Bosnia - Sarajevo

Many random things happen while travelling, and just one of those things happened on the long bus journey to Bosnia. I was reading the novel Trainspotting, which I would normally not exactly wave about on a bus in England, but thought I was safe here, when a guy across the aisle lent over and asked in surprisingly good English what the title of the book meant. He had recently seen the film but could not understand what it had to do with trains! After explaining the title, we got talking and he explained he was a Bosnian Muslim on his way back home to Sarajevo.

A billboard promoting the EU peacekeeping force still present here

We chatted about all aspects of Bosnian life, and he insisted I tried his mother's home-made apple pie. Repeatedly. It was really quite nice! Once we arrived in Sarajevo, on the outskirts in the 'Serbian' area, which is nowhere near the centre and more importantly, my hostel, he even offered to pay for a cab for the two of us. This involved walking across the unmarked and unofficial border to the muslim side of the city, where he said the cab drivers were better. This really highlights the divisions in Bosnian culture - the country is a federal state split into Bosnia & Herzegovina, run by muslims and the Republic Srpska, run by Serbs and from my experience the two peoples really want nothing to do with each other.

Minarets are a common sight in Bosnia

Thanks to the help of the kind stranger, and a further tram ride, I made it to my hostel which was located on top of a hill with a spectacular view overlooking the city. I walked back down into town and wandered the streets of the small, but fascinating Turkish quarter, packed with market stalls and traders selling all kinds of things. It felt very eastern and unlike anywhere I have been before.

On the streets of the Turkish bazaar

The new town was not quite as nice, but still retains some former Austro-Hungarian charm. The one thing that did catch my eye was the main street, nicknamed 'sniper alley' due to the likelihood of being shot there during the war. Nearly every building sustained damage, with many destroyed. Still today, most of the buildings on the street are covered in bullet holes and shell holes can be seen in the pavement, known as 'Sarajevo Roses' thanks to the red cement used to fill them in. Often nearby a plaque or memorial can be found, listing the people killed by the shell.

An all-too-regular sight

It's amazing to walk around the city and still see all the damage. Being here just a decade ago would have been unthinkable. Over 12,000 people were killed in a ghastly four-year siege, almost all of them civilians, with the entire city surrounded. A small tunnel under the airport was the only link to the outside world and has now been turned into a museum.

Many new graveyards had to be made - some from city parks

Aside from the bloody 1990s, the city is also famous from another dark chapter of history, being the place where WWI was triggered. In 1914 Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated by a Bosnian radical just next to the Latin Bridge. It is is quite something to be able to see the exact spot where one of the most destructive wars in history began.

The Latin Bridge

Aside from the legacy of conflict, Sarajevo is a thriving and flourishing city, with a real energy visible as it emerges from the darkness of the last century. It's a great place to go out at night - after a meal in a traditional restaurant, a group of us from the hostel went to the highly recommended City Pub, which despite its dull name is the place to be in Sarajevo.

Inside my first ever mosque

The pub itself and the whole area in the streets around it were rammed with people drinking and dancing away well into the night. Making it all the way back up the steep hill to the hostel was a different thing, however, but eventually I made it back to bed.

Sunset on the hill

I had wanted to get the train onwards to Mostar in the morning, but it left at 7am and I wasn't so sure if I was going to make it after a hard night partying. Stay tuned to see if that happened...