TravelStream™ news feed for member travel_chris on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/travel_chris en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:45:16 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/5/1249298174/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/5/1249298174/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/5/1249298174/tpod.html Tue, 25 Aug 2009 06:45:16 -0400 Travel via Italy to Eastern Europe

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I was back in Bosnia this year to explore some other cities and to (again) visit the film festival. For me this visit was part of a much bigger trip which went from Italy to Berlin (via Croatia, Bosnia, Hungary, Poland)This time i decided to invite two Dutch friends. We would meet up in Mostar and be traveling together in Bosnia for twelve days. I would be guiding them around.. since i have been here several times before.The cities we visited were Mostar, Sarajevo, Srebrenica, Travnik, Jajce, Jablanica, Konjic and finally Sarajevo where we would split. More stories and photo's about those cities later. First some of the bad things we experienced. Unlike other years corruption and tourist rip offs were really a major issue this time.  It started with the usual things: Asking two or three times the price once they noticed we were tourists. For food there was also another trick. For example: ordering a big cevapi, kebab or anything else, getting a small one, but paying for a big one. This just did not happen in Sarajevo, but also in cities like Travnik. Even at the various buses we traveled with, the driver regularly charged us two to four times the normal price to store our luggage in the cabin. The taxi's were a major problem, but i already knew that. In Srebrenica we had to pay about 6 euro to get from the Potocari memorial to the city center. A few minutes drive. In Sarajevo taxi prices were 10 - 20 euro from the main bus / railway station to the city center. Luckily in Sarajevo there are trams as well.. I never really had a problem with those until this year...We got on a tram just outside the center. (we were dropped off by some Bosnian friends after a visit to Konjic) Inside the tram we bought a ticket from the driver. For some reason he first had to make a phone call, so we waited for him to finish. When he hang up we got to the next stop. We realized who he was calling. Three officers came into the tram and immediately walked to us. The driver gave us our tickets and i went to the stamp machine to stamp them. However, it said the tickets were invalid. (what?!) The officers were next: telling us we didn't have valid tickets and that we were criminals. The fine was 40 euro. We tried to get into a reasonable discussion with these guys, but they were reluctant to do so. They would not let us go till we paid the fine. I said, 'forget it, we won't pay this..' But my two friends (who were in Bosnia for the first time) could not believe what was happening and felt really really uncomfortable.  (The scene, which went on for 10-15mins was quite harassing) They decided to pay for all of us. We got off and went to the hostel. My friends were kind of shocked and went to bed. I was quite mad and disappointed. I decided to go to a Bosnian friend to tell him what happened. He wasn't surprised. As he is a hotel owner he has encountered this problem before. "A short while ago one of my guests, American tourist, bought a ticket, and stamped it. An officer came in, asked for the ticket and swapped it for a invalid one. Result, a fine!" He said he even called the newspaper for this, cause it gives a bad picture to Sarajevo and Bosnia. No shit, it definitely does...  A Dutch friend of mine who regularly goes to Bosnia because of company visits told me an almost simular story once i told her about our experience.Another problem are souvenir shops. Don't even think about buying something there. Most of the products are fake and/or cheap production from China. Especially the blacksmith street in Sarajevo, Baščaršija seems to be a fraud. They trick you into thinking the cups, cans, plates are hand made.. (once in a while each shop owner takes a hammer and starts polishing a cup, plate, whatever) , but once you take a look at some of the printed marks or labels you can read 'made in China'. It still wouldn't be such a big problem when it was reasonable priced. Forget about it. They vary from 50 to 100 euro for a simple plate or a few cups and cans. And i am sure everyone knows it will probable cost 1 - 5 euro in China. Sometimes we felt stupid after being ripped off again. "We should have paid more attention." But in Bosnia the sellers and traders seem really sophisticated in doing so. It really happens right in front of you, while looking you in the eyes. Something you would not really expect. They trick you into thinking the price is right. My advice, watch the f-ck out.  