Our Eastern Europe adventure continued in Bosnia & Herzegovina which saw us board a bus from Dubrovnik and head across the border to Mostar. Mostar is famous for the Stari Most, a 16th century Ottoman Bridge in the centre of the city, where people jump/dive off the 23m high bridge into the river below. We spent a few hours watching the locals and a crazy Scotsman attempt the jump - some more elegant than others. We spent the afternoon wandering the streets looking at the scarred buildings, with bullet holes and mortar shells still very visible. On the advice of someone in the hostel we jumped a high wall into an abandoned building that was used as a snipers nest during the Bosnian war which we were told had some great graffiti art. After climbing a few floors up the view of the town and surrounding hills was pretty impressive. It was a pretty eerie feeling walking through a place that had been pivotal in the battle for Mostar and looking at the highly political artwork gratified on the walls.  

That evening we went out for a traditional Bosnian meal which consisted of meat, meat and more meat, the food was great - the Bosnians really know their way around a BBQ.

The next morning we jumped on a bus to the capital, Sarajevo where we made our way to our hostel on a late 1960’s tram – the transport system of Sarajevo was donated to the city by other European cities after the war, in the case of the trams they are mainly 1960’s and 1970’s – the locals say that taking the tram is very healthy for you, the ride is so bumpy that you will not have any kidney stones left by the end of your journey! We jumped onto a walking tour in the afternoon to learn something about the war and the town itself. The tour was great in providing us with a snap shot of the origins of Bosnia and the devastating effects of the war. There is still reminders everywhere of the brutal war against Serbia with many buildings still covered in bullet holes. We also saw the place where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, sparking the first world war.

The next day we booked onto a tour with a local Bosnian guy who took us to different city sites including Memorial Park, the 15th Century Ottoman Fortress, 1984 Winter Olympic Park and Bosnian war Tunnel Museum. We spent the day driving around the city and the surrounding mountains as he explained Bosnian history and the war to us, from his first hand perspective. It was an informal tour that meant we were able to ask questions and have a few laughs along the way. One of the highlights was seeing the old 1984 Winter Olympics Bobsleigh track covered in graffiti. We walked down the track snapping a few pics along the way.

After returning to the city in the evening Zladan our guide for the day pointed us in the direction of a local wine shop he work at. After dropping his name at the shop it wasn’t long before the owner was taking us through a wine tasting of the local hooch. It was a great way to spend our last evening in Bosnia.