Hotel Mogorjelo Capljina

... to Dubrovnik you have to pass through a portion of Bosnia. Honestly, not a lot different than Croatia. Our homemade lunch wasn't any different either. As we no longer feel the headwind we can now feel just how hot this pounding sun can get. But we'll take it over that 30 mph wind any day. We arrived in Trsteno, just short of Dubrovnik and decided to check out a two star campground. We soon found we arrived in our own little paradise...

... 1993 a direct hit, by the Croatian forces collapsed the old Stari Most bridge. Built by the Ottoman empire, in 1557, it took 9 year to build and was perhaps the finest example of Ottoman ingenuity in the western Balkans. The bridge was a symbol of both the city and the country as a whole, even now the destruction can still bring tears to the eyes of locals.
The bridge that spanned the river for 4 centuries is once again standing as an exact replica built in the ...

... out buildings - some remain to serve solely as a reminder - although the most famous casualty, the old bridge, has been meticulously reconstructed along with its immediate old town surroundings which are beautiful.  Entire public parks-turned-graveyards with tombstones only depicting years of death 1993 and 1994 are constant reminders of the recent sufferings of the Bosnian people. 


By far the ...

... we all knew it was going to be a long day for everyone. We started off by going to this old campsite that use to be used by locals in the communist times for us to get an understanding of the history of the country. Through the tour the guide was telling us loads of intersting things, much of it I am sure is biast towards Bosnia but he was saying how he was a refugee living in Sweden for 15 years because of the war and at the time when it started he was 21 and it was weird ...

... through the hills, up long switchbacks, and through many tunnels finally depositing us into a wide and warm valley some one thousand meters lower than chilly Sarajeveo. It was one train ride we wished had been longer than it was. Perhaps part of the reason Bosnia and Herzegovia have decided to remain a joint country is that independence did not come easily to any of these states. First Croatia had broken away with the Serbs who were intent on ...

... and took us in their little car in two trips to the train station- which was a life saver, carrying our packs in the sun for 15 minutes would not have been fun. We all reunited again at the train station and bought our one-way tickets for Sarajevo. There was a little shop, so we bought some supplies for the train and sat around on the platform, wondering about what to expect from Sarajevo.....

... slept in the bus station until then. Unlike Franca's bus, my bus showed up on time. I was surprised to see so many English speaking tourists on the bus. Every seat was filled. I didnt think Mostar was going to be filled with backpackers but seeing all these people on the bus made me think otherwise. The bus ride to Mostar was 3 hours long. The border guards got on the bus to look at everyone's passport. They only glanced at mine. They didnt seem too concerned ...

... lahempana seitsemaa, joten ensimmaisena paivana ei juuri muuta ehtinyt tehda kuin kayda syomassa. Jostain helvetin oikusta nappasin sen paikan joka ei tarjoa alkoholia... Bosniassa on melko helppo pelata rahan kanssa, yksi euro vastaa muutamaan senttia vaille kahta Bosnian markkaa (onpas nostalgista). Hauskaa taalla on se etta taalla kaytetaan sujuvasti kolmea valuuttaa sekaisin. Maksoin ravintolassa markoilla, vaihtorahaa tuli niin ...

... the Old Town area around the Bazaar was really cute. It was really empty because of being the off-season, even better for us to have it almost completely to ourselves. After some cheese and potato burek counting our pennies to not have to withdraw any more Bosnian money only to change it to Croatian money later that day, it was onto the bus heading to Split, Croatia.

... a day and a half (which was perfect, as that is how long it would take us to get there). On the way to the bus station, Tammy and I separated to run errands. As I was at an internet café, I ran into another couple and overhead me talk about me my lost bag. As Tammy mentioned in her Dubrovnik post, they were looking to lighten their pack a little and the guy, who's name and email I now wish I had written down, gave me two ...