Postcard from Bosnia and Herzegovina

  Following the footsteps of our one and only Mother Nature, it’s clearly quiet significant that the Balkans are the quintessence of her arty work in Europe. This area notably stands out with their beautifully turquoise colored rivers, that you just want jump in to, amazing high range of mountains, and a clear Adriatic Sea coast. What more would you wish for. The locals surly are aware of the beautiful land, they are very fortunate to live in, as they do mention it on every possible occasion. I personally left my heart in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Rich culture, spread by the different nations, history and still fresh feel of shadow of the violent war from 90s participate in the way Bosnia and Herzegovina looks like today. Thought, most of the cities, like Sarajevo, has been almost fully rebuild, even so well that you can hardly notice sights of any fights, the memories are still held in minds of most of the people who got to witness the horror of those dark days. Yet, locals are happy nova days, cherishing every moment, enjoying the daily life, sharing a smile. Seems for me also that architects had an easy job creating, what you can call, today’s urban panorama trough all the centuries. Designing anything from houses, town halls, churches, to mosques, could just possibly not go wrong in such a magnificent environment. It almost feel like the nature already did most of the work here. The history also made Bosnia and Herzegovina very unique. The influence of the different religions could be spot on every street in every town. The “like-fantasy” medieval castles and fortresses proudly stands next to the Ottoman`s era architecture. It looks like a chest board with just one difference… that all black and white squares, trough some historical conflicts, became to an acceptance, unity, tolerance and friendship? Is it too early to use the last world? Maybe not, not in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that’s why I loved it.

  Cities and towns are not too busy, not too crowded, people seems less stressed and rushed than western countries. Balkans are still very undiscovered and untouched by mass tourism. This fact makes it easy to find a peacefulness literally just around the corner. 10 minutes drive from Sarajevo already can bring you to the stunning river side, lake or forest where’s nobody around, just you and the nature. It gives you also the opportunity to listen to the most uncommercial music in the world….the music of nature. Birds, waters, even wind can enhance your experience around this remarkable landscape.

Thought, mentioning the virginity of this part of the Europe, please note that accommodation can be found easily in most of the places in Bosnia. The infrastructure works well too, making it accessible from every neighborhood country or just between domestic towns. Hostels are cute, nice, very clean and affordable even for a budget backpacker. Eating out, whether it is a traditional meal or just a good old pizza, wont make any difference from own cooking, as of a taste and price.  Merchants are very friendly and not pushy whatsoever, they really don’t try to just make money of you. They will be around to help, but also will leave you in peace, giving you some space to look. That makes the whole experience of walking in old towns much nicer. Yet, there is so many cute things from tea pots, glasses, dishes to cloths, so you will be back to your hotel with a full bag. Why not, if you can, it really is 3 times cheaper than in Western Europe, not even mentioning the uniqueness of the staff there. I personally had to thrown away few pairs of jeans and shoes to make a space for the things I purchased there. Well worth it!

Some of the people speak a very good English, the rest can communicate well too. This fact is very important in making connections with locals. You can hear loads of stories about the war that can give you a very good image if these past years. Though, you can clearly see that people moved on, yet they do well remember those bloody, violent, dark days that took so many lives. People went trough a lot, seen a lot and experienced. Hard to believe that western countries turned their back on. Though past shows very well that less resource in the country for benefit, less help you can get. History is the worst teacher ever, I got to know.

  But what the war cannon take is the beauty of the land. Clearly Bosnia and Herzegovina got the most outstanding and most pretty rivers, lakes and hills. What else should I add to convince you to visit this country? I hope nothing. Be happy, appreciate what you have, respect others, travel, if you can, and visit this stunning place that will not disappoint you in any way.