Discovering Bosnia and Herzegovina

From Thursday 04 November 2021 to Thursday 10 November 2021

Mostar

Today we leave Croatia for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Our first stop is Mostar, located 40 km from the Croatian border. It rains buses when we get on the bus in Dubrovnik at 8 am and it rains cats and dogs when we get off the bus in Mostar at 11 am. Even before arriving in the city center, we spot the vestiges of the war of Bosnia: abandoned buildings, partially destroyed, covered with bullet holes... We had already seen some in Croatia, but that seems to us much more impressive in Mostar.

Our first challenge when we get off the bus is to find a SIM card and a tourist package. None of our French packages covers Bosnia-Herzegovina. We also have to withdraw money, even if we read that in Mostar, they still accept Croatian kunas and sometimes even euros.

We withdraw money easily enough, but we do not find the telephone operator that Victor located when he made his research before our arrival on the territory. We must, in addition to that, go to recover the keys of our accommodation at a very precise hour. We look for a free WIFI in the city in order to be able to load the route of our accommodation on our telephones. It is finally the WIFI of McDo which will save us the setting for this time!

The advantage of Mostar is that it is not very big. Even if it rains, we are quickly arrived at the point of appointment to get the keys. The accommodation is very old, not very clean, that changes radically from what we had the day before. But for one night, we shall adapt ourselves to it. No time to relax, we finally have only one afternoon to visit Mostar, and we would like to see as much as possible.

We finally find the SIM card of the phone operator spotted by Victor. The activation takes more time than expected, Victor threw the package before reading the instructions, thinking that like in France, the initialization would be done automatically. We quickly discover that in Mostar, no service is free: we ask advice to a store specialized in Itech, which asks us two euros to make the initialization. No way we pay for that, we are again in search of a free Wifi, in order to find by ourselves the instructions on the website of the provider.

Once this history of SIM card solved, we have only one hour left before the nightfall. The rain does not stop, we have wet feet, but for the moment, our rain gear preserves our clothes.

Mostar is very famous for its bridge (the Stari Most), the oldest bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, built in the 16th century. Destroyed during the war in 1993, it was rebuilt in 2004, when it was also listed as a UNESCO heritage site.

The whole area of the old town is like this bridge: small, but elegant. We would like to take a little more time to walk there, but the rain intensifies and a storm bursts.

We decide that it is time to return for this evening. We make some stops on our way back to admire some mosques. And before returning, we make a small detour by the "Sniper Tower", the former bank Ljubljanska (Slovenian bank), a building of 10 floors, which was used as point of view for the snipers during the war. Now it is an abandoned building, a ghost tower, whose entrances have been sealed off by the city. On its facade, one can no longer count the bullet holes, camouflaged today by numerous street-arts. It is beautiful and terrible at the same time, it is sad and full of hope, it is dark but bright. This building has become a symbol of war in Mostar, of death in Bosnia, but it is also, through the art it brings to life, a powerful symbol of resilience.

The storm is growing louder and louder, the sewers are not able to evacuate enough water, some streets are flooded. We fall asleep tonight, with thunder and pigeons banging against our shutters, as if they wanted to come home with us. Our only concern for the moment is that our shoes dry sufficiently before our departure to Sarajevo tomorrow morning.

***

Sarajevo

As we feared, one night was not enough to dry our shoes. Nothing more unpleasant than putting on wet shoes. But as a good adventurer that he is, Victor suggests me to put our feet in a plastic bag before putting our shoes. At the point where we are, this solution seems to me ideal!

This morning, we take the bus towards the capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sarajevo. The road between Mostar and Sarajevo is magnificent: we go along mountains and a river. The color of the water, rusty earthy, reflects directly the damage of the storm of the day before. Storm that is not completely over since it will rain again for two days. The floods are making the headlines. The locals in the bus are talking about it, everyone has taken pictures and videos of his garden or the street in front of his house.

But life doesn't stop, all the seats on the bus are occupied, the newcomers stay standing or sit on the stairs. I feel bad for them, we have at least three hours to go...

When we arrive to Sarajevo, the bus station is plunged in the darkness. We see some employees with flashlights in the hand and we understand that there is a cut of electricity. The day is already well advanced then we take a cab (which is very cheap here) to arrive quickly at our lodging where we deposit our bags. The time that we find what to eat the sun is almost set.

It is thus by night that we meet the old Sarajevo. We begin by the Sacred Heart cathedral (which, we shall learn it the following day during our guided tour, is the only cathedral of Bosnia), we pass in front of the mosques Gazi Hustev-beg and Bascarsija, in front of the fountain Sebilj and we finish by the Latin bridge. The bridge itself is not so interesting, but the corner of the wall it faces is infamous. It is the place from where the archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his wife, Sophie Chotek, duchess of Hohenberg were assassinated by the nationalist Gravilo Princip on June 28, 1914; event that will trigger the first world war.

