Thank you Mostar...for everything!

I’m in Bosnia. I never thought I would be in Bosnia. I am so glad we came.

There are 5 of us that are all arrive together (we don’t know the other two girls) and we are greeted with signs by these 2 amazingly warm people, Bata and Majda. Mitch, Morgan and I are driven to the hostel by Bata, the owner of the hostel and brother to Majda. He gives us a mini tour as he drives us by bullet ridden buildings and along the street that was the front line during the war. We then arrive at Hostel Majda’s (pronounced Mai-daas) and it is the best place we have stayed the whole trip. It is a converted apartment and you are asked to take your shoes off when you enter. Then we are brought into the sun room and given coffee (that is more like hot chocolate than coffee) and the best little doughnut like things made by the mom of the family. The energy in the place is so warm and happy. Bata then tells us about the tour that he gives. He has so much energy and obvious love for what he is doing. We sign up for the tour right there.

Then Majda sits us all down and gives us the lay of the town and a name tag to label our beds. I love that. We get settled into our room and head out with Mitch and Erin (another girl in our dorm) to check out the town.

Mostar has a road down the middle of it that was the front line during the war. There was a Croatian side and a Bosnian Muslim side. Today there is still a Croatian side of the city and a Muslim side. And today, there is still so much destruction still remaining from the war. 15 years later.

Our first stop is the old town hall where we see the ruins of a great building. This is what people walk by every day, a constant reminder of a tragic time. Then we go to the old bank that was used as a snipers nest. On the top floors we find hundreds of bullet shells still littering the floor. 15 years later. I can’t even begin to describe what it feels like to be in that place.

We leave and walk through the battered streets to the old town and to see the famous old bridge. It was over 400 years old when it was destroyed in the war and only rebuilt in 2004.

Then we get lunch at one of the local restaurants. Everyone in this town is so nice and helpful going out of their way to help us if we ask.

The rest of the night is spent in the hostel hanging out with the other people staying there. We have already extended our stay from 1 night to 2 and many other people are staying as well to do Batas famous tour with us. Apparently it is very common for people to want to stay at Majda’s longer. It is such a comfortable place!

The next day we are out of the hostel at 930am with 5 other backpackers and Bata. We load into his van (complete with disco ball) to start the 13 hour tour. The tour starts in the city with Bata telling us some of the history.

Note: I heard a lot of personal stories but as all personal stories, they are one sided. As for the history, I understand so much more than I did but still not enough to explain it to you. I really encourage you to read more about the war. I know I will be reading much more about it when I return home. The one thing that I will say is that this was a war between governments. It is just so sad that the Serbians, Croatians and Bosnians all had to suffer so greatly.

Bata was in the army for a period just before the war started. During the war he was in hiding and then a Serbian acquaintance of his came and pretty much saved his life. He left to Sweden and lived there for 13 years. He returned to Mostar 3 years ago to start the hostel. He said he felt that he had to return to his country as a form of therapy for what he went through. And giving these tours is part of that, sharing his and his country’s story.

Back to the tour and time for lunch. We had a traditional Bosnian food called Burek (pronounced Boor-ack). It is filo dough filled with either meat and onions, spinach, potato or cheese. The place we ate at cooks it the traditional way, in big pizza shaped slices. But those slices break apart into manageable strips. It is one of the best foods I have had on this trip.

With our bellies full, we continue onto a medieval town sill in use. There are only about 5 families living there and the rest of the houses are summer homes etc. Bata says that to us it is amazing that there are still people living there but to him it is sad that it’s so few. I know the reason for the low residency has to do with political reasons but I didn’t entirely understand how. We explore the castle and pick wild pomegranates. Then we go into a local woman’s house to try her fruit syrups. We are encouraged to guess the amazing flavors which are sage, mint, pomegranate and elder flower. On top of this she gives us samplings of her home grown grapes, figs, tangerines and persimmons. And just when we think we are all going to burst, she brings out cake. We ask Bata how this part of the tour came to be and he said during one of the early tours it started raining and she invited everyone in out of the rain. She gave them juices and fruit and in return the tour group all pitched in some money for her. It has been part of the tour ever since.

Our next stop on this cold and rainy day was this incredible waterfall. It reminded me so much of Plitvice only in this one, you can swim. Well, despite the rain and the fact that the water is freezing, 5 of us go in. I have never been in water that cold. It literally took my breath away. The other 4 stayed in and jumped from a big rock into the water but I had to get out. I was too cold. I am really glad I did it though!

Onto a Croatian town where supposedly the Virgin Mary appeared to three teenagers 20 some years ago. The town sprouted up from that story and now is a huge attraction for Catholics from all over the world. The town, although close to Mostar had no damage from the war.

The last stop on the tour was to a Muslim ‘monastery’. You can’t really say monastery because there are no monks but it is also not a mosque. It was a house with all of these rooms for prayer. As we sit in one of the rooms I find that I am craving a connection with God. I am not a religious person and I am definitely not inclined to the Muslim faith but I did discover that I want a deeper connection with something greater than me. A good discovery I think.

The house itself is on a river that literally came out of the rocks. There was a huge cliff face with a cave and after extensive research; scientists found that the water came from 19 kilometers inside the rock. And we are not talking a little water here; we are talking tons of water. They say that with a drink of the water, you can make a wish. After all our wishes were made, it was off to dinner.

So, I consider myself an adventurous eater. I will try pretty much anything before I say I don’t like it (thanks dad) but I am not one to order something I am not sure I will like as my meal. Well Roz, the cute British girl on the tour, the one who already surprised me by swimming in the ice water and staying in to jump off the cliff, orders deep fried brains for her meal. And she eats most of them. We all try it, this is the second time trying this dish for me, and all feel pretty much the same thing…the consistency is not very pleasant. But my meal is tasty and I am left content…even if I am still a little cold.

Then back to the hostel where Roz, Morgan and I sit around the bathtub with our feet in hot water to finally warm up.