Some random photos

Here are some randomly selected photos I may or may not have published already.




Left: Young Montenegran in Kotor who wanted a photo.
Centre: In Romania 'Lays' are called 'Star' but it's still 'supermodel' Ronaldinho's photo that sells them!
Right: Live music in town square Brasov, Romania.



Left: Inside the cave monastery of Orheiul Vechi, Moldova
Right: Orheiul Vechi and Raut river, Moldova



Left: Sunset in Dubrovnik
Right: Portsmouth FC ? Are they really popular in Budva, Montenegro ?



Left: Cat asleep in the fortress walls of Dubrovnik.
Centre: St Basil's , Moscow.
Right: Photo shop in Herceg Novi. Don't take your photos here!




Left: Amphitheatre in Pula, Croatia.
Right: Perisan carpets in Mostar market, Bosnia.

Mostar & The War

Mostar is a town full of mixed emotions, beautiful yet still scarred from the war. When Bosnian Serbs started trying to expand their territory and started their ethinc cleansing operation on parts of Bosnia, ethnic tensions eventually dragged Bosnian Croats into the war and the result was that the divided town of Mostar became a key focus in the war. The town divided by the lovely green Neretva river split Croats and Muslims into their on sectors. The historic and beautiful bridge built in the 16th century was a focal point of the town and gave the town its name. Mostar means 'keeper of the bridge'. Reopened in 2004, the bridge is a significant step in co-operation between both sides of the still divided town.

Along the former front line, many buildings still stand derelict, just shells of what was once there. At one corner, I stood and faced 3 completely gutted buildings, while one still standing, an imposing Austro Hungarian 'gymnasium' (school), still stands but is scarred all over with bullet and shell wounds. Meanwhile schooltrips bring their children to teh bridge and show them this emotional and historic place that has played such a major part in their families and their own lives.



The good and the bad.
Left: The beatiful 'Stari Most' (old bridge) at Mostar.
Right: Destroyed buildings still line many streets long the former front-line in Mostar

In total I stayed 3 days in Mostar, I came back after Sarajevo a I had to stay once more in this lovely town. It was nice sitting bwloe the bridge, having breakfast in the sunshine longside teh colorful river. One morning I was lucky enough to be there as some 'bridge divers' came along.
Sadly some, after much standing around, preparing, did not amke the jump off the 21m bridge (whimps), but one did and I caught it on video, for which I will add a link as soon as I can. One who pulled out after standing on the edge, preparing for some 15 minutes, disappointed the hoardes of waiting school children and received a torrent of boos and whistles as he walked away ;-)



Left: Bridge diver at Mostar (this guy never jumped.. boo)
Right: Boy amused himself throwing stones into the river.

An excellent place to visit was a small photo exhibition next to the bridge, showing the bridge from 1991 through to 1994. It was an incredibly emotional collection, first showing the and surrounding areas as they were pre-war, followed by the gradual deteriation of the bridge and streets until finally it disappeared following Croat bombing in November 1993. The streets around the bridge are now lined with tourist shops in beautiful colours and in excellent condition, most sad were the photos taking during 1993, showing these same buidlings completely wrecked and the streets round just huge piles of rubble. A really emotional sight, that makes me grateful that I have managed until now to have lived life without experiencing anything like what happend in Bosnia. As I saw teenagers and people up to my age walk around, I wonder what it must have been like for them to experience all this and how it must have affected their lives. Fortunately I have to say that everyone I met there seemed genuinely warm and friendly, so I feel that locals have come through it positively at least, which is a consolation, however small.

Sarajevo

Unexpectedly found a rep from the hostel I had booked in when I arrived in Sarajevo, lucky. also find Marina (D), Tina (OZ) & Celia (OZ) who are also going there. The driver keeps us waiting for 10 minutes as it's raining, I assume his car must be far away, when we eventually walk there it is about 30m away!! Hungry so go to lunch with Tina & Marina and try out a typical bosnian combi snack of ćevapčići & ražnjići with onions and a lovely thick soft bread. Great snack food, there are ćevapčići, burek or kebab shops everywhere around Sarajevo. Spend the afternoon shopping with Tina as we are both short of warm clothes and the weather has been bad for a week, not very summery and I really need a warmish top.
Later at hostel meet Owen and friends from Malaysia, nice guys and along with Tina we go out for dinner at Mash where due to teh fact most of the menu is off, we get our own custom made vegetable pasta dishes ! very nice too.

Next day I join a hostel tour to a tunnel built under Sarajevo airport during the war. It facilitated smuggling of arms, weapons, ammo, food and troops into the besieged city. The tunnel was 800m long, 1.6m high and 1m wide. and built in 44 days. Videos showed soldiers carrying heavy packs full of supplies through the tunnel. The tunnel began (or ended) at a farmhouse whose family still live there, the son of the family gave an account of their experiences in the war. The tunnel currently is only open for 25m as much of it has since collapsed. A touching moment was when the father of the family, a gentle smiling man, said to our guide that he hoped to re-open it all one day but sadly did not have the funding from the government. Later he put his hand on my shoulder and added, "When I am president of Serbia, I will make sure the whole tunnel is re-opened". I really hope one day his dream comes true.



Left: Entrance to the tunnel at Sarajevo
Right: The lovely Tina shows off a fantastic looking dinner

Also visited a Jewish cemetry, where the the Serb attacks on Sarajevo began. it was from here snipers fired at residents going about the daily lives, along what became known as "sniper alley".
I walked along there later from the infamous Holiday Inn hotel where the foreign journalists sought refuge, all the way along to the old town, that now is a bustling area of shops and cafes of Turkish origin, reflecting the roots of the mainly muslim population of the city. The Turkish quarter, 'Baščaršija' is an area full of character and life, cobbled streets lined with antique and craft shops and with most of the mosques located in this area is also the centre for many of the local community. The main square here has been nicknamed 'Pigeon Square' and is clear to see why. On the way you also pass the 'Latin Bridge' where on June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot by Gavrilo Princip, sparking a war between the Austro-Hungarians and Serbia, which in turn dveloped into WW1.



