... contested lands ...
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Europe's dark conscience
Sarajevo - Mostar - Banja Luka - Neum - Medugorje - Blagaj
Kravica - Una NP - Jajce - Konjić- Srebrenica - Brčko
A Road Trip through
Bosnia and Herzegovina
A spectacularly beautiful place: imposing mountains, steep valleys, gushing rivers, tracts of wild and pristine countryside often devoid of any signs of human habitation. You would be hard pressed to find another European country that has such beautiful and diverse natural assets. But it is also a poor country with a GDP that is only a third of the EU average (and a tenth of that of Luxembourg). Over the the last 20 years, population figures dropped by a quarter, with particularly young people emigrating in droves. Though being an EU candidate, membership is but a distant prospect. For many, Bosnia & Herzegovina represents a failed state, incapable of offering its people political stability, decent governance, jobs and acceptable living standards. What has gone wrong?
The Highlands of the Dinaric Alps
March 3, 1992. President Alija Izetbegović proclaimed the independence of Bosnia & Herzegovina (BiH) from Yugoslavia, unleashing a ferocious civil war that lasted until November 1995, killed 100,000 people, and displaced more than 2 million citizens. For generations Muslim Bosniaks, orthodox Serbs and Roman Catholic Croats had lived side by side and the country’s multicultural identity was celebrated in glorious fashion during the Sarajevo Winter Olympics of 1984. Yet just a couple years later, sectarian animosities descended into an atrocious ethnic conflict, the like of which most Europeans thought had been consigned to the annals of history at the end of World War II. The US- brokered peace agreement of Dayton (1995) stabilised the country, but to this day, each of the three communities operate within their own entities and seem to be going their separate ways. Sounds depressing, but surely there must be at least some tender shoots of economic progress, and maybe even some form of reconciliation. Jumping in the (rental) car and hitting the road on an extensive trip was one way to find out. But I needed a travel companion: a researcher who does the dirty work by trawling through search engines; a sounding board to make sense not just of the tourist highlights, but also the political and historic blows. Carlos didn’t need much convincing.
The Memorial at Srebrenica
The Highlights:
Sarajevo. Despite massive recent transformations BiH’s vibrant and culturally diverse capital still bears some scars of the brutal 4-year siege of the 1990s. But the town is attracting ever more visitors, who are flocking to the atmospheric Old Town and some excellent museums. And the mountainous surroundings are visually stunning.
Mostar. On the radar of many day trippers arriving from the Croatian tourist hotspots in Split and Dubrovnik who are attracted by a cute, cobbled-stoned old town. And there is that famous bridge of course. A convenient base to discover some excellent nearby sights, including the Dervish House in Blagaj, the hill-top village of Počitelj, or the Catholic shrine in Medjugorje. And the Kravica waterfalls are also just a short hop away.
Konjić. Just an hour south of Sarajevo, this is the country’s adventure capital with punters signing up for a whitewater rafting trips down the icy Neretva River. The desolated highlands of the Dinaric Mountains are also just a hop away, as is Tito’s paranoid nuclear bunker.
Banja Luka: BiH’s second biggest city and capital of the Serbian part of the country. Despite a marvellous riverside setting, not the prettiest architectural gem, but a stopover is recommended to those seeking a more rounded understanding of the country.
Nature: Those seeking solitude might want to head for the Sutjeska National Park, located in the sparsely populated east of the country with the proper sense of isolation and wilderness. Fancy a hike up to Mount Maglić, the country’s highest peak? There are also the highly photogenic (though busy) waterfalls at Kravica, with two more spectacular falls along the pristine River Una in the national park of the same name in the far north-western corner of the country.
History: For those trying to calibrate the country’s turbulent history and in particular the horrors of the Bosnian Civil War, the Genocide Memorial in Srebrenica is a must. There are also excellent museums in Sarajevo (The Tunnel of Salvation Museum, as well as the History Museum of BiH), in Mostar (Museum of Genocide and War Crimes), as well as in Banja Luka (History Museum of the Republika Srpska).
Our Itinerary:
The main sights of BiH are organised along a figure of eight with the capital Sarajevo at the confluence of the two circles. Visitors seeking to focus on the country’s highlights could just limit themselves to the lower circle with a road trip starting in Sarajevo before continuing clockwise to Sutjeska National Park, Trebinje, Neum, Mostar (with side excursions to Blagaj, Počitelj, the Kravica waterfalls and Medjugorje), and lastly Konjić, before heading back to Sarajevo. All of these places, with the exception of Sutjeska and Trebinje are located in the Federation. For those intend on getting under the skin of the country, time spent in the Republika Srpska (RS) seems absolutely vital. This is where the northern loop becomes relevant, with an itinerary travelling anticlockwise from Sarajevo to Srebrenica, on to Brčko, across to Banja Luka, Una National Park and back south to Jajce, and Sarajevo.
We did things slightly differently by dividing the journey into two separate trips. First up was the southern loop, although our circle started and ended at Dubrovnik airport in Croatia (to which we managed to get cheap air fares), and we left Sarajevo and Konjić for the second trip of the northern loop, which also started and ended in Croatia, this time in its capital Zagreb once more due to the availably of cheaper air fares.
Alas, there are now more and more international connections to Sarajevo. Should you manage to secure decent airfares, the capital’s location at the confluence of the two loops makes it a compelling start and end point of a trip. Each loop should take up at least one (rather packed) week of your time.
Mount Maglić, Sutjeska National Park in Eastern Bosnia.
How to get around.
