My travelling companion woke up early so that she can have a chat with her partner in Australia before we headed out for the day. The pick-up was scheduled for 8.30 am at Hotel Petka which is at the bottom of the hill from our accommodation. We headed out nice and early to ensure that we did not miss the pick up, arriving at 7.50 am. So we decided to have a coffee at the front cafe but before it even arrived , a blond young lady in jeans approached and asked if we were going to Mostar. They were way early. We downed the coffee when it arrived and boarded the bus. The bus was waiting for 4 other Asian passengers who were meant to be picked up along with us. Finally the four Asian girls from Singapore appeared. All in all, there were 17 of us on this tour. The mini bus was full except for two seats in front. Elena was our guide. She spoke both English and Spanish. Our bus driver spoke mostly French and some German.
We had our reservation on Elena. She was not so
happy when we said that the coffee at Hotel Petka was expensive 15 Kunas and suggested that anyone else wanting coffee while we waited for the Singaporean ladies to cross the street to the cafe there. She sounded territorial. She brushed over historical
matters relating to the Yugoslavian civil war that split the country. It appeared that she did not really understand what were some of the
causes of the war. She later admitted to this as she tried to learn some of the causes from the driver on the drive back to Dubrovnik.
Our jouney initially was along the coast on Highway 8 till we reach Neum in Bosnia. The coastline is beautiful …. in fact quite stunning. We past the Elaphate Islands. Elaphate mean deer. Only 3 out of the 13 islands are inhabited. One
of them is Sipan where we had been a few days before. As we weaved along the
coast, Elena told us a little about the history of this place. It was interesting to hear what each guide emphasised now we have heard three versions of this history. The first was from our Busabout, a Polish working there in Croatia, the second from
our secular but born Catholic skipper and finally Elena who is a child from a mixed
marriage who grew up in northern Croatia which was most affected by the
civil wars.
She was not keen for Bosnia to join the European Union ("EU") Her opinion is that the EU's labeling requirement killed
all the small industries in Croatia due to the additional costs that these imposed. Her father lost his small business of making
sausages due to this labeling situation.
Bosnia is not yet part of the EU, and she felt that if they can repair
their economy without the help of the EU, they would be better off. She told us that tourism is a great aid to the economy in South Croatia, tourism but not north Croatia where tourism is less prolific. Croatian economy
had declined rather than improved since joining EU. She opined that it was good that Croatia had not adopted the Euro; she imagined that Croatia would not be competitive if
they were trading in Euros.
Our first real stop would be Medjugorie. To get there, we first have to cross out of Croatia into Bosnia to our first coffee and service stop at Neum. From there, we would have to leave Bosnia and cross back into Croatia to get to Ploce, before the highway would lead us to cross out of Croatian border again into Bosnia. The reason for this strange border crossing is due to the highway that existed before Yugoslavia was partitioned into the different nations. And the strip of land that is also Bosnia's only access to the Adriatic is also a part of the land that was given by the Ragusa republic to the Ottoman Empire in return for protection back in history. The distance in Bosnia that a vehicle would have to travel before crossing back into Croatia was 22km. This 22 km basically means all north-south road traffic in Croatia has to pass through Bosnia. The first set of border crossing checks were cursory. Still it made for lots of inconvenient stops. Apparently a new bridge is being built across a bay so that this entering of Bosnia can be avoided for north-south Croatian traffic.
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| Great Wall of Europe, Ston, Croatia |
On the way to Neum, we would pass Ston where a wall along the side of the mountains can be seen from the highway. Sometimes known as the European Great Wall of China, this was built by the Ragusa republic back in the days to protect its salt pans. We had not known that there was similar structure as the great wall in Europe. Here too, we observed in the bay, oyster farms which supply the restaurants in South Croatia especially Dubrovnik.
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| Neum, Bosnia |
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| The signs |
We stopped at Neum for a coffee. Since Bosnia accepted both kunas and Euros in tourist towns such as Neum, Medjagourie and Mostar, we did not bother with exchanging or withdrawing currency. At Neum, we noticed that the signs in Bosnia are written both in Latin and Cyrillic. And here in Neum, the Cyrillic versions of the name had been crossed out by graffiti. It appeared that where Orthodox Church do not have influence on the community, the Cyrillic version of street signs would often be crossed out by graffiti; likewise Latin versions in neighbourhood with Orthodox Church has strong influence. The truce between religion is indeed relatively fragile there in Bosnia. Just as we board the bus after the break, our fellow Irish lady traveler suddenly thought she lost her phone at the table when having coffee resulting in a search there and on the bus. Elena called the phone and found it on the floor under the seat of the couple in front. It had merely slipped out of her bag. It was a good time for Elena to remind us to be careful when in Mostar due to pick pockets. Apparently, they are everywhere due to the deplorable economic situation there.