Have the hostel owner arrange a taxi or anything else for you. Take notice in trams. (don't give an officer your ticket, but just show it to him. Get out when you see other tourists getting screwed) Try to pay in 'small' money. Only have dinner in restaurants or cafe's which have a clear menu card. But even this is not safe: after one dinner it happened that a waiter said that the menu card was outdated. And then the struggle begins...Many of the hostels owners i spoke with and Bosnian friends i know say the country is ill. "Corruption is even higher than in Albania" Said one of them. I just hope the people in Bosnia will realize ripping off tourists is not the right thing to do to fulfill the country money needs. (taxes are raised every year because there is millions of debt)More stories and many photo's later. Especially about Srebrenica which to my surprise looked so much better than last year. (a lot of work has been done there)  And, don't worry... Bosnia hosts many nice people. There are of course many people which are honest. The country has beautiful landscapes. But for this trip the above really really ruined it for us. For some time i was really considering never to go to Bosnia again.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/1/1209483000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/1/1209483000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/1/1209483000/tpod.html Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:29:19 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I got back in Sarajevo at Monday night by train from Mostar. It departs around 17:30 and the trip takes about three hours. People have mentioned the trip is nice and shows a lot of beautiful scenery. True. If you haven't seen much of Bosnia, I really recommend to take this one. There are two trains from Mostar to Sarajevo. One early in the morning around 8:00am and one in the evening. Both are nice and if you don't travel during winter it stays light long enough. It is also nice to see the last part by sunset. In Sarajevo I still had to find a room. Luckily I met the owner of Hostel Posillipo, Salem, one week earlier. So I knew where to go. His hostel is located almost right on Bascarsija's pigeon square, in the center of Sarajevo. He found me a nice guy and he really liked a girlfriend of mine who visited his hostel one year earlier. So I got a free night. Bosnia! :)The next morning I got up really early to catch the bus to Srebrenica. There are three buses each day. One goes from the main bus station in Sarajevo. It departs at 7:10AM. There are also two buses which depart from the eastern bus station in the Serbian outskirts of Sarajevo. They depart at 8:40 and 15:30. It is about a 30min drive to get there. I didn't really want to look for it, so I just took tram line 1 from Bascarsija and ended up on the main bus/train station within 10 minutes.On the bus station I met some teenagers who told me they were born in Srebrenica. I got into a talk with them. As soon as I mentioned I was from Holland the first thing I heard... "They fucked us!" "The Dutch soldiers were cowards!" I tried to relative things a bit by saying that "I don't think it is the soldiers you should blame, but instead the government and NATO who have definitely failed." I told them about the work I was going to do in Srebrenica. "I will be fixing a school there and helping children. Together with 100 other Dutch people" They started to like me and in the end wished me good luck. I told them the same. Once again I heard the same stories. They were living a happy life in Srebrenica, but once war came everything got screwed. Nowadays they wander around on the streets of Sarajevo. No work, not much money and I had the impression they did not really have a 'home' as well....The ticket to Srebrenica cost about 23KM, one way, which is about 12 Euro. Pretty expensive for Bosnia. The trip takes about four hours. I took a bus from Sarajevo to Travnik, costs 15KM. The bus trip from Travnik to Mostar cost about 25KM. All trips take up to 4 hours, but still.... Bus travels in Holland seem to be cheaper. I can buy a bus card for 7 Euro, which is valid for about two-three hours.When Azra and the other people told me their monthly wage is about 300-400KM, (~200 euro) I start to wonder again how the Bosnian people can pay all this. Not much time to investigate. I conclude the prices seem to be the same as in Holland, but instead the Bosnian people have much less wage a month......I just love how the Bosnian bus system works. There seems to be a stop everywhere. In Holland we have fixed bus stops and if you are too late the bus driver will just move on. In the worst case he will pull his middle finger. If you see a Bosnian bus you can just wave 'Hey, I want to get on' and he will stop! COOL. :)When I arrived in Srebrenica I immediately noticed things aren't really fixed up yet. After wandering around a bit I concluded "ok, this city looks like shit". The landscape and nature are absolutely fantastic. It is one of the nicest I have seen in Bosnia so far. The city is located in a valley and completely surrounded by mountains. Basically there is just one street, so it is easy to see the whole of Srebrenica in one walk. (will take you like two hours) On the top of the mountain you will have the stari grad (old part) of Srebrenica. What is left there are ruins of a castle and several old houses. A walk up takes about 20 minutes and is definitely recommended. It will also give you a nice view of a big part of Srebrenica. There are two churches in town. An orthodox one and a mosque. The orthodox church is again located on a hill and gives you a nice overview of the city center. Recommended. I walked around for about two hours. I haven't seen any house which was not damaged in some way. Many were empty as well. Deserted by families who left