Once upon a time, when the country formed part of the Austro-Hungarian empire, all major towns and cities were connected by rail. Sadly, nowadays train travel in BiH is very limited. There is a link between Zagreb in Croatia and Banja Luka in north-western Bosnia. A further train takes you in an easterly direction to the town of Doboj from where a southern route connects with Sarajevo, Mostar and the Croatian border town of Ploce. If you merely want to visit BiH’s main urban centres, a train could be a cogent choice, in particular the highly scenic section between Sarajevo and Mostar. But in order to get to the far-flung places mentioned in this article, you would have to count on numerous public busses. Keep in mind though that on occasion (for instance to get to Una National Park) the odd taxi ride might be necessary. Hence, most people (us included) opt for a rental car. Since we flew into Croatian airports, our companies were Goldstar (Dubrovnik) and Last Minute Rentacar (Zagreb). The former is notorious for its bad customer service. We couldn’t complain, as our rental seemed to have been the last of the season, and although quite battered, the Goldstar employee merely took the keys and locked up the site for the winter. Lucky us, since we worked that Skoda relentlessly on bumpy dirt tracks up Mount Maglić. I can also recommend Last Minute Rentacar: friendly, efficient, speedy, and located just a short walk from Zagreb’s brand-new terminal. When renting a car in Croatia, keep in mind that all outfits impose a surcharge for taking the vehicle into BiH, usually in the region of 50 EUR per rental. Hence, if you can manage to get to Sarajevo at a decent price, it will most likely be cheaper to rent a vehicle on location. Sarajevo airport has plenty of choices. Check out Zest Car Rental.
Konjic
The Southern Loop:
Dubrovnik airport - Neum – Mostar – Blagaj – Medjugorje – Kravica – Sutjeska NP - Trebinje – Dubrovnik airport.
We flew into Dubrovnik airport and spent a leisurely evening in the nearby seaside town of Cavtat, which enabled us to avoid the stupendous and rather sad over-tourism of the former ‘pearl of the Adriatic’. It was early October, the sun was out, and the sea still warm. What better way to start the trip. Our first stop early next morning was BiH’s sole Mediterranean port, the sleepy village of Neum. The mainland of Croatia is separated from the Peljesac peninsula and the southern tip of the country by a 20 km sliver of land belonging to BiH, with Neum at its centre. For years, this geographical oddity was the town’s economic backbone, since tourists travelling south to Dubrovnik crossed into BiH, stocked up on cheap petrol and cigarettes before clearing the border once more to continue their journey. The Peljesac bridge completed in 2022 put an end to this, and Neum is now a touristic dead-end: scruffy and run-down. During our visit, the streets were deserted with a few souls catching the season’s last rays, sipping coffee and waiting for stuff to happen. A desolate atmosphere has wrapped itself around the place.
Neum, with the Peljesac bridge in the background
Box 1:
A short history of Bosnia & Herzegovina
The region that now encompasses BiH (to use the official acronym) was annexed by the Ottoman empire in 1463 and remained a Muslim stronghold for 4 centuries. But it was home not just to Muslims (referred to as Bosniaks) but also to Christian Orthodox Serbs, as well as to Roman Catholic Croats. There was also a thriving Jewish community in particular in the region’s main urban centre Sarajevo. During the 19th century, a series of uprisings across the Western Balkans forced the retreat of the Turkish army and in 1878, BiH was officially integrated into the Austro-Hungarian empire. The aftermath of World War I saw the creation of the short-lived Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which during World War II was conquered by the Axis powers. BiH was then ceded to Croatia which at the time was governed by the fascist Ustaše regime, which engaged in widespread repression and killings of the Jewish, Roma and Serbian populations. After 1945, the partisan leader Josip Broz Tito established the Federal People’s Republic of Yugoslavia; a communist dictatorship with BiH as one of 6 constituent entities (the others being Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, as well as Macedonia). With Tito’s death in 1980, Yugoslavia gradually began to fall apart. While the country had to confront a severe economic decline, it was the arrival of nationalist sentiments and the dominance of Serbia that prompted first Slovenia and then Croatia to declare independence in 1991. After a referendum in 1992 (which was largely boycotted by Bosnian Serbs), BiH followed suit, resulting in open warfare between the three ethnic communities. The war finally ended with the internationally brokered Dayton Peace Accord of 1995.
On our way to Mostar we drove up the beautiful Neretva valley along winding country roads. In the distance loomed the new A1 motorway. Once completed it will link Mostar with the Croatia’s second city Split in the south, and with Sarajevo and Belgrade further north. Already many tour operators are ferrying day trippers from Croatia to the tourist highlights of Herzegovina. Once the highway is finished the easy access might just ignite a tourist boom. For now though, the development contrast between Croatia and BiH is stark. Roads are bumpier, houses shabbier, public spaces more neglected. We also got a first taste of ethnic expressionism. We were driving through Bosniak and Croatian communities with many bi-lingual street signs where the Cyrillic names had been sprayed over and replaced with Latin letters. (And vice versa, we witnessed the same when travelling through the Serbian part of the country). The chequered Croatian flag is ubiquitous in the Croatian cantons of the Federation. And in the Republika Srpska, the flag of Serbia is very prominent. The odd Bosnian flag representing the state of BiH flies only on occasion, and then mostly on municipal or government buildings in the Bosniak part of the country. This is not what Dayton had envisaged.
