Stuck in Sarajevo

Despite having earmarked this weekend as our last chance to travel together months ago, Katherine and I only finalised travel plans six days in advance. After the astonishingly successful trip Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn and Helsinki we decided that we were ready for one last ambitious travel plan. The start point: Eindhoven early on Friday morning.

Katherine, Matt and I were still recovering from the early start as we walked out of Belgrade airport. Still feeling slightly dazed we got on the A1 airport shuttle bus, operating between airport and city centre. More and more people crammed onto the bus, which pulled away from the terminal with great difficulty. It proceeded to stall, then sound like it was going to combust on the hill start. And then it hit: we were in Serbia. The overcrowded and underpowered vehicle somehow managed to transport us through countryside and suburbs into Belgrade. We were deposited at the bus station, where our first task was to book a ticket for the night bus out of Belgrade. You can't buy the tickets online, but after walking the length of the bus station a couple of times we found the departures board.

I was under the impression that Serbian was written using both the Latin and Cyrillic alphabet. Unfortunately the information at the bus station was only in Cyrillic so we ended up going along to the ticket office with the name of our destination written down and reverted to the 'point, gesture and look hopeful' tactic. This actually worked, and we were soon the proud owners of a ticket from Београд to Источно Сарајево.

Ticket out secured, it was time to relax and enjoy our day in Belgrade. Our first destination was Kalemegdan/Belgrade Fortress. There are towers, walls, bridges and a stunning view over the confluence of the River Danube and the River Sava, where the blue water of the Danube and brown water of the Sava flow alongside each other without mixing. The pobednik victory statue looks out over the confluence, commemorating victories in the Balkan Wars and World War I.

Kalemegdan // Pobednik

Moving on from Kalemegdan we found the Studentski Trg/Student Square before realising how hungry we were. I bravely tried the minced meat and onion steak which was actually not bad at all. Then it was back to the sightseeing, which improved drastically when we found a decent map at tourist info. Upon seeing that there were pictures on the map, Matt took over and became the 'knowledgable', enthusiastic tour guide, taking us along Knez Mihailova Street and pointing out various important buildings along the way. Eventually we reached Hram Svetog Sava/the Cathedral of St. Sava. I'm not going to pretend that we knew this at the time, but the cathedral is actually the largest Orthodox church in the world. Now I'm pleased we made the extra effort to walk there! The church is still under construction, with work having been interrupted by numerous wars since planning began in 1895, so although it looks finished from the outside the inside is completely undecorated. The unfinished church was even used as a parking lot by the occupying German Army and later the Red Army!

Then it was back towards the fortress, via Crkva Svetog Marka (St. Mark's Church) and a couple of other squares (Trg Republike, Trg Nikola Pašić). Trg (square) is such a good word.

Hram Svetog Sava // Crkva Svetog Marka // Skadarlija 

Skadarlija is the Bohemian Quarter of Belgrade, which I thought sounded quite interesting. In honesty, it was a little underwhelming although I did enjoy the pictures of zebras drawn on the roads in place of zebra crossings! We decided to return to Kalemegdan to watch the sunset sitting on the fortress walls. It was still so warm as we sat outside and mentally prepared ourselves for the night bus.

Our day in Belgrade was almost over, so we headed back to the bus station for our 22:30 bus. But before then it was time to negotiate the unexpected squat toilets and get our Serbian Dinar (£1 is 141 RSD) exchanged for Convertible Mark (£1 is 2.39 BAM). Two fantastic currencies right there.

And then it was night bus time. Oh the night bus. I still don't like them. And I was nervous about crossing the border between Serbia and Bosnia & Herzegovina in the middle of the night. Regardless, the night bus had to be conquered so we hopped on and did our very best to grab a bit of sleep, which was difficult as the bus was packed and stopped far too frequently. We arrived at border control at 2am. First you have Serbian border control, where all the passports are taken away to be checked before you are allowed to leave the country. The passports are returned and you then drive through no man's land. There's fencing and stray dogs and a river and a ramp and then you arrive at Bosnia & Herzegovina border control. The passports are collected and checked, some more thoroughly than others (unsurprisingly our passports were the 'exciting' ones), then taken away to be stamped. Another passport stamp! Relieved that we had been allowed into Bosnia & Herzegovina I went back to sleep.

We pulled into Istočno Sarajevo at 6am. There is only one bus from Serbia which arrives in Sarajevo Central Bus Station, with all the others arriving in Istočno Sarajevo (Sarajevo East) which is in the so-called 'Bosnian Serb Republic'. It's then a matter of catching the trolleybus to central Sarajevo. One very rickety trolleybus ride later we were in the city centre, a couple of minutes from the Latin Bridge. This is where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, producing a sequence of events which led to the start  of World War I.