the city or just not taken back by families who never returned. I have seen a seven story building, which used to be apartments and a hotel. It was was completely abandoned. There seem to be so many many (big) buildings which offered some sort of service in the past, but nowadays they are not in use. Desterted, abandoned, empty, people have completely vanished. Really scary when you think about it. Throughout the city runs a small river. I am not sure what happened with it, but instead of sparkling blue water it looked red and very dirty. Polluted all the way. Yes, this city looks really dead on surface in almost every way. Later I learned 60% of the city is used. 40% consists of empty buildings.As I was walking around I met a few locals. I had my video camera in my hands and at one point an old man came to me and started talking... he took me to a building and told a whole story about it in Serbo-Croatian. I couldn't understand a word of it, but it was obvious he wanted to tell me something about it's history. Most of it is recorded on tape and still needs to be translated. Then he unfolded an official document, again in Serbo-Croatian, from the organization 'Transparency of Bosnia Herzegovina'. Later I learned it is an organization for peacebuilding and against corruption. It was a very interesting walk and I wish I could have been in contact with the locals more to record their stories, but 'unfortunately' I had to find the school and do my job.I didn't know where to go, so I thought the best option was to just walk into an U.N. Building, which is located in the center of Srebrenica, to ask where I could find those damn Dutchmen. They were laughing when I walked in and said "No problem, it is very easy to find. Let me just call some friends from the local Youth center and they will tell you where to go!" I asked them what they were doing. One of them was helping gypsies in Srebrenica, another one was working on social project. I really forgot to ask what kind of other projects are going on and how well the European Union is still involved to help Srebrenica get back on its feet. Maybe next time. When I arrived at the youth center they let me store my luggage and I moved on to the school. I quickly found it and saw lots of Dutch students working and fixing. I prepared myself for this clash. My expectations were not proven wrong. Damn, some Western people are really annoying. Especially after I teamed up with a lot of Bosnian people the past week. The contrast was too visible for me. Their continues whining. Their arrogance, annoyance and ignorance. As I have written before, one of the downsides of these projects is that you don't get to see a lot of Bosnia and it's people. I wish some of them did. They would shut up for a long time. But it was a good experience. It really made me see the difference between Western and Eastern society.I was going to work for three days. (This was for www.bosnianchild.nl again. Charity project) We did some great work at the school. From a boring gray interior most of it has become a really happy place for children. Painted walls, fixed lightning, toys, seats, other kind of entertainment. You name it, we did it. I didn't make any pictures here. Just some video footage from before and after. I will put a compilation online on this Blog later!As the days past I just didn't feel home. I noticed the stress and whining. It annoyed me so much! The boss of the foundation who organized the project was kind enough to bring me to the Srebrenica memorial. It is located about five minutes outside the city, right in front of the old Dutchbat HQ. Well ,what can I say. The place is big. More than 8000 people have died in the massacre. Not all have been found, but what lays there consists of several football fields. The memorial looks something like a tomb with a small fountain. Around it lay stones which list all the current known names of the people who have died. Some of them are complete families. Horrible. I did not have time to enter the Dutchbat HQ as I got picked up not much later. I heard some of it is still open. There is also a movie being shown about 'the road to the Srebrenica massacre'. However, most of the base is closed for public. The memorial looked nice and peaceful. It is guarded 24hours by a watchtower. Guards are patrolling. I also saw some agrarians and other people walking around to make sure the grass and the garden stays in nice shape. It was the first place in Bosnia where I noticed people actively doing something about the environment. This place definitely means something to them....I stayed at the only hotel in Srebrenica, owned by Abdullah. The name of the hotel is different. But when you ask people about Abdullah they will point where you should go. Single rooms are 20 Euro for each night. But you can also book into a double and triple room. The triple room is 45 Euro. The hotel itself looks like a three-four star place. Pretty good.The work at the school was finished within three days. Quite short, but we managed to do a lot of things. Unfortunately not many locals showed up to look at the result. It was a mixed muslim, orthodox school. Probably the reason why. The atmosphere is not really good in Srebrenica regarding this matter. In the past people used to fight with each other on the streets and stones were thrown at buses when there were muslims in them. This doesn't