Mostar
We entered Mostar; impossibly picturesque location, amongst rolling hills with that stupendous bridge the focal point of all economic and social activity. Yet, once night falls and the day trippers have returned to their hotels in Split or Dubrovnik, the town quietens down remarkably. The east bank of Mostar is home to the Bosniak community. On the western side and in the suburbs is where you find Bosnian Croats. Of course, each community has their own houses of worship but in a bizarre show of pride, the spires of some newly built Catholic churches seem considerably taller than the minarets across the river. It won’t be long until some Gulf state backer will attempt to set the record straight. Sigmund Freund would have had a field day ….
Instagrammers have started to flock to the place, attracted not just by the atmospheric setting, but also by significantly lower price levels in comparison with expensive Croatia. The bridge on which the town’s social and touristic life is focused on, was erected by Ottoman builders in the 16th century. In 1993, after relentless shelling by Bosnian Croat forces it collapsed. As a measure of reconciliation it was speedily reconstructed in 2001. The bridge indeed looks shiny and new yet retains its wonderfully elegant structure from which local divers plunge into the waters of the Neretva. But it is also perhaps the most striking symbol of the Bosnian Civil War. Local communities who in the case of Mostar had lived side by side for centuries destroyed the infrastructure that once connected them. A more shuddering metaphor is hard to conceive.
Box 2: Why such a long name?
Herzegovina and Bosnia are two regions with markedly different landscapes. Located to the north, east and west of the country, Bosnia derives its name from the river Bosna which starts just outside Sarajevo and flows north for around 300 km before joining the River Sava. This region appears alpine in places with mountains, fields and deciduous trees. Herzegovina in the south though has a much more Mediterranean ambience. The climate is hotter and drier turning the landscape more arid. While Bosnia can feel like Switzerland at times, Herzegovina might remind visitors of Greece. The Ottoman conquerors organised both regions into one administrative unit; a set-up which was also kept by the Austrian authorities who arrived here in the 19th century. And once Marshall Tito established Yugoslavia in 1945, Bosnia & Herzegovina once more was treated as a single entity, forming one of the country’s 6 constituent republics. With 17 letters, this is surely one of the longer country names, though you might want to spare a thought for the citizens of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (that’s 39 letters). Still, readers of this post will hopefully forgive me for using the official acronym of BiH (short for Bosna i Hercegovina).
Mostar
To delve deeper into the country’s troubled recent history, we visited the Museum of Genocide and War Crimes. There was some information on the specific situation in Mostar - Croatian forces shelling from the west, Serbian troops further up north, photos of destroyed local buildings – but also displays of the most atrocious conflict points, namely Sarajevo and Srebrenica. Lots of video accounts and story boards of personal tragedies. To those who have not had the chance to familiarise themselves with the basic tenets of the war, the museum serves as an excellent, yet heart-wrenching introduction.
Mostar is also an excellent base for trips into the depopulated areas of eastern Bosnia, in order to climb the country’s highest mountain Maglić, located in the Sutjeska National Park. Getting up at the crack of dawn we just about managed precisely that; quite an adventure, worthwhile to be written up in a separate post, which you can access here.
Yet most day trippers focus on Herzegovina’s highlights which are all within easy reach of Mostar, namely, Blagaj, Počitelj, Medjugorje, as well as the Kravica waterfalls. Just a 20 minute or so drive southeast of Mostar is the little town of Blagaj, famous for its Dervish Monastery, built in 1520 and situated above the River Buna, whose deep blue waters are mysteriously emerging from a cave. It is a serene spot, and one of the most photographed sites of the country, yet also heavily commercialised with stalls selling tourist tat and a copious number of eateries. But once you are able to ignore the hordes the setting is undoubtedly magical.
Blagaj Monastery
A further 30 minutes south lies the medieval hilltop village of Počitelj, a former Ottoman fortress on the Neretva River now turned into an artists’ colony and bus tour stopover. A climb up the steep steps of the town centre gradually reveals the surrounding vineyards and the bombastic A1 motorway, still under construction, but soon to be dominating the aural existence of this community. A cunning local oldie chatted us up with stories about his civil war escape to Germany whilst commandeering his daughter to open up the family’s souvenir shop, where we felt obliged to buy some Chinese-made, fake cashmere scarves.
Box 3: The Dayton Peace Accords (1995):
Negotiated in 1995, Dayton continues to shape the politics of BiH. As such, the country is composed of two semi-independent entities: The Republika Srpska or RS (the Serbian term being used to differentiate the entity from the neighbouring country Serbia) to the north and east of the country is predominantly inhabited by Bosnian Serbs. In the centre and the west lies the Bosniak and Croat inhabited Federation of Bosnia & Herzegovina, which is further subdivided into ten autonomous cantons organised along ethnic lines. And to prevent the RS from having an unbroken border with Serbia, Dayton established a territorial wedge around the small town of Brčko to separate the northern and eastern stretches of the Bosnian Serb territory. Dayton stopped the fighting, but it also superimposed a highly complex political structure. For instance, the country has 14 offices responsible for agriculture: one at the state level, one each in RS, the Federation and in Brčko, and a further 10 in the Federation’s cantons.
Počitelj,
The attractions are coming thick and fast. After driving another 30 minutes in a north-westerly direction, we came across the Kravica waterfalls. Already during Yugoslav times, this was a heavily visited tourist hotspot. Nowadays, there are dozens of restaurants and bars built up right to the water’s edge; perfect for the armada of selfie takers whom we must have annoyed immeasurably, when we decided to go for a very freezing dip.
