Sarajevo - Mostar

A pretty unenventful day today as we left Sarajevo and made our way down to Mostar for a 3 night stay.  

Still spun out a bit by the time quoted by the GPS vs the distance in kilometres.  In Australia if its 250km, its 2 and a half hours.  Here if its 250km, its anywhere between 3 and 4 and a half hours depending on how many villages you go through and how many mountains you have to cross.

Anyway 129km today took over 2 and a half hours driving time.  Put in a stop to clear your head of the inanities, screaming and the "stop touching me" cacophony going on behind the driver and you've got yourself a 3 hour road trip.  (The first bloke to invent a "cone of silence" for the car will be a billionaire.)

Old and the new.

Drove along some more stunning roadside scenery and arrived in Mostar and met our host Emina, a Bosnian lass, for the apartment.

Unpacked a bit of gear and walked into the old town passing heaps of shot up buildings still showing signs of the war and through a pretty average neighbourhood unfortunately.  

Graffiti and litter are the 2 most visual problems we see since we've come into the Balkans though compared to some of the other dramas they've had (and are still having) maybe reigning that in isn't a high priority. 

Artillery hit.

The old town itself was very nice and the bridge spans both the river Neretva.  Following the blowup from 1992-1995 the town is split into a Croatian side and a Bosnian side.  Mental really as the town was mixed prior to the conflict.  Football matches here between former combatants attract a measly 500 riot police to make sure everyone toes the line.  (And Queenslanders reckon they have a mortgage on passion.)

You can read more about the situation here and here.  Both fascinating articles.  (Harry was advised by our host that it may be wise to leave his Bosnian national team soccer shirt in his bag whilst we were there.)

Stari Most = Old bridge

The bridge itself, blown up in 1993, is quite a special site.  Some 24m above the river it is very impressive with just the single arch spanning the 2 sides.  As it's the end of the tourist season and late in the day there were no local lads jumping from the bridge so Nicki and I had to contend with a beer and wine on a terrace overlooking it.

I spoke to the waiter and asked about jumping off the bridge and he said you pay the diving club €25 for the privilege which helps with the upkeep of the bridge.  Here they give you instructions on how not to kill yourself (always important), a wetsuit and before you go they splash you down with buckets of water to acclimatise you as the shock of hitting the cold water has induced heart attacks in the past.

Stari Most = Old bridge

Seeing it was late October and late in the day (and I'm not 25 any more) I gave that a miss.

A bit of takeaway again for dinner and we made our way home.