Konjic and Cold War

A couple of days before I was going to start traveling again in April I decided to follow up on some of the plans I had. I had a second stop in BiH (short for Bosnia and Herzegovina) in the town of Konjic. While I fill in the details in the itinerary it seems like it is going to be difficult to do the things I want to do here without a car. Additionally it seems like the town is light on the activities if you don’t count river rafting (and it is a bit off season to do that). I attempt to move the days I had allocated to the two other stops I have in BiH but with it is getting too complicated to change things and I am running out out of time; I decided to keep things as they are for now.

Come to find out my intuition was correct. This town would have been better for me to visit as a day trip instead of an overnight. They don’t really seem to be set up for tourism right now because either it is off season or covid decimated the tourism industry. There is a lack of dining options and entertainment. The one big attraction I do see is almost a mishap: Tito’s Bunker. For Tito’s bunker luckily a local tourism office helps me with a taxi despite neither of us speaking each other’s languages (it is too difficult to walk there – believe me I thought about walking the 6 km). In addition one restaurant I try to dine at makes me feel really stupid for being there. I know I am part of the problem because I come into the country not knowing the language but most waiters are gracious and just hand me a menu and it works well enough. The waiter in this restaurant looks at me like he is not willing to work with me at all, no menu, nothing, so I walk out embarrassed. This situation is not repeated at other restaurants but I guess I need a situation to humble me once in a while. I really would like to learn local languages but the way I travel makes it impossible. I visit way too many countries. Learning a few phrases is all I can handle most of the time.

Despite all that above, it is a lovely town. It is almost like a Swiss town in the middle of the Balkans. There is a beautiful river and beautiful mountains in the distance. My rental is a basement apartment rented by the lovely man and his wife who live above. Today he gave me a homemade baklava made by the wife – Bosnian style with walnuts.

My second day I visit the main attraction Tito’s Bunker, the bunker created during the Cold War by the very popular Yugoslav leader President Josip Broz Tito (died 1980) . Construction started in secret ( even to the local community) in the 1950’s and completed in 1979. It’s construction cost $4.6 billion to construct (more than $20 billion today). It is no wonder why Yugoslavia was under financial collapse. It was kept open until 1992 but never used for its purpose. It was closed during the war in the 1990’s. It was only rediscovered in 2011 and shortly after opened for tours. This place is nice to visit because it is a well preserved relic of the Cold War era due to being forgotten for so long. I really enjoy my visit here. You can only visit by a prearranged tour. Fortunately they have tours In English. Along with the well preserved rooms there are also recent related art installations scattered around. Luckily the travel agency that books this visit also arranges my transportation to and from here because there is no public buses to get here.

I arrive back in town and walk around for the evening. There isn’t much else to do so I suppose it is good I am leaving tomorrow morning by train to Mostar. It’s a pretty town but maybe too sleepy for me.

Fall of Yugoslavia

Today is an other long day. I originally planned to attend a Fall on Yugoslavia tour in the morning and do local sightseeing in the afternoon. An hour before my tour is supposed to start they ask if I’d like to go to the 2:00 PM tour and additionally attend the 10:30 AM free city walking tour. Because I realize it’s off-season and I am flexible I agree. I have extra time so I order burek and Bosnian coffee for breakfast. The burek, or Bosnian pie, has potatoes. The standard serving is large and served with yogurt. I like it but not sure I’d eat it every day. The cafe I stop at has a basketball on its sign. Since I’ve seen basketballs multiple times on signs I take the time to google the significance: during the Yugoslav era the region had many powerful basketball players.

Once I start my walking tour I realize I am very happy I joined the tour. I am learning so much about the city that I would not have otherwise learned. This afternoon is very specific to the Fall of Yugoslavia whereas this tour gives me more of an overview of the history from the ancient times, Ottoman Empire, Austrian-Hungarian times and so on.

We walk around town. In one street alone you can tell the different time periods from the architecture: Ottoman Empire, astro-Hungarian architecture, and then brutalist architecture from the Yugoslavian times (East meets West).

We learn more about what ignited WWI. We learn about how 3 main religions live here in harmony.

We learn how things are slow to progress due to the current political system. Since BiH is represented by 3 primary ethnic groups (Croats, Serbs and ethnic Bosnians) that are unwilling to fully relinquish power the government is run by three presidents or three parties who take turns being in charge. This system leads to chaos and most certainly corruption. It is stunting the progress of a beautiful country. Many have dreams of one day joining the Euro zone like some of its former Yugoslav brothers but at this point it never seems possible.

We visit the famous church in town and learn about the rose of Sarajevo that was caused by shelling during the war of the 1990’s.

We also pick up on places where signs of the war still exist. They don’t leave them unrepaired for remembrance, it is just the government just ccan’t get around to making the repairs….for a war that has been over almost 30 years.

