When they first heard the UN was coming they thought things would change, but the UN just stood between and did not intervene. Eventually they realised this was a good thing in some ways, as the UN knew of the tunnel but did not stop them.

The tunnel was dug from a starting point that was in a garage (the owner was out of the country) on one side of an area beyond the Sarajevo airport and in an area that was more able to access the freer areas of Bosnia. The other side was begun at the house of a volunteer where the museum now stands. We had a short walk through a small part of the tunnel (the whole mile is not open as the owner at the other end returned after the war and wanted it blocked off). We also watched a video of footage of the tunnel and the bombardments from the surrounding and heard some first hand stories.

Our guide has a Bosnian father and Serbian mother, and it seems in Bosnia that there are many mixed marriages. She also spoke of the hope that it is this mixture that will sustain her country in the long run. She also was a great believer in multi-cultural Bosnia. The local guide who was 8 during this time, told of her excitement to be able to go out just to fetch water with her mother and of being able to get real bread. It was this hope of real bread that took so many to the market on one fateful day, they believe some informants passed on the information and the market area (not visible to the surrounding hills) was bombed killing and injuring many. These events I can recall from the news at the time.

It wasn’t until word of the massacres at Srebrenica that a
Sarajevo river (Miljacka)Sarajevo river (Miljacka)Sarajevo river (Miljacka)

There had been significant rain before we arrived and the topsoil coloured the river
call was made by the Bosnian president to sue for peace willing to make compromises as he wanted to stop the killing at any cost. As a result, according to our guide, Bosnia-Herzegovina was separated ethnically into two regions and a district and instituted a rotating presidency from each ethnic group (Bosnian, Serb and Croatian).

There are so many levels of government for such a small country that it appears to be unsustainable in the long term. They still have a UN oversight (voted to be kept by the people) and they are currently suing the Prime Minister of the Serb region. There is a fear that the same policies of Milosevic are being advocated again. All in all though Sarajevo was a very friendly place, the people really welcoming, and loving tourists even though they don’t have a big marketing campaign. I’d recommend it as a place to visit and would have loved to stay longer. Good food too.

The following day we made a day trip to Mostar by early morning train (leaving at 6am). Here was another town that was surrounded by hills and had the wounds of war still showing. The barrage hit the ancient bridge of the town that it collapsed into the river, thus separating the Bosnian and Croatian sides of town. After the war ended, they made plans to rebuild it as it was (no mean feat as the stone masonry alone needed to build it was a fading art and they had to rely on Turkish skills).

The bridge was rebuilt exactly as possible to the old plans, including the supposed mistakes (some of which were necessary to keep the bridge up, as the actual original design they say shouldn’t work architecturally). There is no other known bridge of this design found elsewhere, due to the height of the arch and the narrowness needed between the banks of the river. The bridge is a great symbol of the unity of the town, despite being different groups ethnically. The bridge is also famous for divers who jump in knees first from a great height to the beautiful aqua river below.

Lunch on the river bank trying to keep out of the heat, and then a drink in a bar in a cave. That was great to keep cool. We took a bus back, as there were no trains at the time we needed. The mountainous countryside was spectacular. We bonded with the people that we shared our trip with, as the air conditioning was not up to the task of cooling a full bus, and one of our group persuaded the conductor that we should be allowed to open the sunroof to let air in. This was done to much applause and certainly helped the for most of the rest of the journey. A few drops of rain began to fall, and the conductor took the opportunity to close the sunroof. A think it is again that sense that air is draughts that bring illness and not fresh air that brings health. By this time there were less passengers and so the air conditioning was fairing a little better.

A few of us went out to the old town for dinner, and were welcomed with open arms by the owner of the restaurant we chose. He was a grandfatherly figure and made our time there very pleasant (even if the food was not exceptional - I had been looking forward to Burek which is famous in this area but the Burek I’ve had in Melbourne was much better). Still the ambience was great, especially as first there was a call to prayer from a minaret near by (done by a person and not a recording) and then the moon rising over the minaret and old town. A great final memory of Sarajevo!




Additional photos below
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Very old drinking fountainVery old drinking fountain
Very old drinking fountain

Legend has it that if you drink from it you will return to this town someday
Buildings in MostarBuildings in Mostar
Buildings in Mostar

Yet to be repaired


4th September 2009

What a fascinating read Sharyn, such interesting history, I've so enjoyed reading this....I feel like I've just learnt heaps about a country and cities and people I know so very little about!! Thank you...
4th September 2009

How beautiful is the water, and the Mostar Bridge is amazing. Love the cave Bar too!! XK
23rd September 2009

Hi from Di
What an amazing bridge!
23rd September 2009

I would love to sit in the Monstar Bar on a stinking hot day with a nice cold beer.
23rd September 2009

Great history Sharyn ...... yes the river took me back to Willy Wonka. Oh that chocolate brown colour!!
13th April 2010

B-H Trip
Great reading - im trying to plan a trip to the countries surrounding Montenegro and came across your journal thank you for taking me on your travels.

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