Read time: 7 minutes
Hello Readers!
We’ve going back to the original timeline and continuing along with the travel adventure. On September 2nd, I left David (bye David!) and headed over to Bosnia and Herzegovina. I didn’t know much about Bosnia, but I’d heard from other travellers that Sarajevo (the capital) was an awesome and inexpensive location to be. They also have a difficult, but interesting war history plus a cool hostel that I wanted to visit thus, I hopped on a bus and left Croatia.
The Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1996):
Many of us don’t remember it being children (or not yet born…here’s to aging myself), but my parents do. When I asked them if they knew about the war that happened in Sarajevo and my mom replied “Of course…92 was your birth year and there were many images of children in the middle of bloody conflict”.
The Siege of Sarajevo is a war that occurred from 1992 to 1996. After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, Bosnian Serbs wanted to create a new independent state. Sarajevo, which is surrounded by hills and mountains, became completely surrounded by artillery tanks and residents couldn’t leave nor receive much food, power or water. Many starved or died of cold. It wasn’t until 1996, 3.5 years after the siege began, that residents were finally released when NATO launched an airstrike on Bosnian Serb forces.
You can read more about it here at Britannica.com
War Hostel, Sarajevo
Unfortunately, this hostel is now closed, but it was an excellent live-in representation of what Sarajevo residents encountered during the siege. The owner “01” put a lot of effort into emulating exactly what the residents endured for the 3.5 years (he went by “01” as it was his dad’s number). They slept on war-style bunk beds with wool blankets that were fire resistant and the windows in the hostel were painted black. When I asked why, 01 said that if the opposition saw any light, they would shoot – didn’t matter if it was against civilians or armed forces.
(Unfortunately, I don’t have any of my own pictures. What can I say, but moving accommodations tends to wear on me especially after a 7 hour bus ride. Also, I only ended up staying 1 night at this hostel (despite paying for 2 nights) because I found it uncomfortable. I was the only person there as I’d booked directly and it was after tourist season (technically they were closed on hostelworld). I didn’t feel that safe so I decided to change accommodations to another hostel which had more guests. Nothing happened, but my gut said something wasn’t right. TLDR: if you don’t feel safe, move.)
Crazy Reunion:
I wish I had a screenshot of this, but turns out it was a phone call. Kenny and I ended up calling one another for a random “how’s your figuring-out-your-life-journey-since-2-weeks-ago” talk and it went something like this:
Kenny: “Yo man, how are you? Where are you?
Me: “Just finished in Croatia and now I’m in a war hostel in Sarajavo”
Kenny: “No way dude…I’m in Sarajevo too!”
Of course we decided to meet up for dinner especially since Kenny was leaving the following day to go to Kotor.
This was an incredible restaurant, but I don’t remember the name of it or the dishes we ate. What I do remember though was that when we tried the bread, we were both flabbergasted how delicious it was! Apparently it’s quite challenging to make being layered and layered with butter like a cinnamon bun then risen. I don’t even have photos of it…perhaps Kenny does?? Kenny!
New Hostel, New Friends, New Adventures:
I checked into Hostel Kucha after being at the War Hostel and wow was it a very welcomed and awesome change. I opted for a slightly more expensive female dorm (a whole $20 CAD/night…wow) and it was so lovely. It’s extremely modern with large bathrooms equipped with rain showers, a well-stocked kitchen and an outdoor terrace. Perfect for my slightly longer stay of over a week; though I must admit, I only booked for 3 nights and ended up extending and extending hahahaha.
Do yourself a favour and book here. The only thing is that it’s a 10 minute walk up the hill from the main square. Not crazy, but with a backpack it can be a bit heavy. So worth it though
The following days, I headed out with some other travellers to go on a walking tour and a hike to Skakavac Waterfall.
War Childhood Museum:
With all the history in Sarajevo, I did take in one of the museums. It was the War Childhood Museum. Children from the Sarajevo donated their items and stories to the museum. The stock is rotating and the exhibit is fascinating and really allowed me to see a very heartfelt perspectives. Bring some tissues if you decide to visit. It’s not super graphic or detailed, but all the stories are written from the heart which moved me several times to tears.
Kenny said another museum called the Museum of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide is really good, but a lot of information and very heavy. I didn’t have the mental capacity to handle that one at the time, but perhaps on a visit back in the future.
Aside from the heavy stuff…
Did I mention Sarajevo has a lot of stray cats? Also, the sunsets there are beautiful…
Mostar:
Just a short 2 hour scenic train or bus ride away from Sarajevo, is the beautiful city of Mostar. I needed to kill some time and make my way East (was meeting Mom in Portugal soon and was flying out of Dubrovnik, Croatia) so I decided to hop over to Mostar for a couple days. There’s a great family owned hostel there called Hostel Majdas (after the owner). It’s pretty famous in the Balkans and many travellers in Sarajevo recommended it. It’s cozy and great for relaxing plus they have a family-run full-day tour and apparently a great breakfast. I opted out of both, but other people said it was phenomenal ^^
You can check out the hostel and pics of it here: Hostel Majdas
While I didn’t research much about Mostar ahead of time, I was fortunate as I ended up being there during the cliff diving competition. It was a gorgeous couple of days with blazing sun and clear skies. As we were watching the competition, us spectators would jump into the clear sea-green water to cool off. Surprisingly icy, chilling and wonderfully refreshing. The water is quite deep though so if you decide to hop in, make sure you can swim.
Summary:
Sarajevo and Mostar are two incredible destinations that are hidden away in Europe. Highly recommend checking it out if you’re looking for an inexpensive, incredibly safe and interesting destination full of culture that’s off the beaten track. (It’s not that hidden though…even Rick Steves has a guide about it.)
Next stop on the travel adventure after Bosnia is a hop back to Croatia (though this time Dubrovnik) and then to Portugal where I finally saw Mom after 2 months! We decided to go on a guided tour together of Spain, but were meeting in Portugal first. Hahaha…oh what a reunion that was. Anyway, more to come on June 27th!
~Tracy
World of Wandering Minds 