Oct 5, 2012 - The Wall and Mostar

Today we walked the wall around Dubrovnik at 8 a.m. to beat the heat and the crowds. It has been warmer than expected and a lot more tourists. And this is supposed to be low season. The crowds are somewhat overwhelming until the tour buses leave town. It took us almost an hour and a half to walk the entire wall which is about 1.25 miles. Sounds pretty wimpy but it was either going up or down stone steps plus taking lots of pictures. There was only one stretch along the sea that was level. Beautiful views of the city. We also saw the few...

Sep 22, 2012 - Mostar

Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina  We had made arrangements yesterday for taking a tour (!!?? Yuk) to Mostar on a bus. We debated the various reasons for not doing this versus renting a car versus biking. Going on the guided tour won out. Therefore we made arrangements last night to be picked at the Hotel Adria, just down the street @ 8:20 am.  We had wanted to bike in Bosnia, but the opportunity did not come up. So here we go today on a tour. The drive is about 3 hours by bus with 3 border crossings, all not in the European Union, although next...

Sep 10, 2012 - Rambliings

We have heard so much about Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia and seeing these countries and speaking to their citizens we have only a poor understanding of the horrors that they have lived through. No person is unscathed. I say I am Canadian because I live in Canada. I don't identify with my Scottish ad British ancestors but with the country of my birth. Yet no one has invaded Canada or conquered it or taken away my rights as a Canadian. It seems as though this part of the world (and others) have been invaded , conquered and have had to struggle...

Aug 9, 2012 - Bosnia - Mostar

31st July 2012 The drive from Dubrovnik to Split was only going to take us a few hours, so we decide that a 100 km detour to Bosnia was in order to fill in the day. Two boarder control security checks later and we were in Mostar. As we walked through the small town, remnants of bomb damaged buildings were evident. Between 1992 and 1995 the town was badly damaged during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and much of the urban centre was left in ruins including the Old Bridge ( Stari most) was destroyed. A project to rebuild the Old Bridge to...

May 4, 2012 - Mostar

Mostar you might say - where and what is it. I knew nothing about Mostar until I started to get ready for this trip. But today I was on the local bus at 9 am for a 2 and 1/2 hour ride through the countryside. Lots of hills, greenery and quite large mountains. For some time we passed a large lake and then followed a river into the city. Mostar is the second largest city in Bosnia and as I discovered the most destroyed city from the war. But more of that later. I had booked a room in the Ottoman home/museum that the Americans recommended. The...

Sep 20, 2011 - Mostar

First having to do a slight detour back to Niksic and then with a minor misunderstanding at the Bosnian border we got the impression that Montenegro didn't want us to leave. Got dropped off at a random town half an hour from our destination with a 3 hour wait for the next bus. Luckily the ticket man/bus driver also dabbled in taxis rides and offered to drive us the last 30 minutes for 20 euro. Despite the hefty price it was the best 20 euro we have spent. English being minimal and having learnt we were from Melbourne we merely named tennis...

May 25, 2011 - Stari Most

Today I left the most touristed place in the balkans, to visit another fairly well touristed town, but nowhere near the populaity of Dubrovnik. I caught a bus to Mostar. To get to Mostar, the bus leaves Croatia and enters Bosnia-Herzegovina and then enters croatia again, before entering Bosnia-Herzegovina to go along the road to Mostar and Sarajevo. Unfortunately my passport was not stamped once in this transition. So Mostar is really famous for its bridge. The original was built in 1566 and survived all those years until the war in the...

Jan 12, 2011 - Mostar - Jan 10-12

January 10, 2011 Our bus today left at 8am so after an early wakeup so Elizabeth could wash in the now clean water, we walked down to the bus station and bought our tickets. We’ve found here that you also have to pay to put bags on the bus too which seems absolutely ridiculous to me but nonetheless we paid up and got on board. Elizabeth was a bit grumpy as she was tired so I cunningly suggested that if we sat on different seats we’d have more room for the journey. In fact, the seats were bloody low on leg room and I struggled to get...

Aug 16, 2010 - Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

OK, I know I am way way behind on my journal updates!!! It's been difficult to stay up to date with all the moving around I have been doing. I probably change cities and hotels every 2-3 days and most of my time is spent exploring and doing research on where to go next...OK and drinking. I thought I was going to give up on the journal but after having spent a few days here in Bosnia I want to make sure I share the pictures with everyone. Coming to Bosnia-Herzegovina was never a part of my original travel plans. Most of what I knew of the...

Jun 19, 2010 - Mostar

Wir verliessen die kroatische Kueste fuer einen Inlandstrip nach Bosnien und Herzegovina. Unser Weg fuehrte uns zuerst nach Mostar, mit seinem stark tuerkisch gepraegtem Stadtbild und der 2004 wiedererbauten Bruecke von Mostar (Original vom 15. Jhdt), welche 1993 in den Kriegswirren zum Einsturz gebracht wurde. Der Basar, die lokale Kueche, die Gebaeude, mindestens 8 Moscheen alleine in der unmittelbaren Altstadt, die grosse islamische Gastfreundschaft, die wir schon so oft geniessen durften, all das erinnert eher an den nahen Osten, als an...

Jun 6, 2010 - Mostar, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA

Sunday, June 6 Today, we left at 6:00 AM and walked to the train station to go to the town of Mostar to see the famous town and bridge that made headline news during the Yugoslav wars. The beautiful Stari Most (Old Bridge) was finished in 1566 and came to be appreciated as one of the world's engineering marvels. It survived the Italian occupation of WWII, but after standing for 427 years, the bridge was destroyed in November 1993 by Bosnian Croat artillery. By 2004 the Stari Most had been painstakingly reconstructed using 16th century-style...

Mar 19, 2010 - Mostar - Last Day

Our final day! A small group of us began the day by visiting the church in Medjugorje briefly, before meeting up with everyone else to head to Mostar. Once in Mostar, I was shocked by the number of war damaged buildings that were scattered throughout the city. We spent some time in the old town area, where we saw the newly rebuilt bridge that replaced the 400 year old bridge that was destroyed during the war. We shopped for souvenirs and had coffee before heading to the library related portion of our day. We had the opportunity to visit...