Japan to Australia via Eastern Europe - Part 23 - Day 19 Sarajevo to Mostar....
I couldn’t believe it but I had another decent night sleep at the Photoshop City Hotel… Looking at their pictures on the web… I’m not sure if I ever had come across the mythical lobby or restaurant or halls…? Maybe the only picture that vaguely looks like this place is the bedroom photo – but everything else is some sort of CGI illusion… plus you can’t smell the tobacco on the website…
I couldn’t believe it but I had another decent night sleep at the Photoshop City Hotel… Looking at their pictures on the web… I’m not sure if I ever had come across the mythical lobby or restaurant or halls…? Maybe the only picture that vaguely looks like this place is the bedroom photo – but everything else is some sort of CGI illusion… plus you can’t smell the tobacco on the website…
I finally got my first hot shower at the hotel – my last two had been stone cold. Running cold water/cigarette smells/Reception domestics/hard-core Bosnian porn – fantastic features of the Banana City Hotel.
The breakfast yet another continental affair – this time – it had looked like it was the leftovers from the day before. Ant discovered the reason behind the hotel’s mainly male clientele – most of the guys looked like truck drivers stopping at the markets… That might be the reasoning behind the hard-core Bosnian porn… Truckdriving City Hotel more like it…
After checking out and getting our passports back from the front counter (I hate it when hotels/hostels take your passport! Or anyone for that matter) – we caught a number 4 tram directly to the train station… Things were looking milhouse today – checked out of Banana City Hotel and a tram going directly to where we wanted to go…
We arrived a bit early for our 10am bus – and I managed to convince some woman at the ticket counter (who didn’t really speak any engrish) to put us on the next bus at 9am.
Despite the bus station screen showing that most seats were not reserved – the bus to Mostar was quite busy – as there were plenty of locals who got on and off the bus in heaps of stops in between Sarajevo and Mostar.
The scenery to Mostar was quite spectacular. The environment around Sarajevo is quite green, lush and mountain-y, with lots of lakes and stuff. LP strongly recommends the train trip from Sarajevo to Mostar – and it was quite apparent why… the train tracks mostly seem to precariously hang over cliffs – and wobbly looking bridges. But we decided to bus it instead because the time didn’t suit and it would take 4 hours to Mostar instead of 2…
When we crossed over a valley – the scenery near Mostar changed from being lush and green to quite dry and arid… a bit like Arequipa in Peru (dry, almost moon-like).
We arrived at Mostar about 11:30ish after an alright bus ride (apart from a local who seemed to be lacking in the use of deodorant). We hunted down the local bus station ticket office – where I used my Beijing “KFC” skills of forcefully removing some local woman in front of me who tried to cut me off in the queue. Ant and I got tixs for the Eurolines bus to Dubrovnik the next day.
Our walk to the hostel wasn’t too bad – just a 10 min walk. Mostar was feeling a whole lot more “rustic” than Sarajevo – a bit dustier and dirty. Some local guy walked up to Ant and asked whether or not Ant knew where he was going… You never really know in situations like this – are they really genuine and wanting to try out their engrish – or are they trying to “fleece their wares”…?
On arrival at “Pansion Lombrelle” – the people there didn’t seem to have any idea about our reservation for one night – nor did they seem to speak any engrish… I dashed into their internet room – logged onto Hotmail – and printed out our hostel.com booking and showed it to them… We had a bit of problem with the payment – where they wanted the full amount whereas we had paid a 10% deposit already over the net… After sorting out that problem – they led us up to our “booked room” – a 4 bed dorm… We didn’t complain – and it managed to be one of the better hostels we have stayed at… It was a really big room, complete with a TV with engrish cable channels, a bar fridge and ensuite. Although it was a “dorm” room – we pretty much had the place all to ourselves.