Kravica Waterfalls
This aquatic interlude provided us with a suitable spiritual preparation for what awaited us in Medjugorje (another 30 minutes back towards Mostar). Get this: In May 1981, six local youths claimed to have had an apparition of the Virgin Mary on top of Mount Križevac. Sceptics might justifiable ask what they were doing up there on the top of a remote hill in the middle of the night, but the youths, in particular Ivan Dragicevic and Vicka Ivankovic-Mijatovic (who just happen to be locals are still involved in the town’s tourism trade) kept on insisting that since then, they have had thousands of messages from Mary. The Vatican to this day remains sceptical, in particular former Pope Francis who stated that ‘the Virgin Mary is not a chief of the post office’. Your holiness, I’m with you on this one.
Medugorje
But not so the thousands of believers who continue to descent on this former one-horse town in the middle of nowhere, which was transformed into the second most visited Catholic shrine in the world (the most visited is the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico City). Plenty of pilgrims, the majority of them women take advantage of the free car park next to the brand new church (which has an outside amphitheatre that can accommodate 10,000 visitors) before embarking on the 4 km climb, many of them barefoot, across sheer rock. Plenty of old folk too who take hours to make it to the top, helped by 14 prayer stations used for sermons, reflections, or just to rest. You will either shake your head in disbelief (quite literally on this occasion) at the numbers of visitors, and the shrewd commercialisation of the location. Or you might just have your faith restored.
Trebinje
For our last stop before the flight out of Dubrovnik, we drove from Mostar to the sleepy small town of Trebinje, just 10 km or so from the spot where the borders of BiH, Montenegro and Croatia meet. Surprisingly, the road for once was in excellent condition. At first, we travelled through sparsely populated terrain with a verdant, almost Alpine appearance, but once we crossed into the Republika Srpska the scenery gave way to imposing hills with mostly Mediterranean, arid shrubland. And hardly anyone around. Trebinje is a neat and very pleasant place, with a beautiful, tree-shaded central square dotted with cafes next to a small Ottoman quarter. It was Sunday lunchtime, couples were enjoying the autumn sunshine, and children were playing in the streets. The atmosphere was relaxed and everyone seemed to know one another. Almost a touch of Spanish village life, according to Carlos. Yet, there is a darker side to this town. During the Croatian war of Independence (1991 -95) nearby Dubrovnik was heavily shelled by Serbian-Yugoslav forces causing much international condemnation. 30 years on, practically the whole population of Trebinje now works in the tourist industry of Dubrovnik as waiters, cleaning staff, drivers, or cooks. This is why Trebinje was so pleasant. There’s at least some money here given that employment opportunities are plentiful. Another irony in a country that is full of bizarre and often painful idiosyncrasies.
Box 4: BiH Today
Dayton envisaged the gradual streamlining of political responsibilities towards the state level; a move which has persistently been blocked by RS President Milorad Dodik, who much rather sees his statelet as an independent entity with close ties to Serbia (the country). Given the ongoing constitutional uncertainty, Nato membership and EU integration seem distant prospects. The country is the 6th poorest in Europe and has the continent’s highest emigration rate. Yet amidst the political limbo there are signs of an economic renaissance. Tourism, in particular to Mostar and Sarajevo is on the up, while Bosniak-led cantons have established commercial and cultural ties to Muslim states, most notably from the Gulf region. But economic progress is very limited in the RS. Dodik’s pariah entity has few international friends (bar Serbia and Russia), while most commercial, tourist and industrial centres are located in the Federation. Despite war casualties and widespread emigration, the ethnic composition of the country remained relatively steady: Bosniaks constitute roughly 40%, Serbs number one third and Croats one fifth.
Una National Park, Milančev buk waterfalls
The northern loop
Zagreb Airport - Una National Park – Banja Luka – Jajce – Konjić – Sarajevo – Srebrenica – Brćko - Zagreb Airport
We had to wait until early summer before we could complete our road trip. BiH, like many places in Europe was suffering from a brutal heatwave (at one point we hit 40 Celsius), so we were glad that we travelled through a part of the country that was packed with mountains and rivers, that promised relief from the heat. And while during the first trip we predominantly visited places in the Federation (with Maglić and Trebinje as notable exceptions), this time around, our itinerary was heavily focused on the Republika Srpska. First destination: Una National Park in north-western Bosnia.
Una National Park, Štrbački buk waterfalls
But what’s a trip without a proper calamity? From Zagreb, we drove the A1 motorway south towards Gospić. For once we trusted google maps instead of my 25-year old road atlas of BiH. Low and behold, we ended up on a steep gravel road and just before we reached the border a Croatian police officer stopped us in our tracks. She clearly assumed that we must have been some criminal smuggling outfit, but after checking our (EU) passports and car rental agreements she quickly came to realise that she merely had to deal with two idiotic tourists who attempted to cross into BiH using a bridge that has been non-operational since 1992. So she grabbed my phone, pinned the proper border crossing near Lohovo and sent us on our way. If we had been 20 years younger, we would have ended up in handcuffs. The advantages of advancing age go beyond a free bus pass.