I say goodbye to my fantastic tour guide and after the tour I have a break so I get a snack. I soon meet up for my Fall of Yugoslavia tour. I am pleased to find it is the same tour guide from this morning. We hop in a van and head out to see some sights related to the fall of Yugoslavia and the war of the early 1990’s. I’m not going to give an entire history here because it is long and complicated but within ten years after Josip Tito (former leader of Yugoslavia) died in 1980 some of the countries that formed Yugoslavia decided to declare independence, for various reasons. The initial countries to do so were Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia. There was opposition to this by Yugoslav loyalists and as a result the region was full of conflict throughout the early 1990’s. I slightly remember it because I was in school at the time and I do remember the term ethnic cleansing being used frequently. It was a horrible war now that I go back to learn it as an adult.

We start at the yellow fortress where we are given a view of the city.

We visit a hospital destroyed in the war. Our guide tells us how a nearby stadium is used as a mass grave.

We visit the Tunnel of Hope and tunnel museum. This tunnel, the start on private land, allowed soldiers and supplies to travel under the airport and to/from the mountains to be undetected by the Bosnian Serb army. It was a lifeline to the Sarajevo community during the war. We got to sample the tunnel and watched very powerful footage of soldiers using the tunnels to transport supplies to the local people. My guide was a student at the time but her father was a soldier that used the tunnel. We got her unique perspective on the war.

We then visit the abandoned bobsled course from the 1984 Sarajevo Olympics, a proud moment for the locals. It was once used in the war of 1990’s and now is a place for street art and tourists to visit.

We finish with a stop at an abandoned building where we have lovely views of the city. Teenage me would have loved exploring this abandoned building in the middle of the night. I suppose this destroyed building has a different meaning to locals.

I am back in town and it is raining. I stop at a wine bar until I decide what I want for dinner. My meals the last couple days have been meat heavy and I am craving vegetables so I find a place that will serve a mixed cheese plate and grilled vegetables. Of course it is way too much food but the stomach wants what the stomach wants. I am not so much a fan of the travnik cheese (feta type) because it is a little salty for my taste but all the other cheeses served, including the blue which I never love, were very good. I eat all my cheese alternating bites with the grilled veggies to make sure I get a little nutrition while I travel.

I still haven’t tried the local brandy so I stop by a local place and try rakija. It’s just me and what I assume is the owner’s family in the bar, or at least they gave the appearance of being family. I sampled my very strong brandy in what felt like someone’s house. One sample is all I have in me so I call it quits for the night afterwards.

Jayce, Pliva Lakes, and Travnik

This might be the two glasses of affordable wine and jet lag talking but I really like Bosnia so far. I slept almost a complete night last night so I hope I am well rested for today: a day tour of areas north of Sarajevo.

We start the tour by visiting the Pliva lakes. One of the advantages of visiting off season is that we have the lakes almost completely to ourselves. One disadvantage is that it is chilly and overcast. During the summer people swim and do water sports here. We only have a short stop but it is beautiful for the time we visit.

The highlight of the area is the mill houses on the lake. They were once used for local housing but now they are mostly a tourist attraction.

I also learn about the fun but political Bosnian music group Dubioza Kolektiv. I am really enjoying their tunes while we go from location to location

We then walk the old town of Jajce to the Jajce fortress (Yie-sz to pronounce, I only include this because I had no idea). It is the best preserved fortress from the former Bosnian Kingdom. The Bosnian kingdom lasted about 100 years around 1300’s to 1400’s. We enjoy nice views of the city of Jajce.

We then visit the old Bear Tower, named so because the walls were strong as a bear.

We walk down stairs to the catacombs that were never actually used for their intended purpose – to bury Hrvoje Vukcic Hrvatinic and his family. It was used as a church. Notable is the cross symbol on the lower level accompanied by the moon and the sun. These two symbols often appear in Bosnian history as they tried to mix the former pagan symbols with Christianity symbols.

We walk into the newer part of town and see two memorials to people fallen in the war of Yugoslavia. We have lunch at a local restaurant where I finally try Cevapi. The bread is the most amazing thing I’ve had in a while. I added the cream cheese on the side and it takes like a combination of sour cream and butter. Very rich.

We walk over to the Jajce waterfall. My guides insist this place is even more beautiful in the summer (it is Spring). I don’t see how it can get much better than this.

Our next stop is at Travnik where we visit another fortress, this town is very important in the origins of the Bosnian Kingdom. It is in the museum we learn about all the different eras of Bosnia from prehistoric, to the Ottoman, Austo-Hungarian, Yugoslavia, to present day. One display is traditional dress from the three distinct ethic groups: Bosnians, Serbs and Croats. We learn about an annual scrambled egg festival.

We stop for Bosnian coffee, not unlike Turkish coffee if you are familar. This place near the water has a special where the cofffee comes with a cigarette – smoking can be considered a national pastime here, it is still wildly popular.

We then visit an old restored mosque. It is very nice inside. I forgot my scarf today but luckily they had some to borrow.

After our last stop it is the long ride back to Sarajevo to complete the tour. As always I wish I had more time at all of the stops but the tour is a great introduction to a beautiful country.

For dinner I choose a small but cute restaurant. I didn’t try the Travnik cheese earlier so I want to try that and other local cheeses but knowing I cannot handle all that cheese at once I settle on only the one. It is a feta like cheese. Very salty but good. For my main course I order a squid ink seafood risotto. I am also very happy with my affordable glasses of local wine. It is raining and I am jet lagged so I head to bed after dinner.