We headed out to Mostar’s big attraction – the Old Bridge (aka Stari Most)… a UNSECO World Heritage site. Although it is called the “Old Bridge” – it really is the “New Old Bridge” as the original was blown up by Croat troops during the war in the 90s. The bridge was rebuilt in the late 90s (as a sign of goodwill between Croatia and BIH – according to LP)… and it is fairly spectacular. It’s a big arched bridge situated over the lushest looking river – with both sides of “Old Mostar” directly opposite. Ant took all of these “stalkery” shots of some guy who was wandering around the bridge in a pair of red budgie smugglers (putting that Peter Debnam to shame). Ant got me to stand on the bridge and got of a shot of me (plus the other guy in the background) – your secret is out Ant! We soon discovered that the guy must have belonged to the “Mostar Bridge Jumping Club” – no this isn’t some suicidal Emo club – but rather a diving club for maniacs who like to jump off a 20m bridge into a cold river or something…
We had some lunch at a local café – and pretty much had the same stuff as the day before… this time with some pivo (aka beer). We topped this off with some ice-cream from across the way – which was absolutely delicious. By the way – these Bosnians are sure into snickers flavoured ice cream (as you do).
We checked out the Herzegovina museum. As you enter the front door – it sets off a bell – which must have woken up this old guy to come and serve as and get our 2km entrance fee. The place was completely… not packed – Ant and I were the only people there (a great thing about BIH – lack of tourists!). The museum guy was a little pushing pointing at what we should do… He led us down to an underground lair… then switched off the lights (didn’t this happen in Silence of the Lambs or something?) and a film started (maybe not like Silence of the Lambs). In the 50plus seater theatre (which was bigger than that sh##y cinema in the heart of Adelaide where Ant and I saw Casino Royale at) – the film pretty much showed the “highlights” of the new “Old Bridge” of Mostar – eg: nice pretty music of the bridge before the war, and some crazys jumping off the bridge, then some bad 80s cock rock guitar music with the Croat soliders taking about 5 attempts to blow up the bridge – then some “Amigos Para Siempre” crap music of the rebuilding and reopening of the bridge. During the opening ceremony – they had a few divers in action… with some big f### off fireworks – they were so big – I thought the bridge might explode again…
After the very small museum – we walked back over the infamous aforementioned bridge (which is really hard to walk on – no thanks to the dodgy ye-olde pavement) and headed to the other side of town. All of the damage to buildings around the place was a bit of a shock to the system. There was burnt out shells of buildings abound – something that we hadn’t seen in Sarajevo (mainly because they have rebuilt a lot of it)… Good old “modern” ruins. Another thing we had noticed that in the film at the museum – that the city looked a lot more built up and urban before the war.
We checked out a local mosque which was interesting – they don’t have the whole “Catholic church decked out with gold and bling” thing happening – rather lots of painted mosaic things on the wall and plenty of rug action abound. Ant had spent a couple more km to get up on the prayer tower thingy – which was full of annoying French girls – complete with “off the shoulder bikini tops” (Inappropriate mosque wear for women number 1).
We chilled back at the hostel – where we both slept for a little while. I woke up and used the internet downstairs to blog for a bit and to look for Dubrovnik accommodation. After about 1 hour – Ant joined me for a joint Dubrovnik accommodation session. After I had had enough with the internet – I headed back up to the room – where I encountered some guy who worked at the hostel asking me “when are you going to pay for the internet?” Usually at hostels (unless signposted) – you’d assume that the internet was free and the website even advertises it in a sort of ambiguous way… (http://www.pansion-lombrelle.com/en/)... Anyhows – this whole thing put me in a ACCC-consumer rights nazi kind of mood.
Ant was keen to “spend up big” and go to a restaurant with a view of the bridge. But spending it big in BIH means paying $10AUD for a beer and a meal with a great view of the new-old bridge of Mostar. We had some pizza (we think it is the national food here or something) and the weather was a little on the fresh side – but the view was great and worth the hypothermia.