happen a lot anymore, but it is clear the heads of the people are still filled with mixed up feelings. People don't have much trust...The director of the school (a Bosnian Serb) was being an ass in the beginning, complaining about what we should do and what not. Ironically a Serbian school was located next to it, so some people showed up to tell us we were working at the wrong school. "Those children are bad!" As soon as I saw them again I tried to start a discussion. The first thing which got thrown to my head: "Do you know Karadzic?" Followed by gestures of people who are getting shot. "He is great!" I decided to join the game and threw the ball back "Karadzic, you mean that asshole who....?" Oops. The others laughed a bit, but unfortunately we couldn't really start a discussion about it. I wish it happened. Most of them were teenagers and their English was not really good. But I am really interested in their parents and teachers who seem to be telling them these kinds of things. Why o why?Srebrenica has one building which looks good. It houses a supermarket and bank and is built and sponsored with funds from the European Union. It really looks out of place. Even the interior looked better than most of the supermarkets in my city. It consists of western products, many of which I did not see before in Bosnia. The walls and floor were sparkling new, the speakers were playing western music, the dresses of the personnel and well... the whole atmosphere. ****! What happened here. I got angry. Who did this and why haven't they spent the money to fix the buildings from the people!! What kind of use is a supermarket which looks like a palace when their own houses look like shit with no money on their bank accounts!!! I felt like screaming, but I quietly walked out.I left Srebrenica at Friday morning May 2nd 3:00am to go back to Holland. I traveled with the bus from the Dutch people. It took about 24 hours in total, including short stops. Damn. No more bus trips for me. Too long and uncomfortable. Even the train trip was ten times more comfortable. Next time plane or train only.And here comes an end to my trip in Bosnia. I haven't been able to visit Jajce, Neum, Tuzla and other places. I simply did not have time anymore. However, during my trip I got a very interesting offer. Seems like I can come back for a month. I definitely will when it is possible. I would like to record more in depth stories about Bosnia, get in contact with more locals and find out what else is going on.....I should be updating this Blog with videos during the coming weeks. I think most photo's are here now. I haven't shot much photo's. But instead about five hours of video. I will also add more stories when some of them come back in my mind. I haven't been making much notes... all comes straight from the memory when I look at photo's. :) (still have to watch my videos)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219705200/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219705200/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219705200/tpod.html Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:21:50 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: Sarajevo Film Festival, Brcko and Mostar

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Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

story to follow /aug 31: i am still working on this.Yes, in my previous blog i said i wouldn't go to Mostar. However, i was in Tuzla today and the only bus for Travnik/Jajce already left. That would leave the following options... Banja Luka, Srebrenica, Sarajevo or Mostar.... Mostar it is. More to come later. Not staying at Majdas this time, but a private room for 20 eur.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219518000/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219518000/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219518000/tpod.html Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:19:42 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: Sarajevo Film Festival, Brcko and Mostar

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Brcko, Bosnia and Herzegovina

story to follow /aug 31: i am still working on this.---Probably the most tensed city of Bosnia. Brcko Distrikt. At the border in the north. You have everything here.. Croatians, Serbians and Muslims. And things certainly are not right.Where Srebrenica is very sad and damaged, this city is very tensed.Just one example.. i attended a Serbian football match. Next to the stadium there is a mosque. During half time the lyrics of the mosque (like a church does with it´s bells) started playing. The whole crowd started booing and swearing all over the place. I was on the tribune and got my ass out of there.Also, i was advised not to walk in the city at night. The people (of course not all) in Brcko do not like strangers. As the distrikt is still run by Americans and Europeans those people are suspicious and angry. I stayed home at night.. cause, as i was told, ´there is change you will be beaten up if they notice you as a stranger. Fights happen here. And police is always late. I want to protect you from this´´ I stayed at a Bosnian family house. I know this family from Holland. More stories to come later. I have a lot of pictures from Brcko. The above might sound negative, but this city was an interesting place to visit. I will certainly return...
