Sarajevo & Mostar

Mum and I landed in Sarajevo at Midday on Monday, The Airport terminal was new and the views were spectacular as we flew down a number of valleys into the airport.


Our first experience was in getting some cash - to date we still don´t know what the currency was called, so we have resorted to calling it Bosnian ˝Bozos˝. At the airport we saw a few EUFOR personnel, happily on their way home after a successful mission. The Taxi into town was fast and furious, the kind of taxi ride you want when entering into a warzone. Fast enough to dodge bullets, mortars and even any traffic that might rudely get in your way.

Sarajevo city itself was very nice - As you walk around you see there are essentially two stories to be told. The first the most interesting - That of the war. Being in valley, Sarajevo was surrounded and bombed from the hills. We were staying across the river just 100m from the frontline, or the part that took the biggest hits. The buildings that are able to stand still do, the rest are now gone. Almost every building has bullet marks on it, some have been patched and others have not. Sniper Alley, where some 10,000 innocent civilians were killed trying to get from one end of the city to the next, was particularly bad. Much of the city centre (the second part of the story), has been rebuilt and is very nice, fitting of any European city. I would encourage anyone who can to go and see Sarajevo, it is by far a fascinating city, to see the kinds of things that were done to it just over a decade ago. The pictures will speak for themselves when I have a chance to post them and also research what actually went on.

Mostar is another Bosnian city that took a hammering. Again here walked along the frontline. There were almost collapsed buildings, some with sandbags still visible. I think they haven't been destroyed because they do not know if it is safe as the buildings may be booby trapped. There was also a bridge that was destroyed, and for a long time the Christians and Muslims were separated on each side of the river. Even when bridges were rebuilt there was little or no interaction between the two former enemies. Yet now they appear to live in harmony, at least they are working together for the tourist dollar in the prosperity of peace.

I don't know who was fighting who in these conflicts, it seems to be a complicated war - but either way it was a disgusting war - The west not interfering for a long time, and when they finally did the war was over in a few weeks or months.

I never imagined going to Bosnia, let alone with Mum, but there we were and what an amazing experience it was. We are now in Dubrovnic in Croatia. We have organised a car for Monday next week and are spending the weekend on the island of Korcula.