The breakfast yet another continental affair – this time – it had looked like it was the leftovers from the day before. Ant discovered the reason behind the hotel’s mainly male clientele – most of the guys looked like truck drivers stopping at the markets… That might be the reasoning behind the hard-core Bosnian porn… Truckdriving City Hotel more like it…
After checking out and getting our passports back from the front counter (I hate it when hotels/hostels take your passport! Or anyone for that matter) – we caught a number 4 tram directly to the train station… Things were looking milhouse today – checked out of Banana City Hotel and a tram going directly to where we wanted to go…
We arrived a bit early for our 10am bus – and I managed to convince some woman at the ticket counter (who didn’t really speak any engrish) to put us on the next bus at 9am.
Despite the bus station screen showing that most seats were not reserved – the bus to Mostar was quite busy – as there were plenty of locals who got on and off the bus in heaps of stops in between Sarajevo and Mostar.
The scenery to Mostar was quite spectacular. The environment around Sarajevo is quite green, lush and mountain-y, with lots of lakes and stuff. LP strongly recommends the train trip from Sarajevo to Mostar – and it was quite apparent why… the train tracks mostly seem to precariously hang over cliffs – and wobbly looking bridges. But we decided to bus it instead because the time didn’t suit and it would take 4 hours to Mostar instead of 2…
When we crossed over a valley – the scenery near Mostar changed from being lush and green to quite dry and arid… a bit like Arequipa in Peru (dry, almost moon-like).
We arrived at Mostar about 11:30ish after an alright bus ride (apart from a local who seemed to be lacking in the use of deodorant). We hunted down the local bus station ticket office – where I used my Beijing “KFC” skills of forcefully removing some local woman in front of me who tried to cut me off in the queue. Ant and I got tixs for the Eurolines bus to Dubrovnik the next day.
Our walk to the hostel wasn’t too bad – just a 10 min walk. Mostar was feeling a whole lot more “rustic” than Sarajevo – a bit dustier and dirty. Some local guy walked up to Ant and asked whether or not Ant knew where he was going… You never really know in situations like this – are they really genuine and wanting to try out their engrish – or are they trying to “fleece their wares”…?
On arrival at “Pansion Lombrelle” – the people there didn’t seem to have any idea about our reservation for one night – nor did they seem to speak any engrish… I dashed into their internet room – logged onto Hotmail – and printed out our hostel.com booking and showed it to them… We had a bit of problem with the payment – where they wanted the full amount whereas we had paid a 10% deposit already over the net… After sorting out that problem – they led us up to our “booked room” – a 4 bed dorm… We didn’t complain – and it managed to be one of the better hostels we have stayed at… It was a really big room, complete with a TV with engrish cable channels, a bar fridge and ensuite. Although it was a “dorm” room – we pretty much had the place all to ourselves.
We headed out to Mostar’s big attraction – the Old Bridge (aka Stari Most)… a UNSECO World Heritage site. Although it is called the “Old Bridge” – it really is the “New Old Bridge” as the original was blown up by Croat troops during the war in the 90s. The bridge was rebuilt in the late 90s (as a sign of goodwill between Croatia and BIH – according to LP)… and it is fairly spectacular. It’s a big arched bridge situated over the lushest looking river – with both sides of “Old Mostar” directly opposite. Ant took all of these “stalkery” shots of some guy who was wandering around the bridge in a pair of red budgie smugglers (putting that Peter Debnam to shame). Ant got me to stand on the bridge and got of a shot of me (plus the other guy in the background) – your secret is out Ant! We soon discovered that the guy must have belonged to the “Mostar Bridge Jumping Club” – no this isn’t some suicidal Emo club – but rather a diving club for maniacs who like to jump off a 20m bridge into a cold river or something…
We had some lunch at a local café – and pretty much had the same stuff as the day before… this time with some pivo (aka beer). We topped this off with some ice-cream from across the way – which was absolutely delicious. By the way – these Bosnians are sure into snickers flavoured ice cream (as you do).
