Bosnia and Herzegovina...

The island with the monastry.

I left Dubrovnik hoping to get that ferry, but it turns out that is only a passenger ferry. So I had to ride 50km back up the coast to get the vehicle ferry. It was a nice ride at least. I found accommodation in Sobra on Mljet, where the ferry landed. There were no tourists that I could see. The campsites were all shut. I had a dalmatian steak for dinner, and that was so good! They soak it in wine overnight I believe. The next day I went to the National park at the other end. It is a national park mainly because of the 2 lakes, which are technically bays, because they are tidal with an outlet to the sea, but they are beautiful. The water is so clear! Far too cold to swim though. It was 24 degrees, but still too cold. I got the boat out to the monastery on the island. It was overgrown, and there were skinks running about in the sun everwhere. It added to the charm of it being old and out use. I had to get back to Sobra for the ferry, so I didn't stay as long as I might have liked. But I was heading for Bosnia and Herzegovina! I was very excited about that. There is a small section of Bosnia that gets to the ocean, so people driving split to Dubrovnik need to pass a checkpoint. I needed to go through there myself. But the Sat Nav took me around to a locals only border point. So they turned me around and made me go to the main one by the sea. I knew I shouldn't have listened to it! I got through the border without even showing my passport! He just looked at me and waved me on. It was almost too easy. I had to then ride half an hour into Croatia again, before I got to the Bosnian border proper.

The Bosnian border. Don't think I was supposed to take a photo. Whoops.

The Croatian lady looked at my passport and waved me on, and there was a slight line for the Bosnian side. While I was in line, a motorcyclist pulled up next to me. He started to chat. Told me Mostar was straight ahead, 40km. Nice. The Bosnian border guy didn't look at my passport either! I had wanted a stamp! It's like their not taking me seriously. Should I be annoyed that they don't seem to care enough to stamp me into their country? I don't know. I pulled over straight away, the weather was getting nasty so I needed my jacket lining. While I was there, some guys in a car honked at me as the pulled away from the border. I headed up the road, it was a major road, but only one lane, and quite a slow sped limit. I had only gone 500m round the corner when the guys in that car were beside the road. They gave me a thumbs up and a honk, and then pulled out behind me. I was watching them carefully in case they did anything stupid, but they behaved and followed for a while. They were gone soon enough. It was amusing. I got to Mostar and it turns out that the Sat Nav only has the 2 main roads, none others. So I had to call the hostel, and they came and picked me up. It's run by a lovely family, and I will be here 4 nights tonight. Every morning their mum cooks me breakfast, always something different and local. Always delicious. I say she cooks me something, because, 2 out of 3 mornings, I have been the only one there. I am in the outlier hostel as the main one is full. On the first day here I wondered about the old town looking at the bridge for which Mostar is famous, some old Ottoman period houses that somehow survived the war and just looked around. 

The old town is a captivating place.

On the second day I did a tour with the brother of the household. He gave a harrowing account of his own experience of the war, and explained the tensions that still continue today. It is not easy to be Bosnian. The Croats and Serbs have it a lot easier, and they still shun the Bosnians. It is evident even within the town itself. Structurally. The Croat side is mostly rebuilt, and many shopping centres are newly built. But the Bosnian side has still many ruins. There is no physical border, and people come and go wherever they want, but mentally within the people there is still a massive fence. We got out of the city and went to Medugorje which is a catholic pilgrimage site, then to the Kravice waterfalls, then to an Ottoman medieval town, and then to a Muslim site.

This is the statue of Jesus that split at the knee, and now weeps tears. Apparently...

The Kravice Waterfalls. A mini Niagara. Some people swam, but they were blue when they came out. I did not.

The Medieval Ottoman town. Destroyed in the war, so now only partly inhabited.

The Dervish house. That river comes out of a cave in the cliff base.

It was a very long, informative day. A 14 hour tour. An amazing day. Today I had meant to leave Mostar, but as we didn't get back till 11 last night, I decided to stay, relax and do some things I needed catching up on. I also went up a sniper tower, that is now an abandoned building. It's a 9 story concrete building, with only the concrete left. The glass is shattered, and anything else worth taking has been looted. I climbed the stairs to the top and went on the roof. Amazing views of the city, and you can see why they snipered from it. There are still a lot of shell casing in amongst the rubble, and also on the office floor, papers, receipts, and office furniture. It was all very surreal. It's not a tourist site, but there us nothing stopping you from going in, so I did.

This is the building that was the snipers nest.

If you look carefully in the rubbish you can see bullet casings.

The rubish left behind. Left to rot.

I am ready to go tomorrow to Jajce. Up in the mountains somewhere in the north west of Bosnia, then I’ll head to Sarajevo.