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219687740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219687740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219687740/tpod.html Sun, 31 Aug 2008 08:19:08 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: Sarajevo Film Festival, Brcko and Mostar

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Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I took the last bus to Tuzla. (18:50 from Stanica Sarajevo) It will cost you 21KM, which is about 10-11 euro, and the journey takes three hours. Because of some delay in Sarajevo we left around 19:30 and arrived at 22:30. Before i left i looked on bhtourism.ba to find the cheapest motel/pansion. It appeared to be 'Pansion Rudar', which according to the site would offer a room for 15 euro. Very good!Unfortunately i didn't look up the location of this pansion in advance, so i had to ask a taxi driver to get me there. "That's 7 euro". I said no.. he went down.. to 5. I still said no. "Ok, three euro? It is a five kilometer ride!" I said "fine, just take me there." I got myself and the bags into the car and before i had a chance to sit down we were already there. Turns out the pansion was just around the corner of the bus station. A few hundred meters away! LOL, wat an ass. I accepted my loss and got inside.Once i was inside it turned out the information on bhtourism.ba seemed to be 'wrong'. Rooms weren't 15 euro, but 27 euro! What! Damned.. i didn't know my way in Tuzla yet, so i wouldn't know where else to go. Besides, walking around in an unknown city at night with bags. Nope. I accepted, but not with happiness. Also, the staff did not speak a single word of English nor German.The room was total garbage. I saw some insects crawling around, the bed was not clean and there was still piss inside the toilet. GRRR... I put my bags inside the room and decided to find the city center. I thought.. i really need to know a good hostel,motel or pansion for next time.. I arrived at the bus station again, after just two minutes of walking. grr. To get to the city center: in front of the bus station, go left. You have to walk straight on for about 15mins. First thing you will see is an university at the left and an event hall at the right. Then there is some river at the left and after some time you can cross a bridge to the left. (not the small walking bridge! but the big one a little further)When i crossed the bridge i saw pansion 'Kipovi' right in front of me. I think this is probably the best pansion in town. I talked with the manager and he was so nice. Once he found out i was from Holland he started to name the players from the Euro 88 football team. :p Single room cost 30km (15 euro) . Double rooms are 40km. (20 euro) There is also a 5km tax, but i am not sure if foreigners need to pay this. The place looked clean and the owner speaks English and German.Contact details:Pansion "Kipovi"Franjevacka 10TuzlaIf there is noone inside call this number:062 389 478 It was Friday night so i wanted to find some bars to party, or something. :) Unfortunately not many things were open here and it wasn't crowded at all. Instead many young people were sitting in parks with bottles of alcohol and... I didn't really feel comfortable to join them, so i went back to Rudar.The next morning i woke up and left this crappy pansion. But not before i found out there were actually two pricelists.... one for Europeans and one for Bosnians. Of course the Bosnian one was hidden behind the counter. I rest my case.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219372680/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219372680/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219372680/tpod.html Sun, 31 Aug 2008 06:25:32 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: Sarajevo Film Festival, Brcko and Mostar

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Last two days i stayed at Hostel Posellipo. What a change. I had a private room for the same price, 15 euro. No more annoying people walking in and out and a good night rest. Aug 20 at night saw me going to Club Jez. They had some traditional Bosnian party going on and it was very nice. the place was packed with Bosnians. No tourists. Everyone was singing along and jumping around.I also had a bad dinner last night. The menu was called 'cheerful Bosnian' and it was at some restaurant in Bascarsija. My stomach hurts very much. Probably the meat wasn't very good. Today i will see the last film. Snow (Snijeg)The festival has been very good. I didn't expect it to be so luxury. Giant open air cinema, a festival square next to the national theatre where you could get free drinks, use free internet, play the latest consolegames on big screen televisions, see press conferences, watch other activities and buy costly merchandise. I bought a 20 euro t-shirt from the festival, only because i wanted one. I felt like "20 euro, what are they thinking?" But it is good to have one to remember.I have seen several Bosnian films. Either animation, film or documentary. Most of them have a subject that links to the war. Some of them were documentary films about Srebrenica. For these the cinemas were packed. Men, women, families, children. People were even sitting on the floor and stairs to see them. To be honest, they were quite bad film wise. The subject was interesting, but the result just badly put together. This did not matter. Every Bosnian in the cinema was either in tears, shaking the head or covering the eyes. After each film, and after an applause of like five minutes, some reps from the festival would come on stage. Quote: "We know there are international distributors in this cinema tonight and we really hope that this film will be picked up and distributed around the world. People need to see this. Please, it is important." In my opinion most of them have absolutely no chance. They need to be edited/produced differently