We checked out the Herzegovina museum. As you enter the front door – it sets off a bell – which must have woken up this old guy to come and serve as and get our 2km entrance fee. The place was completely… not packed – Ant and I were the only people there (a great thing about BIH – lack of tourists!). The museum guy was a little pushing pointing at what we should do… He led us down to an underground lair… then switched off the lights (didn’t this happen in Silence of the Lambs or something?) and a film started (maybe not like Silence of the Lambs). In the 50plus seater theatre (which was bigger than that sh##y cinema in the heart of Adelaide where Ant and I saw Casino Royale at) – the film pretty much showed the “highlights” of the new “Old Bridge” of Mostar – eg: nice pretty music of the bridge before the war, and some crazys jumping off the bridge, then some bad 80s cock rock guitar music with the Croat soliders taking about 5 attempts to blow up the bridge – then some “Amigos Para Siempre” crap music of the rebuilding and reopening of the bridge. During the opening ceremony – they had a few divers in action… with some big f### off fireworks – they were so big – I thought the bridge might explode again…
After the very small museum – we walked back over the infamous aforementioned bridge (which is really hard to walk on – no thanks to the dodgy ye-olde pavement) and headed to the other side of town. All of the damage to buildings around the place was a bit of a shock to the system. There was burnt out shells of buildings abound – something that we hadn’t seen in Sarajevo (mainly because they have rebuilt a lot of it)… Good old “modern” ruins. Another thing we had noticed that in the film at the museum – that the city looked a lot more built up and urban before the war.
We checked out a local mosque which was interesting – they don’t have the whole “Catholic church decked out with gold and bling” thing happening – rather lots of painted mosaic things on the wall and plenty of rug action abound. Ant had spent a couple more km to get up on the prayer tower thingy – which was full of annoying French girls – complete with “off the shoulder bikini tops” (Inappropriate mosque wear for women number 1).
We chilled back at the hostel – where we both slept for a little while. I woke up and used the internet downstairs to blog for a bit and to look for Dubrovnik accommodation. After about 1 hour – Ant joined me for a joint Dubrovnik accommodation session. After I had had enough with the internet – I headed back up to the room – where I encountered some guy who worked at the hostel asking me “when are you going to pay for the internet?” Usually at hostels (unless signposted) – you’d assume that the internet was free and the website even advertises it in a sort of ambiguous way… (http://www.pansion-lombrelle.com/en/)... Anyhows – this whole thing put me in a ACCC-consumer rights nazi kind of mood.
Ant was keen to “spend up big” and go to a restaurant with a view of the bridge. But spending it big in BIH means paying $10AUD for a beer and a meal with a great view of the new-old bridge of Mostar. We had some pizza (we think it is the national food here or something) and the weather was a little on the fresh side – but the view was great and worth the hypothermia.
At dinner - Ant and I were investigating in LP the nearby "Las Vegas" for devout christians - Medugorje. A town that has 17,000 beds - more beds than the rest of the country... According to LP - "on 24 June 1981, 6 teenagers in this once dirt-poor mountain village claimed they'd seen...the Virgin Mary" - and so began the Christian-tourist mecha that is "Medugorje". 3 of the original teens still claim to see visions of the Virgin Mary daily whilst the rest only see her on "special days". And by the way - the Catholic Church haven't officially endorsed the apparitions. Big tourist attractions include "Apparition Hill" whereby pilgrams can go up the hill to where the Virgin Mary was first seen - even barefoot if you want to. Joy!
There is a total lack of tourists here in Mostar (and BIH for that matter). There was one single bus load of tourists in town – who must of come to Mostar for a day trip – as there was no one else in town.
Ant and I couldn’t help ourselves – and we had a second serving of ice cream for the day (as you do) and went to our hostel and crashed for the night.
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On a footnote about the Banana City Hotel in Sarajevo - if you look it up in google - one of the entries is about "Islamic extremists transiting Balkans for years" - http://www.shout.net/~bigred/AIA0418.html .
Here is an excerpt - "...an example of a terrorist codenamed Maximus, who held secret meetings at the Banana City Hotel on the outskirts of Sarajevo". Choice! Only the best for Nick and Ant - Banana City Hotel - Hotel of Choice for Islamic Extremists! Book now at http://www.banana-city.net/
posted by NicknAnt @ 3:32 AM
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