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| Vineyards on hill in Ploce, Croatia |
At Ploce, we passed some vineyards along the way. Elena advised that the best wines and
vineyards o the region she said. Two
years ago, a big portion of the vineyards was destroyed by fire.
The farmers and wine makers could not afford to replant. She confirmed our skipper's story; his mother was still working on the family's vineyard. It is always sad to hear of such hardship events.
We then passed this valley which was basically almost a
wetland where a wide range of fruits and vegetables are grown. It would have been great if we could have made a stop for a while here. We did not. We proceeded to the town of Metkovic where we crossed the Neretva River and then to Prud where we recrossed the border back into Bosnia.
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| Church at Medjagourie |
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| Shop selling religious articles |
The scenes along the road were then increasingly rural until we reached Medjugorie. It is marked by a single church which is very simply
decorated internally. It was very crowded both inside and outside where televised sessions of Masses were broadcasted. 4 of our 17 passengers who spoke mainly Dutch were staying here at Medjagourie and not going on to Mostar as they wanted to make a pilgrimage to Apparition Hill. Elena would take them to their guide there. The rest of us had 45 minutes to visit the place. We had a look inside the church, and the shops nearby selling religious articles and curios - statues, rosaries, medals, etc. The Apparition Hill it appeared is some distance away from this church. Some other pilgrims were seen getting ready to go there.
Medjagourie is associated with the appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ to a group of three children on Apparition Hill. Millions of Catholics have visited this place. Apparently, it is very commercial
these days and the place have until now not been sanctioned by Rome because of
that reason even though the first appearance of the apparition was reported back in early 1980s.
Just before the bus left Medjagourie, one of the husband of the "Dutch quartet", the one that
spoke German, decided not to go with them. He boarded the bus with us to
go to Mostar. Elena does not speak
German so my travelling companion became the de-facto translator for this poor man. To us, he looked more Arabic but he must be
Catholic since his wife was doing the pilgrimage. He said that he was doing the older city as
he was not as devout as his wife religious wise.
Unless one was rather religious, Medjagourie did not have tourist worthy attraction although the area is scenic like the rest of the region. One could glimpse Apparition Hill when on the road between it and Mostar.
As we drove towards Mostar, Elena gave us more information on Bosnia. Bosnia was the first
European country to accept Islam. It is
also where the Orthodox, the Catholic and the Muslims fought the hardest during
the Civil War. The Bosnians had loved Tito too because he encouraged mix marriages and a balance of power between all three
groups. It was Milosevic who favoured Christianity in preference to the others that brought about schisms in the population. Milosevic also wanted to concentrate power in
a single place rather than spread it out among the various groups. Elena told us of her sisters who were involved in mixed marriages fleeing to Netherlands and Australia when the trouble began as they had little choice with no place in their country to fit in.
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| Apparition Hill in the background, Medjagourie in front |
Our gathering point in Bosnia was in front of the tallest building in Mostar, the tower of the Franciscan Monastery. There, we were handed over to our Bosnian guide, Dzena.
Dzena spoke excellent English. His right hand was bandaged as he had cut it in an accident the day before. He filled us in on Bosnia. The civil war was so bad that today 44% of the Bosnians are still
unemployed. Unfinished houses littered
the landscape. Folks, especially in mixed marriages, have fled to
other parts of Europe, US and Australia as they could not find peace anywhere.
Summer is the only time work is more readily available, with most coming from tourism. In winter, Mostar is a ghost town. Young people do not come back to this city as there was nothing for them according to Dzena. He is a
secular Muslim. His wishes are the same as that of everyone else - safe place to live and raise a family and the capability to do so. He warned us about the
young kids that appear to want to wander among us and told them to scramp. He also warned of three ladies who are dressed
in hijab, ordinary clothes and traditional gear such that one would not think they
were in a group but they would cry molestation if you caught them pilfering your
stuff.
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| Crooked Bridge |
We walked along the paths towards first the Crooked
Bridge (Kriva Cuprija). This has been restored as there
was in 1993 after a bombing during the civil war destoyed all the bridges in Mostar, including
Stari Most, the bridge we had come specially to see because it is representative of the architecture of a great era. They had all to be
restored to their original form to retain the UNESCO rating.
Here in Mostar, the Ottoman influence is very
obvious. There are more mosques than
any other categories of building in the old town. Dzena said they were and are the results of religious territory marking. Everyone
wanted a mosque bearing his name; their wealth exhibited by the size of the
building. For the same reason, the
Franciscan church spire which was our meeting point is the tallest thing in
Mostar. Every factory wanted their
mosque initially because of the requirement to pray 5 times a day but later it was about
showing influence. He said that none of that was supported by or should have been permitted to
happen in pure Islam but a lot has been bastardised.