The Una River was given its name by Roman settlers referring to it as being the only, or special one due to its clear, emerald-green waters. The José Mourinho of rivers cuts spectacularly through the Karst limestone with two highly impressive waterfalls of around 25 m height: at the southern end of the national park in Martin Brod (called Milančev buk) as well as Štrbački buk at the northern tip. Both spots are easily accessible on foot, which unsurprisingly attracts ever larger crowds in particular (this being a Bosniak corner of the country) tour groups from Gulf states. To avoid the crowds, you might want to consider an easy 16 km out and back path from which leaves from entrance #1 of the national park to the falls at Štrbački buk. The villages along the river have not yet developed sufficiently to accommodate a burgeoning tourist trade; the odd restaurant or rafting outfit, but that’s about it. But given the pristine nature, as well as the suffocating crowds in nearby Plitvice National Park in Croatia, this surely is about to change. At Martin Brod, the community has set aside a nice public picnic and camping spot, and we tested whether the Una is indeed as freezing cold as all the locals claimed. It is. Very much so.
Banks of the River Vrbas, Banja Luka
A few miles outside Martin Brod, we entered the Republika Srpska (RS). The drive towards its capital Banja Luka was nothing short of spectacular. This is the Bosnian part of the Krajina, an area that was heavily fought over on multiple occasions during the break-up of Yugoslavia. Signs of the fighting were still everywhere: abandoned homes, destroyed buildings, damaged houses gradually turning into ruins. But the countryside is also incredibly beautiful, the most memorable stretch being along Route R411 from Čadavica to Banja Luka over a high plateau with grasslands and far-reaching views towards the horizon, somewhat bizarrely reminiscent of Wyoming. And once more, hardly a soul around.
Banja Luka
The first impressions of Banja Luka are not necessarily good ones. Run-down buildings and streetscapes, little signs of prosperity, and a population that seems to specialise in grumpy exchanges with visitors, be it the cashier in a supermarket or the waitress in a supermarket. Maybe it was the sweltering heat. The capital of the Republika Srpska (RS) shows the hallmarks of a city that is still waiting for a major development boost that so far international isolation has prevented, and I sensed a lingering feeling of despair and resignation. It’s been 30 years since the end of the war. Life is certainly safer, but not necessarily more prosperous. Still, there’s a political entity to be run, so the government has built itself new offices, is financing a sizeable number of civil service jobs and has also started to build new apartment blocks.
Castle Fortress, Banja Luka
Yet here is another of the many ironies of the Dayton peace accords. The Bosnian Serbs on one side, and the Bosniaks and Croats on the other were both given territory that is roughly equal in size. But all the economic hotspots, industrial facilities and major tourist centres are in the Federation. And while in particular Sarajevo and Mostar benefit from growing investment from Gulf states, the Bosnian Serbs really only have Serbia and maybe Russia as allies and trade partners. And even those entities of the Bosnian Serbs that are doing well – namely Trebinje and East Sarajevo – rely on the close geographical proximity to cities outside of their territory (in these cases Dubrovnik and Sarajevo). Because of such limited economic prospects, large tracts of the RS are virtually depopulated and appear wild and pristine; as if human civilisation has given up. These are not the most favourable conditions for an economic rejuvenation.
Saint Bonaventura Cathedral, Banja Luka
Geopolitical facts aside, Banja Luka’s location is nonetheless enviable, nesting amidst wooded hills, with the lovely, fast-moving River Vrbas flowing right through it. On a hot summer day, its riverbanks are packed with locals enjoying a cooling dip in its pristine waters. The town also harbours the massive Tvrdava Castle perched imposingly on the riverbank. The castle was originally a small Roman fortification and was expanded by the Ottomans when Banja Luka became one of the Empire’s frontier towns. But the capital of the RS has hardly been on the fortunate side of history. The area was frequently fought over during the Ottoman conquest of the Balkans in the 16th and 17th centuries. World War II witnessed air raids from both the Allies and the Axis powers, while the subsequent rebuilt was undermined by a massive earthquake in 1969. And the Bosnian civil war of course brought further destructions. It therefore comes as little surprise that the town often lacks architectural coherence.
Ferhadija Mosque, Banja Luka
Yet, Mladen Stojanovic Park is a green oasis in the middle of the city, adjacent to the main drag Mladen Stojanovic Street; a pleasant, tree-lined avenue with big villas and government buildings leading to a pedestrianised area on Milosavljevica Street with theatres, the impressive Banski Dvor cultural centre and the massive Christ of the Saviour Orthodox Cathedral. The town pays reference to its recent multi-cultural past. The huge Ferhadija Mosque was completely destroyed in 1992 but was rebuilt (with plenty of U.S. money and much international pressure) in 2009. There is also the mad Saint Bonaventure Cathedral, a Roman Catholic outfit whose architecture was inspired by le Corbusier’s Ronchamps.
But traces of Muslim or even Roman-Catholic life and heritage have been pushed to the margins. Prior to the civil war, the municipality of Banja Luka had a population of just under 200,000, with 50% being Serb, and 15% each being Bosniak and Croatian. At the census in 2013, the Serbian population was 90%. The number of Croats had dwindled to 3%, those of the Bosniak population to 4%. This used to be a multi-cultural place. Now it is a predominantly Serbian city.
Orthodox Cathedral, Banja Luka
The brutal, vicious and unrelenting pursuit of ethnic cleansing that was implemented by Serb commander General Ratko Mladić completely changed the configuration of this part of the country. But as always in the Balkans, the story is more complex. A visit to the surprisingly restrained and informative Museum of the RS offers some context. Housed in an ugly and crumbling 1980s office complex, the museum has a detailed section on the 20th century, that somehow omits to mention the break-up of Yugoslavia. But it charts in detail the persecution of Serbs by the Croatian Ustaše regime during World War II. It references in particular the vast concentration camp at Jasenovac, which for many Bosnian Serbs represents a collective trauma since the Croatian Nazi puppet regime had set its sights on wiping out not just Roma and Jews, but also all Serbs from its territory. But the Ustaše’s fanatic hatred did not always extend to the Bosniaks but instead often roped in people of that community to act as informants. So when 1992 came around, and Izetbegović declared BiH’s independence from Yugoslavia, many Bosnian Serbs felt that this might just be a recurrence of the World War II scenario, that must under any circumstances be fought against. From this perspective, many Bosnian Serbs regard themselves as a people who merely re-acted to political developments with the Bosniaks being the culprits for kicking off this whole mess. In the face of such a reading of history, I got the strong sense that this is not a people that is overly remorseful but instead represents a community that is above all defiant.
