Bosnia & Herzegovina
Our day did not start out as planned, and that as the theme for our entire day in Bosnia i Herzegovina. The alarm we set did not go off. Since we're still adjusting to the time difference, we slept the crap out of that bed. We woke up a full 1.5 hours later than we had anticipated. This was not a good start on a day that was jam packed full of visiting sites in B&H. We woke up to pouring rain (man, did that help us sleep in!). It had slowed a bit by the time we were ready to go, but that didn't really improve anything. Driving in an unknown place in an unknown vehicle in the rain really sucks.
Our humble abode for 2 weeks...Nutella sold separately
We first headed north to cross the border in BiH. We didn't really have any problems crossing luckily...a US passport does that for you in most places. The Bosnian border patrol agent even joked around with us. "No drogas (drugs)? No guns? Okay good, ciao!" And we were on our way.
I'm not sure if it's just poor economy or what, but BiH had crappy roads. While driving, the road we were traveling on would suddenly be closed with no warning. Google Maps and the Waze app both showed roads that didn't even exist. Iceland often had "main" roads that switched between gravel and paved areas. BiH was similar, only when they switched to gravel they stayed gravel.
So...our day was a bust for the most part. It was pouring the rain down almost the entire time. Our first place we wanted to visit was Kravice Waterfalls. After about 30 minutes of trying to find the proper route and only finding random one lane gravel/mud roads where an RV can easily get stuck, we threw in the towel.
On toward Mostar, we found the road we wanted to travel blocked off and closed. We took an alternate route, but it took so long (plus our late start, plus time wasted trying to find Kravice waterfalls), that we basically missed our window of time to get into Mostar and explore. We didn't even to get to see the famous Stari Most, the gorgeous bridge that attracts thousands of tourists each year.
We did manage to get to Blagaj (pronounced blah-guy), and thank goodness we did. What a beautiful place. Blagaj is a small village just 15 minutes southeast of Mostar. A perfect ensemble of natural and manmade happens at the Blagaj Tekija, a rich part of the village's religious history. The village has a history of Illyrian tribes, Roman buildings, mosques, and Catholic and Orthodox churches in its lifetime.
Roman ruins
We paid the small fee to get in (I can't remember what it was, but it wasn't much). They take euros, Croatian kuna, and BiH marks. To enter the tekija, men must have long pants on, and woman must wear long pants or skirts, as well as a head scarf. They luckily have scarves for you to borrow. All visitors must remove their shoes, as well. The tekija has beautiful rugs, gorgeous Islamic art, and many Islamic artifacts. The musafirhan, or guest house, was built in 1664 and rebuilt in 1851. The türbe, or mausoleum, sits in the same area right next to the spring. There are steps down to the Buna to either get in a boat to cross the river to take a photo or to take a sip of the water.
visitor's center entrance to the Blagaj Tekija
The Blagaj Tekija, a dervish (Sufi) monastery, was built around 1520. It is influenced by both Mediterranean and Ottoman architectural styles. The Buna River begins at a spring that flows from beneath vertical rock faces. This particular spring is called a karstic spring, meaning that it is a natural landform caused by soluble rocks - including dolomite, gypsum, and limestone. Karstic landforms typically include caves and sinkholes. The karstic spring that forms the Buna River is one of the largest in Europe. It produces around 30 cubic meters/second (~7,900 gallons/second) of perfectly clean, delicious water.
entrance to the spring that forms the Buna River
intricate detail work on cup used to dip water from Buna River
intricate and colorful ceiling detail in the Tekija
elaborate wood ceiling detail in the Tekija
one of the many beautiful rugs in the Tekija
exterior view of the Tekija
Baklava from the café!
At the small cafe next door, you can get food (like baklava!) and chai (tea). We ordered baklava, which were two large pieces, and ate in the sitting area next door. There are also restrooms in case you need that, too.
We walked back down the river a bit and walked across the bridge to get some great photos. There are several restaurants near the tekija, and I've heard they have good food (it's halal). We unfortunately didn't have time to eat! We also got gifts at the gift shop, and there are small kiosks selling trinkets that line the road to the tekija.
yours truly at the Blagaj Tekija
Blagaj Tekija in the mountain side
BiH was...hard to see. I will be frank - I know a small amount of the history of this area. It's a little overwhelming to think that the atrocities that occurred in the most recent wars happened within my lifetime. There are scars of the wars everywhere - there are so many abandoned buildings, so much...dereliction. It is suggested not to go inside abandoned buildings or to leave paved areas, as there are still landmines left from the war. Most of the people seemed to look at us funny - I don't think they get a lot of tourists during this time of year in the parts of the country we were in. I look forward to visiting Sarajevo, Mostar, and Srebrenica one day, although I know at least the last one will be very difficult to see. But beyond the sad state of the built environment, it is a beautiful country. We drove by so many vineyards. I hope I can one day come back and spend more time there and really experience it more than in just rainy roads.
After leaving, we drove through the Dinaric Alps, the mountain range that covers much of BiH. The roads were in okay condition. I wouldn't say they were great. We unfortunately didn't have mobile wifi service since we weren't in Croatia. The mobile wifi we rented for the trip only works in Croatia, and we didn't bother getting a SIM card for BiH since we were there for less than a day. With the unknown roads during the night, the lack of internet connectivity, and the feeble GPS (we could follow along where we were via the GPS dot on our phones), I wasn't super crazy about the drive. It was a double-edged sword - it was so dark that we couldn't see what I expect were incredible landscapes, but it was probably good that I couldn't see how high we were. We climbed some mountains, and I mean MOUNTAINS. We haven't encountered mountains like that other than Iceland. So suffice it to say, after a very brief dinner at a small restaurant in Trebinje, BiH, we were quite happy to make it to our campsite Camping Zlokovic in Bijela (bee-yell-ah), Montenegro, at around 10 pm. The owner, Uros, met us and directed us to the correct camping pitch. He was very warm and welcoming, which was a nice ending to a stressful day. After quick showers in the bathhouse at the campsite, it didn't take us long to pass out. We were hopeful that our next day in Montenegro would make up for our Bosnia i Herzegovina bust of a day.
bridge across the Buna River
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