Change of Scenery

View more photos 

Coming into Mostar is incredibly sobering, especially after spending your time enjoying the fun of the well-repaired and bustling Croatian coast. A looong graveyard welcomes you to town along with several partially destroyed or damaged buildings, and a look out the window to my left had people with missing limbs, no doubt from war or landmine injuries, walking along the side of the road. Welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Our wonderful host Majda picked us up from the bus station, and took us along the front line road which still has tremendous damage, and there was not much I could really say as we drove along so I instead just looked about in awe. Majda mentioned that the locals don't even notice anymore but obviously as tourists, we do. I suppose after so many years one might become accustomed that kind of scenery, but through fresh eyes, I can say it was pretty intense, and can't even imagine what it must have been like to have been there when it was actually happening.

View more photos 

After settling in, Kerri and I took a late night walk through the old town. After both the photo exhibit in Dubrovnik and the drive into Mostar, the place had a real eerie feeling to it, more than it just being fairly deserted. But the old town has been largely fixed up, and it really is a beautiful and special place. During the day it picks up, with vendors selling handmade carpets, turkish coffee sets, pashminas, and old communist era relics. Not to mention the young men in their speedos offering to dive off the bridge for your loose Euros.

I hadn't even planned to stay in Mostar until some Aussies on Hvar mentioned the great tour of surrounding Herzegovina that included horseback riding and swimming under a waterfall that Majda's hostel offered, but unfortunately for me her brother was sick when I was there and couldn't take us, and then the hostel was all but clearing out so there wouldn't be enough people to go even if he felt better. But so it goes, and Majda's place was the homiest hostel I think I've ever been at and I may have gotten the best two sleeps of my trip thus far. My last night there she made everyone mint tea and popcorn and we all sat around in one of the rooms and watched the Eurovision semi-finals. It was like a bunch of kids hanging out in someone's cozy basement, and equally as good as any night so far. Then it was up bright and early once again to catch the morning train up to Sarajevo. I am honestly surprised at how many mornings I've willingly gotten up early this trip compared to my sluggishness at home, but the train had been talked up as a beautiful ride, and it would also be the last day for Kerri and I to travel together as she was off to catch a flight to Ireland that night, and so up and at 'em we were...