Worst day of the trip

Wednesday July 13, 2022 was officially the worst day of the trip. Chris woke up with symptoms of a high fever and couldn’t go on the tour to the Kravice Falls and Mostar in Bosnia. I wanted to be responsible and stay with him, luckily he was feeling better when I got back.

I went alone on the 10 hour dreaded bus trip- only way to get to these places.

It was as though providence knew he would be I’ll because his card didn’t work and we had to use mine to buy the tickets. At least we spent the £20 extra to go on the smaller 18 person bus instead of the 80 person mega-bus. I got some nasty looks when I took two seats, but I explained that I paid for 2 tickets so f-off

There was another sign not to go on this trip when we make our first test stop and I saw the driver filling the radiator with water….more on that later.

The Adriatic Coast is beautiful and this is a very good way to see it. Along the way we passed the botanical gardens which were used as a set of GOT. Unfortunately we didn’t stop there but I think we didn’t miss much- here is a shot from the Ocean side (more on that tomorrow)

We had to go through 4 boarder crossings between Croatia and Bosnia- Herzegovina due to the strange geography of the region. Luckily these were fast- the driver said it once took him 7 hours to get through. Here is one of the border crossings- they all looked the same.

Along the way and across the water was a big wall - aka the great wall of Croatia. The second longest in the world after the Great Wall of China. It's a 14th century wall that connects and protects the settlements of Ston and Mali Ston. In the water were a lot of clam and oyster farms - this is a good area for it because the water is brackish and very clean.

A fun fact: the below beautiful bridge has an interesting story. It would have shortened the journey, but the bridge is still closed. When Croatia joined the EU it requested a grant to build the bridge, which was approved. The Croatian Government put the project out for bid and Japan won the job. No part of the bridge is made in the EU and the EU mentioned that normally EU grants need to be spent in the EU. The bridge was finished well ahead of time. A Croat company won the bid for the access road development and these roads, although started at the same time, are still not open.

Highlight of the day was the Kravice Falls. A beautiful area, cooler temperature than other areas, and not yet crowded. There’s not a lot of historical information on Wikipedia, but suffice to say it’s a nice place to stop and have a swim in the heat. Here are some pictures

You can also get a safari in a war APC. The old adage "mad dogs and Englishmen" was absolutely true. These two were from England and were just standing in the hot sun, waiting for the bus to come back where there were perfectly good spots to wait in the shade

After too short a time we continued our journey through the arid landscape to Mostar. Frankly I could have given this UNESCO heritage site a miss, but my curiosity is satisfied.

Mostar is a city in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina, straddling the Neretva River. It’s known for the iconic Stari Most (Old Bridge), a reconstructed medieval arched bridge. The nearby alleys are full of shops and market stalls, and the Old Bridge Museum explores the bridge’s long history. A narrow staircase leads up to the Koski Mehmed-Pasha Mosque’s minaret for panoramic city views. It is a highly divided city, both in terms of politics and religion and includes many different sects. There are three presidents which pass power between them every 8 months(?). Before WW2 there were more than 2000 jews living in the City and now there are 26. Here is a picture of where the last synagogue was before it was bombed. And no visit to Bosnia is complete without reference to the 1991 war. They still have bombed out buildings at Mostar. The temperatures in Mostar average in the 40s in the summer and the guides also warned us about the gypsies who like to pickpocket. What a lovely place....

The big thing is to jump off the bridge. Young men have done this since the 15th century to impress their women. The bridge is 21.5 meters above the water. The ambient temperature is about 40degrees C, the river is about 3.5 meters deep in the center and is about 6C degrees. The guys collect about 50Euro from passing tourists and then jump.

There was a Turkish house which was still an original structure from the 16th century, so had a quick tour and explanation about how to make local coffee. The below is a slide show, so click through the arrow on the right side.

I had a wonderful lunch with a local beer, which I loved and I don't like beer. I had the traditional Cevapi - small ground meat kabobs made from beef and lamb and served with somun - the traditional pita bread with baklava for dessert all for about $15. The restaurant had a wonderful view of the river and bridge. On the way to lunch I saw some baby birds in a nest.

Below is a video of some of the highlights. The old town is paved with cobbles that are highly polished so you have to walk extremely carefully. The bridge is also made of a highly polished stone and you have to be really careful when walking across it!