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Posts from Base Camp

Souvenirs from Bosnia & Herzegovina

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

Cleaning and organizing have been occupying more of my time lately. In the process, I have found a lot of “souvenirs” from my past travels. Today’s post focuses on some interesting ephemera from my April 2014 trip to Bosnia & Herzegovina.

I stayed at the Hotel Konak in Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

The Hotel Konak was almost perfectly located in downtown Sarajevo. I could easily walk to everything. The hotel facade was a little unusual, but it was quite nice inside. It was a very comfortable place to sleep off my jet lag and adjust to my new surroundings. I had a long trip from Kingston to Toronto to Vienna to Sarajevo, and I appreciated the quiet room.

I visited the “Tunnel of Hope” in Sarajevo (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

The next day, I went on a guided “Siege of Sarajevo” tour, and it was an excellent (if sobering) introduction to the relatively recent conflict in this historic city. You can read more about the siege here, including the still “bullet-holed” tunnel entrance. The “Tunnel of Hope” was my first direct introduction to the impact of the war on Sarajevo…although the ruins of the Olympic complex also made a deep impression. I later wrote about a very close encounter with a land mine in Sarajevo.

Specialties of the Restoran Šadrvan in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

My next stop was the city of Mostar. As I noted in the blog entry I posted shortly after arrival in Mostar, the wounds of war were even more apparent here. But it was also a beautiful city, and my first meal was in a garden-like setting near Mostar’s famous and historic bridge. The photo at the very top of this post is actually a postcard from the Restoran Šadrvan in Mostar (my table was right by the fountain), and the picture above shows some of their specialties. My main course was stuffed peppers, but I also had a pickled vegetable salad…and I’m sure I had dessert too. After all, I was doing a lot of walking!

The Museums of Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

I visited the local museum in Mostar primarily to see a video. They have a small theatre inside the museum where you can watch footage from the conflict that took place in Mostar. The footage of the destruction of the bridge was especially sad. I crossed that rebuilt bridge many times during my stay, and it is easily the most emotional bridge I have ever crossed. I also visited the Koski Mehmed Pasha Mosque, which is now a National Monument. Ascending the minaret was particularly memorable: you can read about it here.

Receipt from the Hotel Platani in Trebinje (Bosnia & Herzegovina), along with bus tickets/baggage receipts from Mostar

My next stop was not very far geographically, but it felt very different in every other respect. Trebinje is located in the Republika Srpska: it’s still in Bosnia & Herzegovina, but it is also governed separately from the “Federation” part of Bosnia & Herzegovina. You can read about that in more detail in my Trebinje post from 2014. The Serbian influence is much stronger here, as you can see from the above invoice from my hotel. The top of the invoice says “Hotel Platani” and “Trebinje” in the Cyrillic alphabet.

Receipt from the restaurant at Hotel Platani, Trebinje (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

The receipt above is from my meal in the hotel restaurant on my first night in Trebinje. While the form is all in Cyrillic, my waiter used the Roman alphabet to record my meal. I had a Capricciosa pizza, a glass of local red wine, and a decadent dessert. It was a palačinka … basically a stuffed crepe. But this one was the house specialty: it had an enormous amount of cherries and much more ice cream than usual. (You’ll notice that all prices in this post are in “KM”. This stands for “convertible marks”. The Bosnian currency was pegged to the German mark, and theoretically still is…even though Germany no longer uses the deutschmark.)

I enjoyed reliving my Bosnian trip through these items. Who knows what I will uncover next?

Posts from the road

The Lost Blog Entry from Bosnia & Herzegovina

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(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

In reviewing my photographs of the past year, I realized that there was still at least one untold story from my visit to Bosnia & Herzegovina. Here is a “previously unpublished” blog entry dating back to April of 2014.

The city of Mostar suffered terribly during the 1990s. I’ve shared some stories and pictures about the destroyed bridge and some of the damage that was done to the people and buildings. But I didn’t say anything about one of the monuments…

View of the "east bank" of Mostar, from the top of the famous Old Bridge
View of the “east bank” of Mostar, from the top of the famous Old Bridge

Yugoslavia was a communist country but it wasn’t really behind the Iron Curtain.  Marshal Tito followed a relatively independent course and, as a result, Yugoslavia was the most accessible of the communist states in Eastern Europe. However, as in most of the communist countries, there were many monuments built in Yugoslavia to commemorate the struggle against fascism during World War II.

Second World War Monument (Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Second World War Anti-Fascist Monument (Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Last year, I published a photograph (see above) of a Yugoslavian era anti-fascist monument in Trebinje. This monument is well maintained and is right in the middle of Trebinje’s main downtown park, suggesting that it is considered to be very important.  However, another (much, much larger) Yugoslavian era anti-fascist monument is located in Mostar.  Unlike Trebinje’s monument, however, the one in Mostar is crumbling, waterlogged, and completely overgrown with weeds. There are no signs showing the way to Mostar’s monument and some maps don’t even include it…despite it being close to downtown and sprawling over the equivalent of several city blocks. How could this happen, when the two cities are in the same country and barely 100 km apart?

Anti-Fascist Monument in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Anti-Fascist Monument in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

The answer is complicated and obscured by past conflicts. In a nutshell, however, one ethnic group is seen as having been sympathetic to the communist cause…while another is seen as having been sympathetic to the fascist cause. As a result, the interest in maintaining anti-fascist monuments varies according to which ethnic group dominates in a particular place. The interest in developing “Yugoslavian Civil War” tourism varies in a similar way, as one ethnic group is not as keen on having its role being placed under scrutiny.   You can imagine how complicated this gets, as there are actually three ethnic groups in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Overgrown monument in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Near the top of the overgrown anti-fascist monument in Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina

I was tempted to use quotation marks with put the word “ethnic” in the above paragraph:  you may remember from my earlier posts that these “ethnic” groups historically were essentially the same in appearance and language:  it was mainly religion that divided them.