in order to have a foreigner feel the same emotion. Either way, it was really impressive and interesting to see and feel this experience.The festival took place in several locations. I have visited the following: 'National Theatre' (with red carpet) , 'Youth Theatre', 'Meeting point cinema' and 'Heineken open Air'. I liked Meeting point cinema the most. It has a nice bar, the seats in the theatre were really comfortable and it is not too big. :) I saw the most absurd film of this festival there. Los Bastardos. It's about two mexicans who are illegal workers in the USA. One day one of them carries a shotgun in his backpack. The movie soon becomes quite bad and it drags on forever. Until this one gruesome scene....Kevin Spacey was a special guest at this festival. Unfortunately i did not see him. I already left to Brcko when he came to visit the festival at the last day. Because of his appearance they had a screening of 'The Usual Suspects'. Yes, the great film from 1995. The strange thing is they put this in the 'audience award competition'. And to no surprise, it won. lol. Ok, i know the movie is very good. But a 1995 movie in a competition of a 2008 festival? Other movies from 2008/2007 need to have a chance to win this award, not a 1995 movie which already proofed its greatness. I think they did this because Spacey visited Sarajevo.I can also say which film ended second in the audience award. One about Srebrenica...I said good bye to the festival at Friday night. I packed my bags and took a bus to Tuzla where i would be staying for one night to catch a bus to Brcko next day.Good to know: last time i got back from Bosnia i had an expensive phone bill waiting for me. Yes i called a lot with Bosnian friends and also send some text messages to Holland. This time i decided to get a Bosnian sim/phone card. What a relief. Calling is a lot cheaper now. Go to some kiosque and ask for 'Ultra start paket'. It will cost 15km and you will have 10km of credit. I called for like 20mins inside Bosnia and sent numerous text messages to Bosnian and Dutch friends. I still have 2km left!Also, the credit will expire after three months. If you don't recharge the card with new credit the number will expire after four months.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219114800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219114800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219114800/tpod.html Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:41:01 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: Sarajevo Film Festival, Brcko and Mostar

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I am now three days into the festival and it is awesome!I arrived last Saturday around 16:00 at Sarajevo Airport. When our plane landed we were greeted by a firetruck which started to hose our plane. The pilot said that we shouldn't be scared of the truck... "It is a typical way to welcome new visitors to Sarajevo". Funny... Note:There is no public transport to and from Sarajevo airport. Do not take a taxi to the city center, you will pay too much. (20 - 40km = 10 - 20 euro) Instead pay 6-8km (3 - 4 euro) to go to the nearest tram stop. (called, STUP) From there get on line 3 to the city center. That line costs only 1.80km. (=0.90 euro)In total you should get to the city center for max 5 euro which is much better than the taxi rates.So, i first went to the hostel to drop my stuff and then went on to find the box office of the festival. I found it quite fast and the first thing i heard was that all movies 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 the main festival square, people are selling bootlegs of the latest movies. lol.The locations where you can watch the movies are awesome. There is a super big open air cinema, sponsored by Heineken :D . I saw 'Gomorra' there last night (very good new Italian mafia film) and the place was PACKED with, i think, around 1000 people!!!Here is a list of the movies i have got tickets for now!Girls 2008 Hungary Gomorra 2008 Italy http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0929425/ <-- very goodThe Seeker 2008 Slovenia/Bosnia . Film about a man who searches for mass graves of the victims from the Srebrenica massacreThe Fourth Man 2007 Serbia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0930856/Hunger 2008 UK/Ireland http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986233/ <-- about the IRA, impressive film.Competition shorts 1 + 2 . About 12 shorts from Eastern Europe. Either Animation or Art house.We have never been to Venice 2008 Slovenia***I have seen the above ones so far.. the next few days i will see...***Travelling with Pets 2007 Russia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1047845/Calle Santa Fe 2007 Chile http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1038904/Walty With Bashir 2008 Israel http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185616/ <-- this film got raving critis on cannes 2008. I am really looking forward. It is about the Israel - lebanon war.My Winnipeg 2007 Canada http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093842/P.V.C -1 2007 Colombia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1031951/ <--looks goodLos Bastardos 2007 Mexico http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0841922/ <-- looks good tooBoogie 2008 Romania http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1132578/Srebrenica's Cenotaph 2008 BosniaDivorce Albanian style 2008 Albania If you are watching this mum 2008 Bosnia (another film about Srebrenica)Buick Riviera 2008 Croatia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0995712/Snow 2008 Bosnia http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1146295/Looks good eh?I will update with some more stories tomorrow and also post pictures.