The Road to Mostar

pics by teliung
Battlefield Frontline, Mostar - HERZEGOVINA

It took me a major detour and major time backlog to do Mostar. But it was worth it.

When Sedad first mentioned about Bosnia and Herzegovina, I wasn’t sure I will be meandering that way.. but reading Sedad e-mails about Mostar (and Sarajevo) :), it perked my interest. There were several major obstacles before I get to see Mostar. First the land barrier - if I were to go from Greece and Turkey (my original destinations), I have to go thru Bulgaria, FROM (heck I have to read up about FROM! to figure out what country this is and was! :), Albania and Serbia. Checking visa requirements - Malaysians have no problem going thru the first three except for Serbia. I anticipate a lot of problem getting a visa to go thru Serbia! Checking flight prices from Turkey to Bosnia will cost me over 800 Euros (so that was out of the question, especially since I won't get to see the land). Finally, I had that unexpected problem to take out cash in Rome to top it all.

When I was in Palermo, Sicily I sms-ed both Sedad and Alden that I would not be abled to make it after all, with all those headaches, but amazingly after giving up I can see the road to Mostar clearly :) On the train from Palermo to Rome (to catch the ship to Greece from Brindisi), at the spur of the moment while checking my train connections found out there was a train going to Ancona and a ship sailing for Spalator (which is close enuff to Mostar) on the same day. I decided to take that leap of faith. (Knowing me, I am never the one to take the easy way out!:)

I spent a very relaxing evening in Ancona eating my last Italian gelato (Italian gelato is the best!), inspecting the pasar malam and talking to this nice girl at the tourist center who is interested to visit Malaysia, while waiting for the shipping line Jadrolinija from Croat. I realized all the folks in Ancona were so nice (compared to Milanese and Romans).. to fit the port sunny disposition, as happily suggested by this elderly Anconian couple I bought souvenirs from.

While boarding the ship Marko Polo, I was pleasantly shocked to find how very tall and fair the Dalmatijians are. They are all over 6 footers including the women, blonde with blue eyes (their stark lankiness reminded me of a childhood rhyme..about stevedores). It’s a startling difference from the mostly short and stubby dark Italians :) I spent the nite listening to very boisterous and loud Dalmatijians singing every ethnic songs they can think off..the whole nite long (all the while this childhood song.. “what shall we do with the drunken sailors” came to my mind..(Alden and Mehmet told me later on while we were having dinner at the Parc Princeva restaurant in Sarajevo, that heh they were definitely all drunk!)

After spending a beautiful morning in Spalator (Split) at the sunken Roman fort, with its morning market full of fresh flowers (especially my favorite – Lilies of the Valley).. the panoramic shuttle that would take us to Mostar finally arrived about half an hour late.. around 11:30AM. The view from Split to Mostar is very scenic, where the route took us along almost 2/3 of the beautiful and blue Adriatic coast toward Duvronik.. I’ve never seen the Adriatic..and was amazed to see how beautiful this region is. (Note to myself: must do Adriatic coast via caravan for 2 weeks next time).

When the shuttle turned in land to the border between Croat and Herzegovina, the scene turned gloomy with potholes and signs of a war torn zone.. bombed and abandoned houses and mass graves marked by huge white crosses. I realized this was what I was expecting. At the border I went out to stretch my legs and was trying to take some pics of the two flags Croat and Bosnia i Herzegovina side by side, but the border police were quick to stop me. I realized I was still in a sensitive time and area.

As arranged by Alden, a childhood fren of his, Haris, was waiting for me when I arrived at Mostar's main bus station. Haris and his family have lived in Mostar for generations. Haris was a soldier fighting for his home and land during the war. He showed me pics of his parents’ bombed house, the one he rebuilt upon becoming an architect after the war and the one I visited that afternoon. The war surely toughened Haris from a street smart juvenile to a real war hero. On the way he showed me the many graves of his friends who lost their lives in the war.

I met with Haris’s family - his brother (a doctor who had treated many war casualties) and his children (a pair of beautiful boy and girl), and had tea with Haris’s parents, as well as Tessa their cat and a pair of peacocks :) Taking pics of the kids I was happy to see this country is recuperating from this terrible tragedy. Children are hopes for the future and may it have a bright future..



Mostar is such a beautiful place, a true gem of the Balkans.

The beautiful river with its turquoise flowing water divided the town and its faiths.

It is amazing this medieval town and its landmark bridge still exists despite heavy bombings and the scene of a major battle field during the war. The bridge was bombed by the Croats and rebuilt (with its old stones) recently by international funding to ensure its 500 years history and unique architecture is being kept alive. (I actually saw a documentary in the Discovery Channel about the rebuilding of this amazing architecture becoz until now engineers and scientists are still stumped how over 500 years ago they can built a structural marvel with a technology they still cannot comprehend until now, never anticipating that not long after that I would be so lucky to actually walk on it myself!). The influence of Turkish empire long gone can be felt everywhere along its cobbled stones, interweaved with its unique history and resilient people. There are EU soldiers everywhere..Haris said mainly Spanish soldiers patrol Mostar these days, while Italians help a lot with humanitarian causes.

I wish I can spend more time in Mostar but perhaps one day I will come by this road again. I lost my favorite silk scarf somewhere in Mostar, so perhaps it's a sign one day I will return..InsyaAllah.



Pics by teliung
Beautiful Mostar