Sarajevo
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2006
1
69
120
Trip End
Sep 02, 2008
Sarajevo,
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Friday, November 3, 2006
Still, amazingly enough, back in Dubrovnik, our hoteličre Budima had made a reservation for us and R- was genius. A short car ride later and we're in the hostel meeting Americans, Aussies and Scots. This anglopone crew provided a merry evening and we were happy to be in Sarajevo.
But to wake up the morning after, that is another story. Someone was crafting a metal gate at 8 am only a few meters from our room. Someone else had been smoking for hours already and the air was thick enough with smoke to remind me why I like smoking bans so much. I got up with a sore back from a lumpy bed and realised that with the seven other people in this postage-stamp of a room it was tight to move about. It was time for a shower, but it was not to be. The hot water had ran out long ago.
Needless to say we had to find another place to stay. After an hour's hunt we found a little apartment 150 meters away from the hostel, a good location. It was completely empty but for us. It had hot water, lots of space and loud construction nearby, although the street in front of it was being repaired at a tranquil pace. And honestly it smelt a bit rank. No matter though, my sense of smell is terrible anyway. Between the two of us, this room only cost four dollars more than the hostel!
We began our walk around the city. We found an "English Language" book with extensive notes on the city. Since we were feeling a bit of exhaustion from the previous hustle around the region, we decided that a number of days stop in the city was in order. And if so, we ought to get to know this city a bit better than we get to with most.
Our book was a local publication with extensive detailsl. It devided Sarajevo into a dozen sections and it had a note on everything. One I particularly liked was about a cafe we stepped into to warm up a bit with a hot drink (it was about five degrees C out) "This cafe was once the place where the city's elite used to go. Then it caught on with the kids and the elite stopped going. Now it's a normal cafe." That of course is not verbatum, but the book reads something like that. We had hot chocolates and cakes there for three dollars each.
Some entries in the book were a lot more informative, however, and helped us get to know the city's recent past. One entry led us to an old movie theatre. We were interested in seeing "Borat" which was going to open in Bosnia on Friday night. So we had fo find somewhere to see it and hope that it wasn't dubbed.
Before the war this cinema, said the book, was the popular place that everyone used to go, and the city's biggest. But during the fighting it was pretty badly destroyed and the only evidence that it was ever anything but a shot up concrete block was just a shattered bit of the neon sign. As far as we could see it was completely closed inside. It would be hard to imagine showing up at Silver City in WEM to find out that it was closed due to war damage. And certainly we could not watch "Borat" there. We were starting to interact with the 1992-5 war.
That night we went back to the hostel to socialize. The same folks were around. We had a few other Canadians and two ladies from NZ show up too. A dozen of us went for thai food: After nearly a month of the local fare it was a welcome day to have something different. It was relatively amazing, and everyone enjoyed it.
We spent the most of the meal talking about China and South Asia ( Oh yeah, I may as well sneak in a mention to pique your interest: I'm off to China next year, so come back in February to see what's happened to me: I may have caught up on this blog by then!). I am relatively excited but a bit apprehensive at the same time: I heard some cautions that sounded a lot like the ones I give others when they say they want to go to Egypt.
One traveller's behaviour deserves a footnote too: One of the scottish kids, a bit of a Trainspotting type, only eats chips. It came up because he was the only one who wasn't interested in Thai food and his travelling pal wanted to come with us. He said he wouldn't have anything to eat at a Thai restaurant. He didn't eat vegatables. Nor meat (he was pretty thin). Naw, none of that. Really? I asked. Wait, of course he'll eat candy and the odd vitamin pill (for his health). He came along all the same because he would have a plain bowl of rice. He seasoned it with vinegar and salt and really liked it, so he said, the first rice he has had in months. Well good for him but it was so unusual for someone to turn down such an affordable and gourmet meal. To each his own.
Much later we found ourselves at a pub. The group discussion had disentigrated into couples, each a guy and a girl. As lucid as I still was, my conversation lulled and I observed the others a moment. You know how it is that between guys and girls, sometimes guys are supposed listen and nod, sometimes chuckle and tell the girl that she's right. We've all seen a beer advert where a girl is talking and a guy is nodding along, but all the while thinking of sports. Four conversations right in front of me were on the same wavelenght, and simulataneously, four girls said their punch lines, and four guys paused a second, chuckled and nodded. It was one of those priceless moments that could not have been more perfect in a Bud Light commercial. Oh, such magic there is in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