=================update : (Aug 20)Yesterday was really though. I have watched four movies.. Travelling with pets (Russian art house film) , Calle Santa Fe, Waltz With Bashir (very good film) and some film from the 80s. At night i went to a Bosnia party. There was an orchestra (Kocani Orchestra) playing for two hours and the last few hours were Balkanbeats. The Bosnian were going crazy all night. It was great to see and experience. I have visited a lot of other bars and clubs... here's a complete list:HaciendaHavanaBarkaPiratKiborgQuadroCentralClub Jez (nice underground club with electro,minimal,house, but also traditional music)Tabu AlfonsoClub Boemie (nice underground club with electro,minimal,house)Club Retro Club IncognitoColosseum Club.City Pub (very crowded)And close to the National Theatre square there are two bars which are PACKED every night.There is a big hall close to the Olympic stadium which hosts clubnights from time to time. And next to the colosseum club there is also a big event hall which, during the festival, is called Heineken Music stage. :)Kiborg,Central,Quadro,City Pub,Club Jez are all located in the same street called: Ferhadija. The Colosseum, Heineken Stage and Club Boemie are close to the Hiseta/Valtera Penca road. Can't be missed really.Most of these bars can be found in the city centre. Just ask some locals and they will guide you.But i also have to say something negative now. I do not recommend to go to Sarajevo during summer. The place is -flooded- with tourists. It really sucks. I sometimes get the feeling i am not in Bosnia but in America, England or Australia. Also i feel, because of the many tourists, the Bosnian approach of hospitality is much less. I have decided to skip Mostar and Neum for this trip. (i suspect it will be flooded with tourists there as well) I will go to Tuzla, Brcko this Friday to visit some Bosnian relatives. I can also stay at their house, have dinner, live the Bosnian way.... so i am really looking forward. :) It really sucks to have so many tourists around here. Luckily my main purpose is the film festival this time.. and not Sarajevo itself...I will leave Haris Youth Hostel tomorrow and stay at Hostel Posselipo. Haris is way too crowded atm. People keep walking in and out, at night... so sometimes i can hardly sleep. He has stacked the place with beds.. sleeping with 9 people in 16m2 is no fun. And there is three rooms like this!More later.. and i still plan to upload some nice pictures. :)Good to know: The weather is very hot at day, but cold (10 degrees) at night. Be sure to have some long trousers with you and a jacket. I am glad i did not forget them. :)
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1218828480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1218828480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1218828480/tpod.html Sat, 30 Aug 2008 15:35:51 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: Sarajevo Film Festival, Brcko and Mostar

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I will stay in Haris Youth Hostel again. At least, for the first few days.First things first is to check with the festival what tickets are still available at the box office and which movies are subtitled. If everything of the main programme is sold i will be screwed, but i have good hopes i will be able to buy some tickets when i come first in line at 9/10am. :)Also, in my previous blog i wrote about renting a room for one month. Well, it appeared to be a fairytale, because i never heard from that again. Too bad... but as you can see this doesn´t stop me from coming back to Bosnia.Germanwings flies to Sarajevo now. Every Wednesday and Saturday a plane leaves from Cologne-Bonn. A ticket costs 44 euro most of the time. If you book in advance you can get them for as low as 4.00 euro. Quote:"As we have already announced, the German low-cost airline "Germanwings"is going to start operations on 16 August 2008 by direct flights Cologne/Bonn - Sarajevo - Cologne/Bonn. But that is just the beginning. According to winter timetable, i.e. from 28 October 2008, this carrier is going to introduce a new direct connection betwee Sarajevo and Stuttgart. The flights will be taken twice a week (on Tuesdays and Saturdays) at afternoon hours. We believe this information will give joy both to all users of the Sarajevo Airport's services and to us since our efforts are aimed at constant satisfying of their wishes and at increasing the level of services to the enviable degree."
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219852800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219852800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/3/1219852800/tpod.html Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:43:12 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina 2: Sarajevo Film Festival, Brcko and Mostar

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Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/1/1208914620/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/1/1208914620/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/travel_chris/1/1208914620/tpod.html Fri, 09 May 2008 15:19:06 -0400 Exploring Bosnia and Herzegovina

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Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Woosh... Sarajevo made a really bad first impression on me. First, i got ripped off at the train station, because i wasn't paying attention. I was feeling SO BAD that i really needed a drink. So i got a tiny glass of orange juice for like 3 Euro. DOH.Next, outside i got -BOMBARDED- by taxi drivers and other people who wanted to offer me a sleeping place. It was dark, no single person on the street and three bags on my back. Things felt scary. Especially when my friend from the hostel showed up. (i arranged a free pickup) What followed was a huge fight between the people and my friend. It got really scary. At one point i feared one of them might pull out a gun... And only because they knew they wouldn't get any money. In the end the police got involved to solve the problem... But... i