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On Sunday morning, we decided to visit Mostar, in Bosnia Hercegovina . The countryside changed once we left the coast, driving through fertile valleys yet still surrounded by mountains. From Metkovic we more or less followed the Naretva river through yet more mountains, with Geoff doing a fabulous job driving . There was a queue literally a mile long at the border and we had a jittery wait because we hadn't checked if we needed a visa but it was fine.
Mostar looked absolutely beautiful when we came around the bend and saw the bridge and the old city. After only a few wrong turns, Geoff found a park And a cafe with wifi and we settled down with a beer to find accomodation for the night. We were approached by Ibrahim,who offered his services as a guide and we arranged to meet him in an hour.
He spoke English very well and we learned a lot about the history of the city. It was very confronting, watching the video of the old bridge being destroyed in the 90's war. The bridge was built in 1566 and later rebuilt after the war, with UNESCO funds. Ibrahim talked a lot about "before the war" and "after the war" and the scars on the town are very much in evidence. It is still ethnically divided by the river.
The Naretva river is a glorious green and, we were informed, has a further 26 shades of green on offer depending on temperature, weather, etc and never gets above 8 degrees. There's a strong Turkish influence to be seen in the architecture and the street stalls. Mostar has made it onto the tourist map and the old town became quite crowded in the afternoon. Still, it was lots of fun exploring the alleys and stalls and having fig ice cream!
In the evening, families and tourists mixed as one and ate at the many street restaurants. Geoff and I decided to try a traditional Bosnian grill for two.... Wow! It was enormous and very tasty. It's just as well that we are in the habit now, of walking after dinner.... Need I say more???
Our room looked good on the website but it was tiny. The upside was that it had aircon, was right in the heart of the old city and we woke to the sound of the call to prayer by the "muezzin" .
We took the opportunity to take photos as Mostar woke up.
- comments
Rach Gorgeous photo! What an adventure - how special and wonderful!
Gayle I love hearing the early call to prayer , I love the sound of it . It sounds so eerie . Sort of an exotic breakfast call . Hmm may be there is another reason for it ?