Left: A very serious game of chess, lots of shouting and disagreement going on during this game.
Right: One of the Sarajevo Mosques.

World cup started while in Sarajevo and the first day saw a jam-packed hostel common room filed with many nations, many large bottle of beer that could be purchased just a few metres away at a bargain Euro 1.60 for 2 litres and the occassional burek.
Final evening enjoyed a teriffic meal in a 'gezellig' little restaurant with Tina, which we stumbled across while out hunting for food in the pouring rain. Great restaurant, great food and great company (see earlier photo), a fine way to round off a great time in Sarajevo, a city which certainly appealed to me and many others I think. It was a fun 3 days in Sarajevo, good atmosphere in the hostel, great bunch of people, good nights out in the 'City Pub'. Was good to meet and go out with Tina, Dan, James (see also Bosnian pyramid story), Marina, Owen & friends as well as others there and sad when people moved on.




Left: Owen and friends from Sarawak, Malaysia at 'The Latin Bridge' where Franz Ferdinand was shot.
Right: Turkish origin coffee pots in the shops.

The Bosnian Pyramid

Was informed of this new and exciting discovery soon after arrival at the Hostel Lubljicica in Sarajevo. Sceptical, but a few of us decided to check it out anyway. Destination Visoko or 'Pyrmid City' as it has become known.

Apparently discovered about a year ago and under excavation for 1 month and 10 days it is being described as the most significant archeological monument in Europe. Initially identified from satellite images, further analysis suggests there are 3 pyramids in the area. As you approach Visoko on the bus, one of the mountains clearly looks pyramidical, that's for sure, but it's obvious, how did they only discover it a year ago ?

A climb up the 'pyramid', guided by some young Indian Jones like lad who tried to appear to be an official guide (he had some badges and everything), to where some excavation are taking place show some unconvincing uncovered areas of flat, sloping stones. One of the team working on the excavation tells us how the formations and structure of the rocks clearly show something man-made and not something created by nature. They believe them to be 12,500 years old and rise at an angle of 53 degrees (pyramids in Egypt are at a 52 degree incline). An expert from Egypt had been there in recent weeks and was astounded and convinced that this was something from an ancient civilistion also.

Currently funding is low and the team consists of only 12 men, but hope to increase future awareness and therefore generate more investement for research. As it stands now, they have no idea what the results of the research will be, but for now it's a potentially exciting time for tourism in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Whether this will turn out to be a genuine case of pyramids from ancient times, who knows, but if it is, then in a few years this could be one of the biggest tourist attractions in Europe and we could have been one of the first few to see it !

Here are some photos so you can decide for yourself.




Left: View from Visoko town.
Right: uncovered area of stones.



The team for the day:
(Back left to right): James (US), Sam (Eire), 'Jimmy' (Eire)
(Front left to right): Me, our young guide for the day, Dan (UK /Norway)

Have to add too, the tourist wave has already hit Visoko full steam. Close to the bus station was the 'Pyramid Hotel" and restaurant. Stalls lined the streets to the hill, err sorry, pyramid, selling t-shirts and mini-pyramids, even though no-one really knows what it looks like yet, they have though already designed the mini-pyramids for tourists. And most surprisingly, a local cafe even had pyramid logo on their suger sachets !

Check out these websites for latest news

http://www.bosnian-pyramid.com/ or http://www.bosnianpyramids.org/

By Bus to Bosnia

Have never been to Bosnia before, so looking forward to this. Especially interested in seeing the bridge at Mostar which has intrigued me for years, since I read a story about someone in Mostar during the time it was blown up in 1993 during the war in Bosnia.

Bus along the Croatian coast has many beautiful views again and helps pass the time on this 4 hr journey. Bosnian customs are quite a breeze, only 10-15 minutes or so, not bad for a busload and you could get off and walk around. But the drivers then sitting down at a cafe 50m into Bosnia and having a feast of a lunch for the next 30-40 minutes was a bit frustrating, especially without any Bosnian marks in my pocket.



Left: View from the bus along Croatian coast.
Right: The wonderful Lena and Mother (If you need somewhere to stay in Mostar)

At Mostar, a lady called Lena has spotted me getting my bags on the bus and obviously identified me as a potential guest at her homestay. She stands at the bus steps and greets me with a smile and a 'Are you looking for a room?' She seems nice, it seems easy, hope she is better than my Croatian experiences ! And I don't have to carry my rucksack more than 100m to her home, which is a bonus.

Walk around Mostar towards the famous bridge and get my first sight of this structure that I have wanted so long to visit and which has such a story to tell. The bridge was rebuilt and re-opened in 2004, I only realised this was happening when I happend to see it on TV the night it re-opened. I would have been happy just to go along one day just to see the site. For a bridge it is something special, influenced of course by the history behind it.

Many buildings in Mostar are still completely gutted, some have been rebuilt, but it all takes time and money and things can only be done one step at a time. Wandering through the touristy shops that have sprouted up around the bridge there is an array of stalls selling objects of Muslim and Turkish origin reflecting the Muslim history of half this town. It is certainly a refreshing chnage from some of the tourist shops in other parts of the Balkans. Around here I try out another local speciality, čevapčiči, which is similar to a donar kebab but with a thicker type of bread and chunks/strips of meat rather than sliced, this one came just with onions and no extra salads.The meat and bread are both tasty, but I can't help feel it could do with something a little extra.



Left : Me at the Bridge at Mostar
Right: View from riverside below