Hotel Hayat Sarajevo

... by the side of the roads and it still makes me wonder that cigarettes are so cheap in Herzegovina that Olga saves money when she buys them there – despite having to pay a bus ticket there and back to Split she still comes out ahead. So it was interesting to see how things were working or not working in Sarajevo, and the small towns we passed as we drove to get there. Locals agreed Sarajevo is a special place with a mix of people and religions, but for now ...

... so they dug a 1km tunnel under it to get supplies and Bosnian military help in.

The museum was great. It seems funny to say it but the video footage and pictures of what happened in the 90's were made even more intense when I thought that I'm right here in the place where it all went down.

When I was in Sarajevo I then met a new travel buddy. She was Nina from Poland, she had a car and was doing a road trip through Bosnia, stopping off at some significant Bosnian war ...

... the ground from sniper shots aimed at civilians walking the road. At the worst time, snipers on hills were instructed to pick off civilians on the street just to drive everyone crazy. City planned cemeteries are common, but what is thought provoking are the tombstones in the middle of public parks, and lining the streets, all from the war. The talismanic yellow Holiday Inn, the only functional hotel during the Sarajevo Seige, where all world's news correspondents stayed, still ...

... would be carrying up to 40kg of food on there back and have to run with it whilst being shot at by snippers. He also showed me some video footage on youtube of some of the scenes that took place, it was pretty intense but it was amaying how everyone pulled together and helped each other. Anyway after having the intersting chat I strolled around the old city again and got into the main shopping street leading to the snippers alley and alley where people would get shot trying to ...

... next morning, a few others were up, whether to catch a train to Mostar, or like myself a bus to Dubrovnik. From the snowfall the last night and the partial melting, I trodded through inches of snow, that when stepped in, turned into huge puddles. My shoes didnt stay dry for 10 steps. Reminded me of treeplanting all over again. After you stop fighting it, you just learn to keep going, step by step. The only problem was that when a bus shot by, it would ...

... are subtitled in English! What a relief! I also managed to buy tickets for almost every single movie i want to see. Right now i have a total of 19 tickets on my desk. I hope to buy another one or two tomorrow, so i can pass 20. :) The fees for the movies are super cheap. Most vary from 4km to 7km. Which is 2.00 to 3.50 Euro! WOW! I would go to cinema much more often when prices are like that in Holland.... Funny thing as well: just around the corner of ...

... Basèarsija on taynna kauppoja, joissa vasataan kasityona esimerkiksi metalliesinita, ja lahempaa nykyista keskustaa loytyy iso kauppakatu jossa myydaan kaikkea maan ja taivaan valilta. Lahihistorian kannalta tarkeita paikkoja loytyy monia, kuten silta jonka luona muuan kruununprinssi laitettiin kylmaksi ja Holiday Inn, joka oli Bosnian sodan aikana ainoa turvallinen paikka koska se majoitti kaikki ulkomaalaisten toimittajat. Sarajevon panimokin loytyi, vahan erinakoinen kuin joku ...

... and mostly have very good English. So the answer is normally just a question away. And so it proved for Vrelo Bosna. Jess approached a woman running a newspaper stall who was engaged in an animated conversation with a friend. Pointing to the book and using sign language, Jess conveyed the message that we were after some directions. Hoping that she would point to the correct way, she responded in near perfect English 'take this path, go straight on ...

... books and a couple of really good tour guides, appears to be this (subject to amendment as we figure out more). As Yugoslavia breaks apart after the Soviet Union itself fell apart, countries in the former Yugolslavia made a bid for a bit of extra territory. Its not like they knew what to do with their existing territory, but a good war would be easier than building public institutuions or a functioning economy. Croatia established itself in its historical ...

... as refugees during the war. Even now, ten years later, there are still many Bosnians living over seas. The owners of the hostel we stayed at, a mother, brother, and sister, only returned 10 months before from the Scandinavian countries where they had been scattered as refugees. We settled ourselves in to our hostel, the former summer home of the family, and had big plans to go out exploring the town but ended up meeting some very interesting people ...