The crooked bridge however had suffered a second disaster, the flood of 2000. Its second reconstruction was financed by the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. The architect of the original bridge was not known, but the material of construction is similar to that of Stari Most. Completely built from marble, its arch describe a semi circle above a fast flowing tributary of the Neretva River.
Most of the old city of Mostar where both bridges and the bazaar is located is paved with cobblestones. Dzena joked that it was an Ottoman belief that the stone stimulated the pressure points of the foot in the interest of good health. The view of the Neretva River and the old city from the bridge was quite pretty, augmented by the dramatic incoming storm clouds.
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| Atop Stari Most |
The Stari Most (the name means Old Bridge) itself is beautifully made wholly from marble. Apparently, the original was built by the same architect who built the Taj Mahal. Built by Sultan
Sulainman of the Ottoman empire, the first bridge did not stand when the props
were taken away. So before this final version was completed, the architect fearing that he would
be beheaded if that that bridge failed to stand again, fled and was never seen again. It is a very steep bridge with stopper strips built into the floor at regular intervals so that horses will not
slip (actually the same goes for humans – one places one heels on the strips ascending the bridge and one toes in the same position coming down). There is a saying in Mostar that you have not really visited Mostar until you have seen someone jump from the Stari Most. Some of the entrepreneurial locals were poised to jump from the bridge into the Neretva river below for a handful of small change. In sympathy to the pride of the unemployed, we all contributed 1 Euros each so
that someone can earn some 15 Euros for demonstrating the jump for our benefit. At least it would get his family food for the
day. It is sad that this is what they
have been reduced to in order to make ends meet.
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| The jumper we paid in action |
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| The bazaar in old city Mostar |
We picked a spot on the river bank to watch the jump. The jumper was dressed in neoprene wetsuit as the river is really cold. It is also quite fast flowing. The jumpers are experienced. They took their time to ensure that it was safe before leaping off the 24m bridge to the claps and cheers from all visitors on and near the bridge. They observed a specific technique, with legs tucked on the way down but ensuring that the landing was feet first.
After witnessing the jump, we crossed the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a traditional bazaar. The atmosphere resemble more somewhere in Turkey rather than any place in Europe. We even passed a museum on hamam (turkish baths). Articles for sale are similar to those in Turkish bazaars.
We stopped at the local restaurant for lunch. As the locals do not speak or have menu in German, our travelling companion was the interpreter for the Dutch who had tagged on with our group. The restaurant offered us free desert and an after meal grappa or coffee. After dinner, we continued wandering in the bazaar, slowly making our way back to our rendevouz point at the St Francis church. We made a stop at Koski Mehmed Pasa Mosque where we had seen visitors in its minaret.
The queue was too long for the time we had left but the courtyard with its well and retail stores was interesting. We tried to visit the oldest mosque in the old city but it was restricted only to those who were there for prayers. We wandered back to St Francis church and arrived there a little early hoping to have a peek inside. It, too, was closed with only a small limited entrance that was open. That was rather disappointing.
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| Koski Mehmed Pasa mosque |
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| Ceiling of entrance into rectory, St Francis |
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| Peek at stain glass, St Francis |
Elena soon arrived with our bus. As we entered it, it began to rain. We wondered about the fate of our fellow travelers who were making the pilgrimage in Medjagurie. Elena said that it was far enough that it would probably not be affected by the rain. Our driver decided to take us back to Medjagourie via a different route that only few older drivers know about.
It was more scenic as one gets a great view of that irrigated valley with the mountains as the backdrop.
We made a photo stop at a spot overlooking the valley when a herd of goats was spotted. The Singaporean ladies were keen to take close up photos with these but the field was also full of prinkles.
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| The more picturesque view - Bjeli Vir |
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| The cute goats |
We picked up the happy pilgrimage
makers who apparently have not been harmed by the rain at Medjagourie. From there, the task was to get back to Dubrovnik as quickly as possible. Our driver chose a different checkpoint to avoid the usual crowd that would be heading back in the same direction. And then we weaved again along the same route
along the picturesque coast. This time
the coffee stop that was chosen at Neum had no Wifi. We were then a little tired so we were almost falling sleep the entire ride back from there back to Hotel
Petka. We forgot to take our Kathmandu coffee bottle that was hanging from the basket in the front of our seat. We have to be more careful about losing our gear as we still have quite a bit of adventure to go.
A passing thought : Croatia & Bosnia are full of stone buildings that dated back to the 6th or 7th century. In spite of earthquakes, wars, etc ... these still stand to testify to great civilsations and their work. What will our generations leave for posterity? So many things built in a hurry with a limited lifespan so that they can be destroyed and rebuilt to contribute to GDP of nations ...
More photos of Bosnia can be found here :
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