We left Banja Luka, driving through the spectacular Vrbas canyon; steep and narrow, with the gushing river flowing alongside the road. A brooding scenery, great for wild water rafting, but a nightmare for engineers who just about managed to squeeze in some tarmac amidst all these natural twists and turns. No wonder the eventual motorway network of BiH will not include this stretch but will instead connect Banja Luka via a straight east-west passage running from Tuzla.
Jajce was our next stop. Located in the Federation, and the last Bosnian town to be conquered by the Ottoman invaders in 1527. By 1878, the Austrian Empire had taken control, and during Yugoslav times, Jajce was at the confluence of the three main ethnic groups. The area to the north was largely Serbian; to the south-east, the majority of the population was Bosniak, and to the south-east most settlements were Croatian. It is of little wonder that during the Bosnian Civil War the town almost instantly was hotly contested. In 1992, the Bosnian Serbs shelled and captured the place, before Bosnian Croat forces took control in 1995 with most of the Serbs fleeing up north to Banja Luka. Today, the majority of the population remans Croatian, with a small number of Bosniaks also calling Jajce their home. The chequered history provides for a layered architectural present, including a brand new mosque right in the centre of town, situated below a huge fortress. Houses are tumbling down a hillside, just like the River Pliva and its two very picturesque waterfalls. Because of the highly scenic setting a bourgeoning tourism industry has started to develop; still in its infancy, but once a decent road connects the town to Mostar and Sarajevo all this will change.
Jajce
We took a small detour to the little hamlet of Šćit on Laka Rama. To get there, we had to drive through an ever more depopulated landscape. Valley after valley, up and down winding roads. Some tender tourist developments on the lake, the odd motorcycle gang enjoying low traffic volumes, yet we gradually came to the conclusion that the most notable asset of the place was indeed its pronunciation (yes, you guessed correctly).
Lake Rama
On the road to Sarajevo, just an hour south of the capital, Konjić offers a worthy stopover. Its riverside setting with the mountains of the Dinaric Alps looming in the background is very photogenic, but it is the waters of the River Neretva that represents the star attraction, evidence of which can be found in the numerous white water rafting outfits that keep their offices in town. Proud locals kept reminding us that the river is the coldest in the world (not sure how Yukonites feel about this) thanks to its source being fed by glacial springs. Even in the height of summer and at its lower reaches here in Konjić, the temperature was a brisk 7 Celsius.
Konjić
But we did not come here for an ice bath or the adrenalin of a rafting excursion, but instead to marvel at the paranoid madness that was Tito’s nuclear bunker, one of three hidden installations of the Yugoslav High Command (the other two being an underground air base, as well as a submarine station both located in Croatia). Built at vast expense over 26 years – all 3 structures cost about 20 billion dollars – the bunker was finished in 1979 and was designed to shelter 800 of the Yugoslav elites from a nuclear attack. Tito died within months of its completion, with the Yugoslav army evacuating the place at the start of the Bosnian War in 1992. Only then did locals start to find out what was hidden beneath the karst rock. You can’t just rock up at the entrance to the museum but need to book your tickets in advance by going on to the official website, before picking them up at an office located on Konjić's main artery in the old town. Well worth the effort.
Tito's Bunker
To round off the day we took a sunset drive just to the east of Konjić to the isolated hamlet of Čuhovići. Not much going on up there on the mountain plateau. Instead we encountered a sense of utter remoteness amidst the spectacular high altitude landscape of the Dinaric Alps. Some very tender shoots of tourism, such as a brand new boutique hotel and numerous hiking and bike trails, but this is an area that is waiting to be discovered by nature tourism. Yet, as of now, visitors will come across tiny, often impoverished communities whose populations have dwindled dramatically over the years.
Čuhovići
Finally, having travelled up and down the country, our next stop was the one that I was most looking forward to: the capital Sarajevo, multi-cultural icon of Yugoslavia and site of the joyful 1984 Winter Olympics, but also the location of a brutal 4-year long siege that reminded everyone that war seems to be forever woven into the fabric of Europe’s tapestry of nations. I had been there on many occasions, usually for work reasons, but I hadn’t been back in nearly ten years. On this return visit, I was blown away by the scale of the transformation. The place has become a magnet, not just for European and American visitors, but also very much for tourist groups from Gulf states and other Middle Eastern countries, with a whole industry catering for their specific culinary or cultural requirements. At night, the old town was jam-packed with sightseers, serviced by a booming tourist infrastructure of new hotels, inviting cafes and busy restaurants. And in the suburbs, new developments of offices and apartment blocks have started to replace the former socialist drab. Many new mosques too, often financed by Saudi money.