Looking from the monument itself to the formerly grand entrance (Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Looking from the monument itself down the formerly grand entrance boulevard (Mostar, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

Anyway, I spent a fair bit of time exploring and climbing on the Mostar monument.  It is huge and built in an over-the-top style that is typical of communist-era monuments.  I was the only person there:  I saw somebody walking a mean-looking dog there when I first passed by the entrance, but he was gone by the time I visited the park.  It felt really creepy,  as if nobody was really welcome at the monument.  I kept looking around to see if somebody was going to tell me to leave…or even to escort me away from the monument.  That never happened but I would not have been surprised if it did.

A smaller arched bridge in Mostar
Another arched bridge in Mostar

This massive monument would have been a major attraction in other Eastern European countries, as they certainly don’t make monuments like that anymore.  However, the rawness of Bosnia & Herzegovina’s recent past means that it will probably continue to crumble for quite some time.     In the meantime, if you want to see the monument in Mostar, try not to rely too heavily on locally-produced maps:  it is possible that something will be missing.  You may also want to visit with a group and during daylight hours, as I didn’t feel completely safe visiting the site and I think there is only one way to get in and out.

Posts from the road

A brief visit to Trebinje

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(Trebinje, Bosnia & Herzegovina)

After a wacky bus ride from Mostar, I’m staying briefly in the small city of Trebinje.  It’s located very close to the borders of both Croatia and Montenegro.  However, it’s also located in the “Republika Srpska” (“RS” for short) and I should briefly explain that.

Mepas Mall in Mostar. I visited here just before leaving for Trebinje
Mepas Mall in Mostar. I  took a quick look here just before leaving for Trebinje

The country of Bosnia and Herzegovina is actually comprised of two entities:  (1) the “Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, which is largely made up of Bosniaks and Bosnian Croats, and (2) the “Republika Srpska”, which is largely made up of Bosnian Serbs.  Furthermore, there is one small region that belongs to both the Federation and RS, as no satisfactory division could be made.  Sarajevo and Mostar are both in the Federation, while Trebinje is in the RS.  The borders correspond more or less to the front lines at the time of the ceasefire in 1995.

It’s quite different here:  the Cyrillic alphabet dominates and there are many signs, etc., reminding people that they are in the RS.  As Trebinje is a smaller city and does not attract as many tourists, I seem to be more of a curiosity here.  Many people speak only Serbian.  There also isn’t much war damage here as the front lines were farther to the west.

There are at least three major sights in Trebinje:  the “monastery” of Hercegovacka Gracanica, the Arslanagic bridge, and the walled old town.

Hercegovacka Gracanica, atop Crkvina, as seen from the Arslanagic Bridge
Hercegovacka Gracanica, atop Crkvina, as seen from the Arslanagic Bridge

I first visited Hercegovacka Gracanica, a small monastery located at the top of a small mountain called Crkvina.  I made the 2km walk in record time due to the heavy rain.  The walk was worth it, though, as there are fabulous views from the top.  The monastery is also fascinating:  it is an exact replica of a monastery in Gracanica, Kosovo that is very important to Orthodox Serbs.  A wealthy Bosnian Serb expat financed the construction of this replica (and you can even see his picture in the artwork that covers the interior walls).  I’ve never seen such a colourful interior, even in other Orthodox churches.  Alas, because it is quite small, it was almost impossible to take a photograph that properly captured the interior.  The photo at the top of this post shows one small part, while I’m also posting a more expansive picture from a larger downtown Orthodox church that shares some of the basic colour themes (although the style is actually quite different).

Inside the "Svetog Preobrazzenja" in downtown Trebinje (Bosnia & Herzegovina)
Inside the “Svetog Preobrazenja” in downtown Trebinje (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

From the top of Crkvina, I descended to the Trebinsnica River and the Arslanagic Bridge. This bridge also dates back to the Ottoman period (1574), but it has little else in common with the old bridge in Mostar.  The Arslanagic Bridge was not harmed in the war but it was relocated in the 1970s from its original location in the downtown core.    I should mention that I narrowly missed stepping on a (presumably) dead hedgehog as I neared the bridge.  I have a photo if anybody wants to see it.

 

View of Trebinje (including Arslanagic Bridge, at centre-right),from top of Crkvina
View of Trebinje (including Arslanagic Bridge, at centre-right),from top of Crkvina

Finally, I wandered through the walled old  town.  It’s quaint but not as prettied up as some other old towns:  many people still live within the walls and I discovered that it attracts attention if you take photographs.

View of the old town, Trebinje
View of the old town, Trebinje

As for the “wacky” bus ride…it was normal for the first hour or so.   The driver then seemed to be running a lot of personal errands, so he made up for lost time by driving exceptionally fast on narrow mountain roads.  He also smoked, made phone calls, did paperwork, drank water, snacked and repeatedly spit out the window while driving.  Strangely, I preferred it when he did these other tasks, as it seemed to slow him down a bit.

I was the only passenger who actually crossed the Federation/RS border.  There were a lot of other passengers on either side but they only travelled within their own entity.  Even though the two entities belong to the same country, there appears to be little interaction between them.

I’m leaving Bosnia & Herzegovina tomorrow morning.  I hear that the weather will improve…just in time for me to appreciate the legendary Dalmatian coast!