We went on a side quest into Bosnia & Herzegovina (BIH) for a couple of nights, which meant leaving the EU, doing some good old-fashioned border crossings (remember when Europe had heaps of those?!) and getting stamps in our passports – from both Croatia and BIH. The first border crossing was under a road bridge, with houses both sides and it looked like the locals were familiar to the crossing guards and just popped across to get things from the store. The second was on a toll highway and more serious (or maybe that’s because we were trying to get back into the EU, not leave it).
First stop on the Dubronvik-Mostar road trip was the Kravica waterfalls, similar to the ones in Croatia (same geology), but at these ones we were allowed to swim. Entrance fee to manage numbers and raise revenue for the government. Payment in Marks not Euro for government run things, euro’s fine for most other things and cash is 99% preferred. The Mark is closer to the NZ dollar so it was nice to be not as astounded by prices for a couple of days. As per all potential swimming locations (in Croatia and BIH), there were plenty of tourists, buses – and thus shops, gelato, bars, souvenirs and the mandatory DJ music to accompany the beautiful landscape. The water was cold and the walk back up the hill a good workout for the legs.
Second stop was Medugorje (never heard of it before? me neither). The town itself is nothing that special, but despite this it has a thriving tourism industry, heaps of hotels and lots of god-church-rosary-Mary statue souvenir shops and apparently a million visitors a year. The draw card? Mary (virgin, the mother of christ, etc) appeared to some kids on a hill in 1981 and so it has become a pilgrimage site for catholics. The jury (i.e. various churches) are still out on whether it’s legit, but it doesn’t stop believers (and tourism operators). Lots of people praying, walking up Apparition Hill in bare feet over rocks, tears and joyful faces. We tried to go into the church in town but it was sooo busy we gave up, and then came back thru a couple of days later and popped inside during a service (noting the same steps in the process even though it was not in English…Hosanna is the same in many languages apparently!). It turned out that the first day we chose to try and visit (8 September) is Mary’s birthday…though the church makes no claims as to the accuracy of this date!
Mostar, where we stayed two nights, was our target destination. Mostar is the fifth-largest city in BIH. It was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva during the Ottoman era. Mostar was on the trade route between the Adriatic and the mineral-rich regions of central Bosnia, so has been around a while! The Old Bridge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was built in the mid 1500s (and restored after it was destroyed in the 1990s war). Amazing bit of architecture, and some maths must have gone into making that one stay up.
Mostar has old Turkish houses and a bazaar along the Neretva River, cobbled streets (slippery marble-like limestone – polished to a shine by the many footsteps), both catholic churches and islamic mosques, and a blend of east meets west. Bullet riddled houses and ruins still stand as evidence of the heavy bombing experienced during the the Bosnian war. The front line in the city ran roughly along the river, but a lot has been restored and this is now another tourist hot spot. Huge rock walls surround the city – it’s an imposing presence. Noting that the signage all says not to leave the paths, as land mines are still out there.
Mostar (and BIH) was definitely less developed and less wealthy than Croatia (bumpy roads like Christchurch!), but it was a welcoming and wonderful place to explore, so long as we watched out for pick-pockets (we spotted a few scoping out the tourists). It was so nice to have different shopping and gift choices in the bazaar (where every Croatian port has the same stuff for tourists), so we had a great time shopping and eating and taking it all in, before sitting by our pool to recover from walking in the heat of the day. We also heard the call to prayers, blasted not-quite-simultaneously from the surrounding mosques – that was lovely as we sat in the shade along the riverside. Mostar was a mixture of many things – quiet shady places to relax, the busy of the bazaar, old architecture – all bundled together.