am still alive. My friend told me those taxi drivers/people have been harassing other tourists as well the past months. He was very sorry.i hope not many people from Sarajevo/Bosnia do this kind of behavior. It is very bad!So, when i got in the hostel (Harris Youth Hostel, run by a ~20 year old guy, who was in Sarajevo during the war) i was SUPER hungry. As i said in the previous blog: i didn't have lunch/dinner for 24hrs because of the long train trip and the fact that in Belgrade they didn't want my Euro's when i had a one hour stop there. I ordered a medium pizza for about 6 Euro. Well, i don't want to know what the large version looks like because the medium was VERY BIG... it definitely made me feel better again.I was alone in the hostel which was very good. I slept for 11hrs the first night. The next morning a guy from Sheffield checked into the hostel. We talked some, head into the city and then split our ways.I decided to go to the 'Sarajevo Tunnel Museum' first. During the war the Bosnians dug a tunnel from the western part of Sarajevo to a nearby town in Bosnian territory. Because the Serbs closed down Sarajevo from the mountains it wasn't possible to get any supplies or food into the city. This tunnel solved that problem a bit... people were able to get some food and the Bosnian army received arms. However, it wasn't completely safe. The tunnel got regularly shelled and many people died when trying to fulfill this heroic task.When i got back into the city i decided to head into Bascarsija. One of the oldest parts of the city with a big Turkish influence. The atmosphere really brings you back to medieval times. Do you know the game Assassins Creed? Well really, the cities like Damascus which you see in the game look a little bit like Bascarsija. While wandering around in Bascarsija i ran into an Australian guy who was also traveling alone in Bosnia. We decided to team up and head to the Sarajevo Olympic stadium, one of the dozen cemeteries, the Holiday Inn (the home base for journalists during the war), the bridge were Franz Ferdinand was killed, another bridge where the first two victims of Sarajevo were reported, the market place where about 85 people died when it got shelled, one of the many public parks where people are buried, because there was no space left on the cemeteries (!) and so on.....When we had seen all this we went to a big mosque in Bascarsija to look around. Suddenly a Bosnian guy asked us where we were from. We got into a talk. He called a friend and off we were. First some personal stories about Bosnia, then of course the famous Cevapcici and Burek. I forgot the places we went to next, but it was local adventure big time! Bosnia!In the end the guy brought me some DVD with Bosnian films, music and pictures. We said good bye and arranged to meet the following day.So i did. First we went to a cafe to have some traditional Bosnian coffee.Then we went to a friend of him who is a musician. He gave a demonstration of some traditional Bosnian music. After that he took me to a mosque in Bascarsija. I was able to look inside, make pictures and also video footage. In the end we were a bit tired, so it was time for some relaxing 'Nargila' ! (water-pipe smoking) I never done this before, but it was really great.. and i felt kinda dizzy afterwards. We went to some 'Nargila' place in a nearby street at the pigeon square. It had a really nice decoration and it gave me the feeling i was in the times of Ali Baba. :)I don't recall what we have seen more, but he also gave me a tour in the Islamic university of Sarajevo. I was able to talk to a professor there and he explained to me what lessons are given and how they do it. I told him about the situation in Holland. Geert Wilders and his movie, but also radical imams in Holland who (short summery) say non believers should be killed, are pigs, etc. Both my friend and the professor were very sad about this. Basically they pointed out the people who say this are not real believers of Islam. "Also, at our university we have Christian and Catholic professors and students from all religions. Everyone is welcome." It really gave me an new insight. And i was surprised how different it is compared to Holland. To my feeling such a tour and look inside a mosque or Islamic university isn't possible here. There is too many misunderstandings.I can't remember what we have done else. But we have seen a lot. In the end he called some of his other friends and we ended up with about 4-5 people i think. I got some more dvds, music, pictures and a lot of email addresses and telephone numbers. "When you will be here again, please call us. We will arrange a sleeping place for you and tour you around" AHHH, Bosnian people! Really friendly...The Bosnian people (i of course already knew, because i have been in Bosnia two times before) are one of the kindest i EVER met in my life. I am considered a king here.Some small notes: The train trip in Bosnia was very good. Much beautiful scenery. Recommended. I traveled from Strizivojna, Doboj, Zenica to Sarajevo.A train station in Bosnia/Romania, one guy for every task: besides the machinist, someone holds the whistle to tell the machinist to leave, someone is a mechanic, someone checks the tickets, another one is selling the tickets and then there is someone who keeps an eye on the wagons. In Holland this is all done by machines or a single person. :)On the night train the conductor will take your train ticket and give it back in the morning. He needs to do some administration work for the customs.When you travel in Romania, Serbia, Bosnia and i guess any country in Eastern Europe by train, be sure to have a complete travel scheme with you, so you know when and where the train will stop. They will not announce anything. If you are 'lost' you will have a big chance to miss the station.. because you will not have much time to hop off.
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