Sarajevo - some important things to see (lee)

First of all, massive apologies for the radio silence as of late.. weve been travelling so hard that even getting to a computer to book accomodation and trains and such has been a challenge.. onwards!

I went from Dubrovnik to Sarajevo.  Ive always wanted to go, given that the majority of what i studied in International Criminal Law focussed upon the Bosnian war 92-95.. so an important historical visit was required.  Really it was an absolute eye opener (as expected), and surreal.  The footpath is littered with crater holes from shells and bullet holes left by Serb snipers.  Many buildings are in an absolute state of disrepear and a lot have been abandoned (the guidebook doesnt recommend venturing into these places, or off the footpath, given the prevalence of landmines still littered through bosnia-herzegovina... many bosnians still unfortunately find these everyyear).

The bus arrived 1.5 hours late in Sarajevo, as expected.  The scenery on the drive was absolutely breathtaking, which is something totally NOT expected.  the drive was through incredible mountains, switchbacks, rivers, beautiful valleys etc.  it is truly a beautiful area of the world.  We went through Mostar on the way, which is also beautiful (and the site of the mostar bridge, destroyed by croats during the conflict w\ bosniaks, another story). The area is very wartorn, lots of building still full of holes.  When arriving in Sarajevo the view is otherworldly, like driving through a warzone.  My ´pansion´ (hotel) was really nice, about 200m from the bridge where franz ferdinand was shot (the beginning of WW1).  I was right in the middle of Barcarsija, the old Turkish Town, which is amazing.  I ate piles of Cevapcici and Burek (for super cheap), and drank the strong coffee.

The city is ringed by mountains, which the Bosnians are very proud of, sadly the surrealism of looking at these mountains is unbelievable, as this is where the serb snipers sat, taking potshots at the Bosnians for the 1038 days of the war.  I met with an American writing her thesis on the 1984 Winter Olympics (held here) and we head out for a night at the ´city pub´. great name, terrible music.  they loved it though, singing ACDC at the top of their lungs.

The next day i struggled out of bed at 10, grabbed some burek and a cava and headed in the direction of the holiday inn (the place where all the journos stayed during the war) and ´sniper alley´ (hell, the whole place was sniper alley).  The highlight was going to the history museum, which was totally dead.  when i entered, the director of the museum came down from his office and gave me a total private tour, explaining each exhibit and giving me a serious insight into what it was actually like to live during the war.  it was very very saddening stuff, and everything id heard was absolutely true.  the museum didnt hold back on the detail either, including pieces of childrens schoolbooks splattered in blood and other gruesome realities.  the director was incredible, kept the museum open after closing time just to speak to me and we walked the town talking about the war.  truly a great guy.  i head back to the hotel with a head full of reality, ready to head onroute to ´the enemy´, serbia.

l.