Motel Emen Mostar

... line of sniper fire, so instead locals would bury the dead in the parks out of the line of fire, during the cover of darkness. As we walked by the cemetary the first thing we noticed was how out of place the cemetary seemed . Which makes sense as it used to be a park. The second thing we noticed was that everyone in the cemetary had died in 1992. Despite hearing about the war from Bata and seeing the damage, seeing the tombstones really hit home, especially when each one said 1992.

... nd in f*ct my bike itiner*ry h*d *lloc*ted *s m*ch *ddition*l time to tr*versing Cro*ti*, with D*brovnik *s the fe*ther in the D*lm*ti*n c*p before crossing into It*ly in September, *voiding the worst of the crowd *nd he*t. I*n *nd most of the other tr*velers checking o*t of the hostel were he*ded for Split, Hv*r *nd Br*c, *ll of which were points (*long with sever*l other less to*risty spots) my boss S*nj* h*d s ...

... on one side of the river, Muslim Bosniaks on the other, and Serbs no longer there at all. The hostility to anything Serb is obvious on any street sign, where the Serbian cyrillic script is either painted over, scratched out, or riddled with bullets. Mostar and Bosnia still have a long way to go, but the Muslim influence in this part of Europe is incredibly fascinating.

... by the frontline and since the frontline
ran through the middle of town thats where most of the destruction took
place.

Since then a lot of the old town has been impressively
rebuilt to original specs but there are still plenty of buildings just
a block from the main touristy old town that are on the verge of
collapse or just riddled with dozens of bullet holes.

This was my first real taste of a previously war torn town.

I got into town on the ...

... beautiful maze of flora and fauna, walking through the wilderness where geckos and lizards are found in abundance I'm sure, but that wasn't gonna stop me, I was mentally prepared to handle those ******* reptiles with the utmost aplomb, and hopefully the absolute minimum level of shrieking like a girl. There was a rope on a tree where the willing ones would swing like Tarzan to the middle of the stream, and then you drop. Brilliant eh?! You don't even know the half of it! We ...

... of our time in Mostar (if not our time in Europe) was the hostel's tour, led by the owner's brother.   We piled into his Mercedes van first thing in the morning and he proceeded for the next 12 hours (!!) to entertain, inform and delight us as we toured the city and the surrounding towns and countryside. Very, very interesting to talk with someone who is willing to speak so frankly about his ...

... was a really nice drive. All true. I made it to the little town of Pocitelj which had a Castle on the top of a hill again. IT looked really nice, so I stopped and took a couple of photographs. No climbing this time, my legs never would have made it and it was sprinkling a little. As I passed the point of the hill, the entire town of Pocitelj came into sight. WOW, was all I could say. It is a gem and should be visited. A true ...

... Tam okazalo sie, ze wlasnie odbywaja sie zawody "plywania na byle czym" oraz skokow do wody z najslynniejszego, 20-metrowego mostu. Przy Starym Moscie bylo tysiace ludzi - obserwatorow, dopingujacych zawodnikow. W tym tlumie nietrudno było zgubic naszych Francuzow. Chodzilismy sobie za to malowniczymi uliczkami ze straganami pelnymi staroci. A 300 metrow od centrum takie zniszczenia! Kontrast dajacy do myslenia. Czekalismy przy samochodzie na Francuzow przez 1,5 h. Okazalo ...

... and banks and cafes for old men, people walked and knew one another. Many Muslims live in Bosnia, and built into these central streets were globe-shaped mosques with hopping arches for gates, and a Muslim graveyard whose white tombstones were crooked, diamond-shaped posts. Mostar's "Stary Most" (Old Bridge), for pedestrians only, was chalk white and shaped like a wide-open hairpin. On hot days, divers in red speedo's jump below into the heavy aqua river swirling ...

... 25 year old aides, dressed like models, following along behind carrying important papers and the keycodes to Bosnia's nuclear arsenal - all looking extremely important and very busy. Minor local politicians jockeying for honorary space in the photos next to the Presidents. But for the Bridge and the minarets, we could have been at the White House Rose Garden...