MOSTAR - BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA - Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
DAY 234 – 21/08/13 – DUBROVNIK – MOSTAR (BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA)
After an amazing two weeks we were finally saying our goodbyes to Croatia. This place had been good to us, but after tasting just the nice bits of the Balkans we now wanted more, so Bosnia and Herzegovina, the place that somehow had only ended up in the bad news pages of the paper, was our next destination.
I was a little apprehensive in entering Bosnia and Herzegovina (or BiH as it will be referred to from now on) as a lot of the fighting from the Balkans war in the 90's centred around this centrally positioned nation. I don’t presume to know the intricate details of this war, but the basic (which is still complicated) version of events reads as follows. The former Yugoslavian states of Slovenia, Croatia and BiH all wanted to move into independent countries but the states of Serbia and Montenegro were none to please and went to war to try and protect the sovereignty and land mass of Yugoslavia together.
The wars in Slovenia and Croatia were fairly straight forward. The Yugoslavian army, which at this stage consisted of only Serbian soldiers, fought against the newly created armies of Croatia and Slovenia. Both countries eventually gained independence after suffering many losses. BiH on the other hand had a much more intriguing war. Not only did the BiH come under fire from the Yugoslavian army, but the Bosnian Muslim community also came under attack and also attacked the Bosnian Serbs who had strong alliances with Serbia and therefore Yugoslavia. This was also compounded by the fact that Montenegro forces, also working with Serbia and Yugoslavia, came and attacked from the South-West and just to make matters worse even more fighting broke out between former allies, the Croatian army, Croatian Bosnians and the Bosnian Muslims. If that wasn’t crazy enough, at one stage during the war there was Muslims and Serbs forming an alliance against Croats in the state of Herzegovina, rival Muslim forces fighting each other in North-West Bosnia and Croats and Serbs fighting against Muslims in Central Bosnia.
BiH now had the worst situation imaginable, an intercontinental war and a civil war all at the same time and inevitably the bodies piled up as the buildings came crashing down. The UN finally got involved and tried to sort out the mess by creating safe zones within the country. Now in its current state, the country of BiH is split into territories that belong to the Bosnian Serbs and Bosnian Muslims plus Croat Bosnians. Whether or not it was the best solution, it was still a solution and only time will tell if it will be successful.
The war finally ended in 1995, only 18 years ago, and if this did not make me apprehensive, then finding out that Bosnia and Herzegovina ranks at a poor position of 65 in "The Most Peaceful Nations in the World" list finally topped it off. The Institute for Economics and Peace based their findings on obtained data concerning specific social factors, including the crime rate, the number of murders, the prevalence of organised crime, relations with neighbouring countries, terrorist attacks, the quantity of arms and ammunition as well as other security parameters.
Yep, so I was thinking this place was a shambles, especially now that countries such as Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Burkina Faso, hardly the safest places to visit, were well above the country that I was just about to enter. Oh well, I am here now, bring it on. Oh, and for your information, Iceland came in at first place, followed closely by Denmark and bloody New Zealand (those smug peace loving *******s) in equal second, and the most dangerous nation on the planet was deemed to be Somalia.
After passing the border lines pretty quickly we had our first “Oh s**t” moment. We came across a little village that in most normal cases would have been a quaint place with a pleasant stream running through it. But, as we were now going through one of the hardest hit regions this little village was completely deserted, the buildings were all burnt out, smashed up and if the walls were standing then they had been sprayed with bullets. This trend continued all the way into little Mostar. There were a lot of new constructions taking place but there were so many buildings still wearing the scars of a war some 18 years ago.
After we arrived at the bus station we were picked up and whisked away to our accommodation which we found out was in the Croatian Bosnian side of Mostar, the Bosnian Muslim area was to the North and the Serb area was further to the East in another village. Yep, after hearing that and compiling it with the scenes of destruction that we witnessed coming in, we realised we were in a very different country and area than we had never been in before.
DAY 235–236 – 22/08/13-23/08/13 – MOSTAR – SARAJEVO
Mostar is the beautiful actress with the really sad story. She has everything going for her. The looks, the charm and the envious pull factor/beauty spot, or in this case Stari Most (Old Bridge). But this town, like the women, holds unbelievable pain within its walls and people.
This town was the site for one of the bloodiest battles in the whole region during the waring years. After the town had been shelled continually by Serbian and Montenegrin soldiers for many years, the Croat Bosnians and Bosnian Muslims had managed to fight them off to finally offer some needed peace in the area. This did not last too long as tensions rose back up in 1993 and conflict broke out between the same Muslims and Croats that fought side by side previously. This fighting culminated in the destruction of much of Mostar, and the most devastating blow was the destruction of its oldest and most famous bridge, Stari Most.
The bridge had graced the city since it was built by the Ottomans in the 15th Century and was a symbol of Bosnia's cultural diversity, something that clearly was forgotten during the war. After the bridge was destroyed it basically divided the town’s banks and ethnicity. Muslims to the North of the river and Croats to the South and anyone that crossed into the enemy territory would be given a beating at best, or worst, would not be seen again.