Sarajevo
One early morning, we took the cable car up to Trebević Park in order to visit the hilarious Olympic bob track. The site was destroyed during the war and abandoned afterwards, covered in graffiti, with tree shoots appearing through the concrete. Volunteers of the Bosnia Bobsleigh Federation repaired most of the track and it is now once more available for (summer) training. During our visit, we encountered a mad nutter, who had decided to speed down on his mountain bike. We instead ambled casually along its twists and turns being somewhat surprised by the rather steep incline.
Olympic Bob Track, Sarajevo
Amidst the attractiveness of Sarajevo, with its café society, its beautifully restored public building and impressive places of worship, visitors might find it hard to contemplate that the city and its citizens suffered unspeakable hardship during a brutal 4-year long siege. That was merely one generation ago. To get an understanding of modern BiH, one cannot avoid a confrontation with the recent past, however uncomfortable that might be. The History Museum of BiH represents an informative, comprehensive and moving experience, yet also one that might fill you with anger and sadness. The individual exhibits are very well made, with film clips, artefacts and photographic images highlighting the human suffering, while the world watched on. Surely, the saddest story must be that of 7-year old Nermin Divović, who was killed by a bullet to his head, that had first travelled through his mother’s body (she survived) right in front of the yellow-painted Holiday Inn Hotel, where the international media had decamped for the duration of the siege. The hotel was located on the ironically named ‘Road of Life’ (it’s real name today is Zmaja od Bosne), which was the target of frequent sniper attacks.
Sarajevo Siege. Photo: The Guardian
Memorial to Nermin Divović
If you wish to delve further into Sarajevo’s painful past, the Museum of the Tunnel of Salvation not only pays tribute to an engineering feat, but in general is a testimony to the spirit of defiance and survival during the siege. The museum is located on the western outskirts of Sarajevo, just south of the airport’s runway. During the war, Sarajevo was almost completely surrounded by Bosnian Serb troops, yet through a narrow tunnel, weapons, food, or medical supplies were carried from the UN controlled airport and into the besieged city. It took Bosniak engineers and workers 4 months to complete the 800 m long stretch, 160 m of which now form part of the museum. Incredibly, Bosnian Serb troops had always suspected that there must have been a tunnel somewhere, yet right until the end of the fighting, they were never able to identify the precise location, which was in the basement of the house of an unassuming elderly lady.
Tunnel of Salvation, Sarajevo
This is the famous photo of Sanela and Emir, who got married during the Siege. Notice the curtains in the background, designed to prevent sniper fire.
... and this is them today. Both continue to live in Sarajevo. Emir is a senior auditor and Sanela an academic, consultant and elected politician. They are parents to two grown up daughters.
Worth your while is also a stop at the Kovači cemetery, a short walk from the old town. It offers impressive views over the city, yet visitors will also be taken aback by the sheer scale of the atrocities during the war (close to 14,000 people perished during the siege). Looking over the city below, one cannot help to notice how past, present and future are colliding. In the distance, you can spot the cranes of building sites that keep on turning the city into a modern metropolis. One can also clearly make out the minaret of the Gazi Husrev-beg mosque, as well as the spires of the Sacred Heart Roman-Catholic Cathedral and the dome of the Theotokos Orthodox Church. Just across the river, the Ashkenazi synagogue becomes visible.
Kovači cemetery
All these places of worship serve as testimonies to the peaceful multi-cultural identity that Sarajevo once possessed. You can cast your eye from the splendid City Hall, located on the banks of the River Miljacka - heavily damaged during the siege and since then gloriously restored - down Obala Kulina Street and to the spot where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in July 1914 by a Serb nationalist; an event that ignited World War I. And at the centre of the cemetery you can stand in front of the tomb of Alija Izetbegović, who passed away in 2003 and whose decision to declare independence for BiH triggered the brutal Bosnian Serb response. The killings might have stopped but each side continues to advocate their own narrative of ‘who did what to whom and why’. What BiH has today is non-violent co-existence of ethnic communities, which unfortunately is not the same as having peaceful relations.
Sarajevo City Hall
Our trip was nearing its end, but there was one more shocking marker of European history that we had to calibrate. Just east out of Sarajevo, we once more entered the territory of the Republika Srpska and drove for 3 hours across tracts of land that were once more almost uninhabited. A returning sense of isolation, desolation and even poverty became all too evident when traveling along single track roads, which meandered up and down across a hilly landscape.
Srebrenica Genocide Memorial
Upon approaching Srebrenica one cannot fail but notice hundreds of photographs of victims of the genocide of 1995. We caught a glimpse of the former UN compound, from which Dutch forces watched helplessly as the RS army under the command of Ratko Mladić marched into town to commit genocide amongst the male Bosniak population. The memorial to the 8,000 victims is a suitable sombre affair. A baldachin with prayer mats, benches to rest and reflect, followed by rows upon rows of gravestones with often entire families being wiped out. A stone near the centre circle bears the inscription that such a horrific crime should never happen again. Well, unfortunately they do. Even in Europe. Just prior to the war, this small mountain town had a population of 36,000, with three quarters (or 27,000) following the Muslim faith. 30 years on, Srebrenica is now home to just 11,000 people, roughly along a 50:50 split between Bosniaks and Serbs. At the centre once more is the imposing White Mosque, demolished to its foundations by Mladić, but quickly rebuilt thanks to a massive donation by the government of Malaysia. What was once a lively place has become a spooky shell.