And the rain, which does not stop, forces us to return to our accommodation for a warm dinner.

The next day, we start by visiting one of the oldest houses in the city: a traditional Turkish house, Svrzo house. Then, we want to put in context the monuments we saw the day before. In the early afternoon, we start a guided tour. We learn a lot about the history of the country and the city.

Between the Ottoman conquests (by the Turks) and the Orthodox conquests (by the Austrians), Sarajevo is a tasty mixture of culture and religion, which make it a city with many faces. A capital, yes, but with the appearance of a small mountain village. Its narrow streets often do not allow the simultaneous crossing of two cars. All the products found in the old city center are local and handmade.

Its past, tormented by a recent war, has left its mark, not only in the minds of the people, but also in the city's infrastructure. Sarajevo was 80% destroyed during this last war. And the municipality has done a good job of turning it into a tourist attraction. In several places, we can see the impact of bullets on the buildings and in the street, the traces left by grenades or other types of heavy artillery, are framed and colored with red (to testify that at least three people died at this place). The effect is successful: it gives us chills.

One building in particular had a tragic fate, the current National Library of Sarajevo. In 1878, the Austro-Hungarian Empire gained control of Bosnia, by the treaty of Berlin. One of their concerns was to show their power by building a majestic City Hall. The empire decides to pay some owners to destroy their houses and start construction. Everyone agrees except for one homeowner who sets a non-negotiable condition: his house must be completely moved and rebuilt on the opposite bank of the river. This house (now called "the spite house"), now faces the national library, formerly the city hall of Sarajevo. During the Yugoslav war, the library was intentionally burned by Serbian forces as part of the policy of "cultural cleansing" against the Bosnians (Bosnian Muslims). Only a few works were saved. In 1996, the restoration work is undertaken, under the direction of UNESCO. They were completed in 2013 and the library officially reopened to the public in 2014.

Another legacy of the war is the far too complicated political system. Bosnia and Herzegovina is one country with three territories (Bosnia, Herzegovina and Brćko). Every four years, a president for each territory is elected by the population, each with its own government. Three presidents therefore, and three governments that lead in turn for 8 months.

We go towards the yellow fortress which overhangs the city, from the top of its hill. We also cross the second largest Jewish cemetery in Europe, after the one in Prague.

After having spent nearly 5 hours outside (fortunately, the weather was clement during all the duration of our visit), we have only one desire, to drink something hot. We stop in a café, in which we do not linger, the young people next to us annoy us with their smoke of cigarette. And a new power cut plunges the café in the dark.

Our last stop for this evening is the museum of the childhood during the war. Unfortunately, the cut of electricity also touches the district in which the museum is, and it was forced to close its doors earlier than foreseen.

We thus decide to return to the house to make dry our clothes, the museum that will be for tomorrow.

Victor's health decides otherwise. He returned home with a fever, chills and aches. The next day, the doctor's diagnosis was clear: it is bronchitis. Six days of antibiotics and three days without going out were recommended. And that's how our three days planned in Sarajevo finally become six days. But we adapt, health first!

***

Trebinje

Three days of rest later, we are ready to go back on the road. And it's hard to find the motivation to start packing again. But we are confident, the motivation comes by doing, tomorrow will be another day.

We leave for Trebinje, which is situated in the southeast of the province of Herzegovina, and which belongs to the Serbian republic of Bosnia. This city borders Montenegro, our next stop. Trebinje is different from what we saw in Mostar and Sarajevo. Here, no traces of bullet holes on the buildings and no ruins. It seems that the war did not happen. However, it did cause damage. The expulsion of the Bosnian Muslims made it a predominantly Serbian city. The ruins of the damaged buildings were razed for health reasons. Only a few religious buildings, such as the Osman Pasha Resulbegović Mosque, have been restored.

What also changes us is the language and its Cyrillic writing of which we do not understand a word.

We discover a charming city center, surrounded by majestic mountains. We go up to the top of the hill Crkvina (405 meters of altitude). At the top, there is a donkey, rabbits, peacocks, and chickens. But most importantly, the Herzegovina Gračanica Monastery, with its warmly decorated interior.

And we return to the city via the stone bridge (formerly named) Arslanagić, destroyed in 1574 during the Ottoman occupation. This bridge was originally located 4 kilometers upstream from its current location. It was partially damaged during World War II, and was drowned in 1965 under the waters of Lake Gorica when a hydroelectric dam was built. At the request of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, the bridge was dismantled and reassembled 1 km from the city center. Following the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia in 1993, its name (of truc origin) was abandoned and it was renamed the Perović Bridge.

We return home from our day of as motivated as our first day of our trip. And tomorrow we will say goodbye to Bosnia-Herzegovina to leave to conquer Montenegro!