The bridge was the highlight of the town before the war and now, or really in 2004, thanks to some amazing craftsmanship, she is back in her complete beauty and the highlight once again. In fact, the whole rebuilding process of the bridge was so amazing because the craftsmen built the bridge back up using the exact same stone and old building processes as the 15th Century. They did not use any new weight bearing techniques of the 21st Century, rather cut each piece of stone to the precise length as before so the bridge would stay together for another 500 years or more.
Not only do the tourists now flock here to see the bridge, but also to see who jumps off the bridge. Local men perform dives off the 25 metre high bridge just as they used to hundreds of years ago. There is a competition every year to find the region’s best diver and divers from all over former Yugoslavia still come to complete for the prestige. Local divers come businessmen have also fashioned a nice way to make money by scaling the bridge and pretending to jump into the river. When they have enough attention they ask all onlookers for some money and when the mystery amount is received they perform a single dive for all to admire.
Surrounding the Old Bridge is the Old Town which is filled with little Muslim mosques, Jewish synagogues and overpowering huge Christian churches. The call to Adhan and the massive cross on the top of the hill all co-exist in the same place and Mostar was regarded as the most multicultural city in the whole of the former Yugoslavia. Combining all these beautiful old religious monuments were thatched stone and wooden houses and amazing shiny marble cobble stone pathways. This would have looked amazing had there not been half a million tourists on the street and another half a million tourist shops selling all types of traditional Bosnian “Made in China” souvenirs.
Away from the crowds and the amazing Old Town, you come across another side of the city. Every third or fourth building had been completely destroyed/ burnt out, leaving only the brick frame as evidence. Every second building had clear bullet holes of different sizes and some even had big chunks smashed out where something much bigger had hit it. It was quite bizarre walking through this area knowing just 200 metres away down in the Old Town you could not see one mark or imperfection from the war.
One of these buildings also now provides the best view in town. The local tourist touts will tell you that it’s the Mosque tower in the middle of Old Town that costs some 15 BAM ($12 AUD) but really they are just working off commission. The real best view in town is from the old, abandoned and half crumbling former glass building. Before the war this ten storey building used to house the main bank and almost all the office workers in town. Now, after the war, the glass have disappeared, every light fitting, bolt, screw, and anything else bar the bare concrete has been stripped and subsequently stolen and so all that is left is a big concrete mess with big cracks and an amazing view from the top.
As no one owns the building anymore, no one charges for entrance. However, we were forewarned that there would be a drunken guy who would ask you for a cigarette or money. Sure enough when we arrived there he was sitting in the dark on the steps. Straight away he indicated that he needed a smoke and when that was rejected he indicated that he needed money. After this was also rejected he just pointed which way to the top. After passing the guy, I smelt the revolting smell of human ****. Yep, old drunken guy had shat his pants and was now sitting in his own filth kind of loving life. Mate, forget asking for the smokes and money, nappies and toilet paper should be more your style.
At the top of the former glass building the view did not disappoint. You could see from one end of Mostar, all the way to the other. You could see the amazing Old Town and unfortunately you could also see all the destroyed buildings from the war. Seeing this many buildings still in disrepair some 18 years later really pushed the point of the destruction that this town suffered.
Believe it or not, Mostar has more than just the Old Town, Stari Most and destroyed buildings from the war. The town has some amazing art projects up and running and none more bigger than the creation of the Bruce Lee statue. Yes, that’s right, little Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Mostar has a large gold plated statue dedicated to the former Kung Fu master. The statue came about because the people could not agree on what the government could build with some outstanding money that they had from their budget. Every idea they came up with was rejected because it would either upset the Muslims, Croats or Serbian Bosnians. But finally they all agreed on something or someone and the Bruce Lee, gold plated statue, was created.
After our fun but head screwing and contrasting day in Mostar we spent the next day going around to all the old Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian castles that hugged the cliffs of the surrounding area with our host and now tour guide, the very cool Teo. Teo had planned to start the tour at 8:00am but we received a text the night before to tell us that he had gone to the capital, Sarajevo, to get drunk and would not be back until 11:00am.
Sure enough, at 11:00am there he was, a little worse for wear but ready for our tour. He explained after he had driven us through some pretty windy and dangerous roads that he only got two hours sleep in the car as he only returned from drinking at 4:00am. Yep, it appeared Teo, the man whose hands we put our lives in, was still drunk even this far into the next day. He told me this was impossible because he was only drinking beer the night before, and I am yet to still understand what this means.
The day with Teo was a great way to end our time in Mostar. He was everything that BiH is and wants to be. He was young, had endured hell during the war and now was ready to move on, work hard, party hard, make the most of life and never let the war happen again.
After our day trip, Teo dropped us off at the train station and we went on our way into the night on the cigarette smoke filled express train all the way to Sarajevo.