Given the lack of map, it was a true exploration of Sarajevo. The architecture is so varied, from the grand Austro-Hungarian buildings to the Ottoman area to the Yugoslav tower blocks. I can't think of anywhere else where there is this level of variety in such a small area. One minute you are wandering through the Gazi Huzrev-beg Mosque, the next admiring the Katedrala Srca Isusova/Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Eternal flame // Sarajevo City Hall // Katedrala Srca Isusova // Latin Bridge

The highlight was Bascarsija (the Turkish Market), located right in the middle of Stari Grad (the Old Town).

Stari Grad

Of course Sarajevo's turbulent past is inescapable. There are 'traditional' memorials such as the Eternal flame, dedicated to the victims of World War II. But there are also powerful, less formal reminders. Sarajevo Roses commemorate the Siege of Sarajevo and are found all over the city. These 'roses' are in fact scars formed in concrete by exploding mortar shells which have been filled with red resin. And there are bullet holes everywhere.

Sarajevo is a beautifully diverse city. It is very much an East-meets-West city, with minarets alongside Austro-Hungarian streets, set against a backdrop of snowcapped mountains. There was so much that we didn't get to see; definitely one to go back to.

Sarajevo

After our flying tour of Sarajevo it was time to catch a bus to Dubrovnik. According to the internet this should not have been a problem but Sarajevo Central Bus Station disagreed. And so we were faced with a dilemma: no buses to Dubrovnik for the rest of the day (Saturday) but our flight home leaving there on Sunday morning. But next door to the bus station was the train station, so maybe that would help. That would be a resounding no. There are eight trains a day from Sarajevo, none of which were remotely helpful. We were stuck in Sarajevo.

Katherine, Matt and I were never going to give up easily so it was back to the bus station to formulate a plan. We eventually settled on getting a bus to Mostar (about halfway between Sarajevo and Dubrovnik) hoping that there would be a bus or train from there. The journey through Bosnia & Herzegovina was interesting in itself. It was so, so different with people labouring in the fields and half-finished houses dotted around. It was a stunning, mountainous landscape with emerald green rivers. Seeing it from the bus is possibly the best way to enjoy the scenery as the land mines have never been cleared.

A couple of hours later we arrived in Mostar. We soon discovered that there were no trains or buses from here to Dubrovnik either, so resigned ourselves to the fact that we would be taking an international taxi. That wasn't going to stop us enjoying Mostar, although the hot weather tried its best. 

Mostar // Old Bazar Kujundziluk

Mostar was heavily bombed and under siege during the Bosnian War and there are bullet holes and destroyed buildings everywhere. That is until you approach Stari Most (the Old Bridge), a high arched bridge over the emerald green River Neretva. It is a rebuild, having been destroyed in the siege of 1993, but is absolutely stunning. A compellingly beautiful view.

Stari Most

We walked over Stari Most to the Old Bazar Kujundziluk, a narrow cobbled street packed with shops selling textiles, ceramics and metalwork. It was reminiscent of the Sarajevo Turkish Quarter, only this time we were seeing the bazar when it was bustling with people.

It was then time to return to the bus station and attempt to get a taxi to Dubrovnik. It was a remarkable success and we agreed 80€ for the journey which was pretty good value for a 2.5 hour journey that included negotiating the border crossing back into the EU! The roads were 'interesting', the scenery gorgeous and we made it to Dubrovnik in the early evening. Such a relief. And then we realised that we'd been dropped off a very long way from the city centre... time for a walk.

Dubrovnik

I am not going to go into much detail when it comes to Dubrovnik. We had very little time there, even less in daylight and it deserves far more than that. I can confirm that the old town is beautiful, gorgeous stone buildings and a delightfully polished road! We had a nice meal out, went for cocktails and wandered around the city into the early hours. All this wandering meant that we overslept and had a panicked journey to the airport but it all worked out fine.

So now I'm back in Germany. The weekend was a fabulous way to end the 'random city travel' of my year abroad. The first 24 hours went swimmingly, the second 24 not so much but it was absolutely amazing. And without the bus problems we'd never have gone to Mostar, which for me was the surprise star of the trip. Who'd have thought that the country I most want to go back to after the year abroad is over would be Bosnia & Herzegovina?!

*Seeing as this is my last year abroad adventure with Katherine I'd like to say a little thank you. We have been to some ridiculous, surreal and wonderful places over the past few months, and she has tolerated my sarcasm, enthusiasm and insatiable desire for walking throughout (apart from the time she sat on a bench in Stockholm and refused to move so I went for a walk by myself). It's been incredible.*