A Cool Bridge and Return to Mosques

Trip Start Aug 31, 2007

Trip End Apr 19, 2008

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Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Thursday, November 29, 2007

Mostar, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, has a big bridge, and it's kind of a big deal. On receiving my "Western Balkans" guide last February, I had looked at the cover and gone, what is that? It was Mostar's bridge, important enough that in a six country guide, it made the cover. The bridge was constructed over nine years, being completed in 1566. It stood for 427 years and people came from all corners of the world to see its beauty. However, on November 9, 1993, the Croats of the city dynamited the bridge in the Bosnian part of town, a symbol of the severed connection between the city's ethnicities. After the war, the bridge was rebuilt using 16th century construction techniques and stone from the original quarry. Today, much as before the war, the Icaruses of Mostar have returned, young men who plunge 21 m off the bridge into the river below each summer. However, whereas they did such feats as a show of masculinity before the war, today they do them for tourist dollars: 50 Euros for a jump, 300 for a dive

Half of the Old Town

.

But digressing for a minute back to the history of Bosnia-Herzegovina's war. Bosnia-Herzegovina is populated by three peoples, the Catholic Croats, the Muslim Bosnians, and the Orthodox Serbs. As the country tried to break away from the former Yugoslavia, a move supported by the Croats and Bosnians, the Serbs attacked the other two ethnic groups, who formed a military alliance and eventually managed to mostly fend them off with UN help. However, in early 1993, fighting broke out between the Croats and Muslims creating a second front. The UN force proved relatively impotent and fighting continued to escalate on all sides until the parties were called to a peace conference n Dayton, Ohio. The conference divided the country into two entities, the Serbian Republika Srpska and the Croat and Bosnian Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the Dayton Agreement, the region has been mostly peaceful and is now quite normal and safe.

So I had seen pictures and read the history of the bridge, but I didn't get it. it's a bridge. It goes across a river. That's what bridges do. Walking across the bridge my first night in town, though, it started to sink in. Not only is the bridge absolutely gorgeous, it connects two parts of Mostar's beautiful old town. Leaning over the side, I was filled with an odd respect for the men who hurl themselves off it each summer

THE Bridge

. The following morning, I wander the old town, strolling among the souvenir shops selling the more traditional Turkish coffee sets and images of the bridge beaten into copper, along with pens made from old bullets and old shells with various designs beaten into them. I am sucked in by the postcards, buying ten before the morning is out. Fernando, my first travel companion in nearly two weeks, and I duck into a shop for strong Turkish coffee and tea, escaping the morning's chill (away from the coast, I have hit winter again) Fernando is probably one of the most interesting people I have met on my travels, having grown up in South and Central America, Italy, and Somalia as his father worked for a global NGO. I feel I only scratch the surface of the stories he could tell as I sip my strawberry tea. Warmed up, we head back out to climb the minaret of the Koski Mehmed Pasa Mosque. The mosque interior is nice enough, but the views from the minaret are fabulous, and now I know where all the postcard shots are taken. I snap a few of my own and then head for the Museum of Herzegovina. The orthographical displays are mildly interesting, but the star of the show is a movie covering the recent history of the bridge. There are no words, only music as we watch men dive and jump off the bridge in 1967 to cheers and applause from the crowd gathered on the bank below. Next is a series of aerial shots of the city from 1984, and then wartime footage of a bridge walkway covered with a makeshift roof of wooden boards. A daring man ducks down and scampers across

Bullet Holes

. Ruins of the city are shown to the soundtrack of Carmina Burana with the grand finale being footage of the bridge's destruction. Jump ahead to 1996, when pieces of stone were pulled out of the river and then to the gradual rebuilding of the structure, ending with its opening in 2005 amidst a spectacle of fireworks. I very much enjoy the ten-minute movie and nearly want to pay admission again just to watch it a second time.

Besides the old town and bridge, Mostar is filled with reminders of the war. The front line went straight through the town and walking that street, many buildings are still riddled with bullet holes or entirely bombed out. No where is the damage of war far from view, but on the face of things, the population seems to have moved on. My last night in town is Friday, and a group of us venture out in search of nightlife. Thumping music leads us to a courtyard filled with three bars and packed with teenagers and 20-somethings at 9 pm. We enjoy drinks at each place (the country bar, the Turkish bar, and the Euro-techno bar) but by 11, the party has moved on and the courtyard festivities have died down. Not knowing where the revelry has wandered off to, and hearing no tell-tale bass, we head back to our hostel.

Mostar's only hostel is operated by the wonderful Majda and her tireless mother. The women have converted three extra rooms in their apartment into dorms with 3-5 beds. Gracious hosts (I wonder that they don't tire of constantly having groups of rowdy kids under their roofs) there is always plenty of tea and coffee, and if you hang out in the living room long enough, Mama's sure to come by with a small plate of her excellent cooking for you. It really felt like being home (even ad a good shower) and I was sorry to leave when the time came.