Mostar, Hercegovina

Today was another amazing day.  We went across the border into Bosnia & Hercegovina. We were in the Hercegovina area in the south of the country.   I learned so much about the country that I wasn’t aware of.  Talking to local people definitely brings more awareness and information.  Our guide from Croatia was, of course, Croatian. We then had a local tour in Mostar who is from the city.  It was interesting to hear from both perspectives.

We crossed the border and got our passports stamped (yaaayyyy!).  We started out in a little town called Pocitelj.  It’s right on the river Neretva and was developed by the Ottomans.

Anita, our local tour guide in Mostar, gave us insight into the war.  She told us that things were actually pretty good under Yugoslavia.  Because under Tito, even though they were “communists” he did not align himself with the Soviets and so were not dependent on them.  Yugolavians were free to travel, unlike the other countries under the Soviet control.  Ethnic groups were free to live peacefully together because the state did not recognize religion.  So, everyone was “equal” – or equally bad, as she put it 🙂  But, everyone – all ethnicity – were living together, marrying and working together.

When Milosevic wanted a greater Serbia, that’s when the conflict started.  During and after the war, friends were torn apart based on ethnicity. Many people who inter-married left the country so that they could still stay together.  Anita is married into a “Muslim” family, though they were not practicing Muslims.  Many churches and mosques were destroyed during the war.  You can still see the bullet holes in many of the buildings that still stand.  It’s a reminder every day of what took place.  But, the city has come back and many buildings were rebuilt.  We are so lucky to have not been through war in our own land.  Bosnian food is mostly meat and grilled veggies. I love that they have eggplant everywhere!  Yummy.   They are most known for this minced meat that is made of beef and lamb.   It’s the specialty in Mostar and many other places throughout the region but we are told that the ones in Mostar are the best.  As you will see we had a lot of food.  The national plate is a big portion of different types of meat.  We ordered the meat plate for 3.  We barely made a dent and took most of it home.  This meal of the national plate, veggie plate, a grilled chicken plate, pasta, drinks, and my beer cost about US$60.  Definitely a reprieve after higher costs of the rest of our travels.  One distinction we did not know.  Bosnians are people from Bosnia – any religion, any ethnic group.  Bosniaks are Bosnians who are Muslim.

Our last stop was the Kravica water falls.  It was beautiful and the water is definitely cold, again.  We actually didn’t know that we would be swimming this afternoon so didn’t have our swim gear.  But, it would have been nice to dip into even the cold pool today as it was very very hot.