Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Drive Through Former Yugoslavia - Sarajevo

Sarajevo was an incredibly eye opening experience. A true cultural melting pot, the Croatians, Serbians and Bosniak all having exerted their own influences over the years. It was also home to the Siege of Sarajevo which at over 4 years is the longest siege in modern history. It is estimated that 12,000 civilians were killed, including 1500 children.

We stayed with a young man called  Dzemal (pronounced like Jamal) in a house-sit, and we got talking about Sarajevo. He actually sighed and responded with "Unfortunately" when I asked him if he had lived in Sarajevo his whole life. He lived with his elderly mother in a humble but comforting 3 bedroom house, the loungeroom converted to one bedroom and covered off with a sheet allowing giving him the capacity to rent out what would have formerly been his room. 

The city was constantly under attack during the siege, with Serbian snipers taking up positions in the
hills surrounding the city. It is reported that an average of approximately 329 shell impacts per day
during the siege, resulting in 35,000 buildings being destroyed. For many of the buildings that survived, damage still remains to this day. Dzemal got talking about the siege and life during the conflict, recounting a story of how a bullet whizzed past his head so close that he actually felt it. And then, how, fearing for his life, he was forced to hide under a car. And all this discussed over breakfast 


We walked down the street from Dzemel's house and came across this. A massive memorial and cemetary for many of those killed in the siege. As a 20-something year old male, it hit home all the more seeing so many people my own age had been killed.

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina


Timid and occassionally cute stray dogs roam everywhere in Sarajevo, and most of Eastern Europe to be honest. As a dog owner, being warned about the possibility of them having Rabies somewhat removes that urge to befriend them.

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina


Walking through the streets, it was almost impossible to find a building in Sarajevo that was not riddled with
bullet holes, giving but the smallest insight into the relentless barrage of ammunition that rained down
across the city.


Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina


Mortar damage to sidewalks would often leave damage that resembled a rose. Where these exploded
shells resulted in the deaths of one or more people, they were filled with red resin to create a tribute
that has become known as the 'Sarajevo Rose'. These are throughout the city.


Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

But still, people carry on with their lives. Much of the damage has not been fixed (it would require money they simply don't have). As I would begin to learn further through my travels into Eastern Europe, the struggles that many have endured were often used to spur people on, to remind them of what has happened, if only to help prevent further atrocities taking place again. 

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina


Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Despite the extensive damage, there's many glimpses of beauty in Sarajevo. From the western european architectural influences (albeit many damaged) to some newer, modern architecture, Sarajevo is a city on the rebuild. 

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

IMG_666Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina4

Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina



Thursday, January 17, 2013

A drive through Former Yugoslavia Part II - Plitvice to Sarajevo

In the former Yugoslavian/Balkan region, it is very common for private households to let out spare rooms in their house, or even renovate part of them homes purely for this purpose – an eastern european bed & breakfast if you will, generally a more no-frills version, however. We had opted to stay in one of these rooms (often advertised by signs on the building/street as either 'sobe', 'zimmer' or simply 'free room'). Our stay in Plitvice was extremely pleasant, though given our proximity to one of Croatia's most visited tourist attractions, we paid comparatively more (20 euro per person for what was made up like hotel room) than what we would pay elsewhere

As previously mentioned, we were yet to have any real sort of direction as to how to get to Sarajevo in Bosnia, for that evening. We knew it was a six or so hour journey, so we left fairly early, and after being unable to find a turnoff that Google Maps had advised us of the previous night, we purchased a paper map and were on our way. Generally, the journey was fine, direction wise through the long stretches, but trying to navigate through smaller villages with many unmarked roads provided moments of confusion. Perhaps more worrying were the condition of the roads themselves – potholes, hairpin turns and unsealed roads are reason enough to be careful when you don't have speeding roadtrains overtaking you with complete disregard for the wellbeing of other drivers. It was an experience to say the least, taking me back to the days of driving in Los Angeles months earlier – only that time we had a GPS.

While the roads were an eyesore, the landscapes either side were a sight for sore eyes, eons away from the preconcieved images I had of Bosnia. We could easily have been in Switzerland or Austria, such was the natural beauty. We passed through the picturesque cities of Kluj and Jajce - having a lunch of cevapcici at the former (Small spicy skinless sausages – what I assume the Australian brand 'chevups' are based on), before continuing on towards Sarajevo.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

It was when we reached Travnik that scenes of war ravaged Bosnia came to the fore. Abandoned and destroyed buildings, apartment blocks with mortar shell damage halfway up the buildings and bullet shell riddled homes. As the sun started to set, and the weather turned for the worse it was quite a sombre and depressing experience, with the grey sky matching the damaged grey buildings of the city centre.

Not long after we had left the vicinity of Travnik and we were back driving through picturesque Bosnia, which seemed like a completely different world. Farm animals grazed freely as the massive winding roads curved through the mountains as the sun set with a more golden glow. It was if it were a movie-style set up juxtaposition, the landscape and sun providing some sort of symbolic backdrop.

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Bosnia & Herzegovina

As we approached Sarajevo, probably about eight hours after leaving Plitvice (so we were a bit behind schedule), we encountered the first real stretch of highway. The 130km/h speed limit was obeyed by little to no-one, despite the slight drizzle (which could provide an interesting point in the constant reduction of speed limits in Australia, but I digress...). The foothills surrounding Sarajevo providing dazzling views over the city, and it was hard fathom that a couple of decades ago it was these same views that allowed sniper fire to rain down upon the city.

Once we made our way into the city, we ventured into the Old Town, which with its strong Eastern and Muslim influences reminded me slightly of my arrival in Marrakech four years ago. Only this time I was in a rental car. Cobbled, unmarked and uneven streets, open squares and plazas that were equally shared by cars, motorbikes and pedestrians and a maze of one way side streets made for an extremely intense journey to our accomodation, and never before have I let out such a sigh of relief as I parked the car for the night. 

Update(s)

Unfortunately I got much too busy and side-tracked (travelling!) for the last section of my trip resulting in a huge lack of updates. I'm now back in Australia, and will be endeavouring to finish off the trip with respective updates and photos.

There's still a mountain of photos to come from the following countries:

Bosnia & Herzegovina
Macedonia
Bulgaria
Turkey
Hungary
Poland
Germany
Netherlands
Belgium
England
Dubai
Singapore

I hope to get these photos up over the coming weeks :)

Mark