Box 5:
The Srebrenica Genocide
During the last summer of the civil war in 1995, Bosnian Serb forces under the command of Ratko Mladić made rapid advances throughout eastern Bosnia; an area which was peppered with villages that were home to a large number of Bosniak families. Fearing death, physical violence or rape, many fled to Srebrenica, which the UN had declared a safe haven, and which was ‘protected’ by 370 lightly armed Dutch soldiers. They were no match for Mladić, whose forces entered the town unopposed and killed at least 8,000 of the male population. Mladić was placed on trial in 2016 at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), where he was convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison.
Srebrenica
We just happened to visit within days of the 30th anniversary of the genocide. The temperature was a stifling 40 degrees and the scale and insanity of the massacre gradually started to sink in. We barely spoke a word until we reached our final destination, the border town of Brčko. The town’s relative prosperity owes much to yet another abnormality of the Dayton Peace Accords. Looking at a map, it becomes obvious that the Republika Srpska forms one unbroken territorial entity in the northern and eastern part of Bosnia, whilst also bordering Serbia (the country that is). Fearing a potential integration of the RS into Serbia, the international community placed a wedge between the northern and the eastern part, and the Brčko District, one of the three constituent parts of BiH was born. The ethnic mix here has changed very little over the past 30 years with around 40% Bosniaks, 30% Serbs and 20% Croats. But the town still bears the scars of the war with plenty of ruined or damaged buildings. At its centre is the cute and marvellous looking Town Hall located next to a decent pedestrianised area with some shops, and a pleasant waterfront along the banks of the River Sava and the Croatian flatlands beyond. But that’s pretty much it. Not much going during our brief stay, apart from a boisterous biker meeting at a campground. Just not our scene. Instead we headed to one of the moored river barges that housed a restaurant. A lot had happened on that day, and we had much to reflect upon.
Brčko
The politics of fanaticism, populism and ethnic chauvinism did not stop with the end of the Yugoslav wars. Whilst driving back to Zagreb airport we encountered hordes of fans of Croatian pop star Marko Perković (who goes by the stage name of ‘Thompson’) on their way to a 500,000 spectator concert on the outskirts of the capital. The sun was shining, Perković’s catchy tunes were blasting out from multiple car stereos, the atmosphere was jovial. Yet, the Croatian government had ordered the riot police to be on standby due to Perković’s nationalistic views and his notorious sympathy for the Ustaše regime. Subsequently, the images of scores of fans participating in a NS salute during the concert went viral, although Perkovic claimed that the raised right arm references the 1990s Croatian War of Independence. Just a day before, in Srebrenica, we were reflecting on whether the Bosnian history had taught Europe any lessons at all. Perković’s armada of fans gave us further food for thought.
Trip Essentials
Places to stay:
Hotel Cavtat: just a ten minute drive from the airport and so much cheaper, calmer and pleasant than their Dubrovnik counterparts. Recently renovated and an excellent base to start (and finish your trip).
In Mostar, we rented an Air BnB called Lux Old Bridge Mostar. As the name suggests, it was a short 5-minute walk o the Bridge, and crucially for this town offered free parking. Nothing fancy, but clean, spacious and comfortable.
Banja Luka. Provence Rooms (Also available on booking.com). Very cheap, free parking, functioning A/C, and within walking distance to some swim spots on the Vrbas River, as well as the town centre. Available on booking.com. But this is where the positives end. The staff are hilariously grumpy, avoiding eye contact whenever possible and are in general inconsolable at the prospect of having to work. I showed up at breakfast one morning with each and every waiter sucking on cigarettes whilst scrolling on their phones. When I asked whether I could have my meal on the terrace (it was a sunny morning after all), I was informed that breakfast is only served inside. So I sat down, got an impressive hit of passive smoke, waited for my eggs and carried the plate on to the terrace, where I could breathe once more. If you want to experience what working life and service culture under socialism were like, the Provence Rooms offers a glimpse of it. You do not need to masochistic streak to enjoy this. The service is comically inadequate. Fabulous.
Sarajevo. We once more relied on booking.com for our extensive stay in the capital. Awkwardly referred to as ‘2 bedroom Penthouse in city center, free parking’ the lengthy description could not have been more accurate. A 10- minute stroll down the hill brings you straight into the heart of action. The penthouse occupies on unit on the top floor of a 15 storey apartment building with great views to match.
Hotel Jelena, Brčko. Another find that is also available on booking.com, whose breakfast reminded me of childhood days spent on the Yugoslav coast. But its central location and friendly service did the trick.
Places to Eat:
Cavtat (Croatia): Bugenvila; located on the seafront, this is a gourmet treat run by a young chef keen on getting his first Michelin star. It won’t be long.
Mostar: Sadrvan (on Facebook and Instagram). On the western side of the Old Town, close to the bridge. In case you tire of meat (and at some stage you surely must), this restaurant serves all the usual classics but also has multiple vegetarian options.
Mostar: Pekara Stari most. The name unimaginably means Old Bridge Bakery. Hence, close to the old town on Marshal Tito Street with divine Burek (of the meat or cheese/spinach variety).
Banja Luka: you might want to head to the fortress for an atmospheric night out. Restaurant Kazamat has a lovely outside terrace overlooking the River Vrbas.
Sarajevo: You can hardly move around in old town for Cevapčići outfit. Should you tire of meat (and at some stage during the trip you involuntarily will) aim for Besame Mucho (on Facebook and Instagram)i, whose proprietor recently returned to Bosnia after many years living in New York. Home cooked food at its finest.
Brćko: Not many tourist highlights in this small town, but our foodie experience was exceptional. We headed to Monami Restaurant (on Facebook and Instagram) on a river barge, and the freshwater fish dishes were cooked to perfection.
