The Cube

Pre-travel
Here's some Yugoslavia history in small bite to get you into the mood.
And breakdown of travel days and links to accommodation.


Qatar: Doha
Day 0 - transit on the way to Zagreb and back from Warsaw, because I travelled with Qatar Airways.


Croatia: Zagreb
Day 1 - Half day in Zagreb before taking another flight to Sarajevo at night


BiH: Sarajevo
Day 2 - Walk around Sarajevo city
Day 3 - Historical Museum of BiH and Tunnel of Hope


BiH: Mostar
Day 4 - around Mostar


BiH: Blagaj, Pocitelj, Kravice, Hum Hill
Day 5 - Day trip from Mostar


Croatia: Split
Day 6 - A day in Split


Hungary: Budapest
Day 7 - Travel / Rest day
Day 8, 9 and 10 - Things to do in Budapest


Czech Republic: Prague
Day 11 - Travel / Rest day
Day 12, 14 and 15 - Things to do in Prague
Day 13- Day trip to Kutna Hora


Poland: Krakow and Warsaw
Day 16 - Wieliczka Salt Mine
Day 17 - Around Krakow including Kazimierz (Jewish Quarter)
Day 18 - Auschwitz-Birkenau
Day 19 - Wawel Hill


Day 20 and 22 - Around Warsaw
Day 21 - Warsaw Uprising Museum and Centrum Nauki Kopernik


Till then Europe, I shall return!


Side note: Do you feel ticklish when had a massage?

We took a day tour out of Mostar organised by Hostel Miran. The tour covered Blagaj, Pocitelj, Krevice and Hum Hill and cost 60KM per head. It was a small scale tour, transport was a van and a car, both blasting with loud local music. We were divided into van or car based on the question "Are you a couple?" as they tried not to separate couples. K and I were sent to the van, drove by Miran himself.

Blagaj

Our first stop was Blagaj, and it started to rain just as the vehicles pulling into the car park. Luckily the first thing on itinerary was breakfast/brunch! We had burek with two types of filling - cheese and meat, and I had my does of Bosnian coffee again :)


My first thought when I got off the car was this stone mountain looked so unreal. It felt like something you see in a movie set. The view towards the cafe was beautiful, but we were near Tekija which was built at the far end of pretty Blagaj village.



After meal, we walked to the half-timbered Tekija (Dervish monastery). The tekija was built at the source of the river Buna when the Ottomans arrived in the 1500s. Both males and females are required to cover their knees (or technically wear long pants or long skirts) to enter the monastery. Females are also required to cover their head. Both long skirts and scarves were provided at the monastery.



Our guide also let us had a sip of water from Buna river. There's a metal cup chained to the building, at the steps of tekija. After visiting the building itself, we were brought to walk around to the opposite side for photographs shots. If you look close enough at the photo below, zooming in on the steps, that's where the chained metal cup can be found.

The tekija looks more picturesque from this angle

As we left Blagaj, it started to rain again all the way till we reached Pocitelj, unfortunately.

Pocitelj


Our initial plan before the start of our of Central Europe trip was to do a trip out of Mostar and the two destination selection was Blagaj or Kravice. So I was clueless of Pocitelj till after this tour. Pocitelj is an Ottoman settlement, previously an art colony. This fortress village was damaged in the 1990s conflicts but mostly restored as of now. The mosque seen is Dadzi-Alija Mosque, initially constructed in 1563 while the silo-shaped fort is the Sahat Kula. It was used to guard against possible invasion from the Neretva Valley.





Kravice


Kravice is a waterfall on the Trebizat River and stood 25 meters tall. When we were there, it was a fairly hot day with occasional rain. However we were rather lucky that the rain stopped once we reached Kravice. I unfortunately still hardly considered know how to swim. K and I basically walked about, dipped at shallow ends and climbed the rocks. We had our lunch at the nearby cafe, lunch was not provided as part of the tour. We were served a spread of grilled meats and salads at the cost of 11.50KM per person.

Hill around Mostar

I am not entirely sure but I think this hill is called Hum Hill. The hill overlooks Mostar and we sat around while Miran told the story of Mostar during the Yugoslavia era. There are still a few bunkers on the hill from the war used by snipers, also noted of some shell casing.





My last meal in BiH was a home-mixed meal consisted of pilau rice, small sausage, Bosnian cookie, fried green paprika and sour cream. Bosnian cookie is made of ground meat, eggs, onion, parsley and garlic. K opted to have a beer but I wanted to try another dessert and picked a Hurmasica, which is a soft cookie log in syrup. (Total 11KM)




Side note: Amitābha...

We took a bus from Sarajevo to Mostar, costing 17KM per person. There are many buses running between Sarajevo to Mostar but train option to Mostar is said to provide beautiful scenery views. We went with the bus because of the train timing, at 6:51 and the alternative is at 18:57. I heard that the train ticket is also cheaper comparatively to bus but I am not sure how much it is to be exact.

Bus time table as at Aug 2014

Waiting for bus to Mostar

K found and booked a hostel in Mostar the night before. We made reservation of two nights in Mostar at Hostel Miran at 20KM for 2 nights per person. It was a 7 person dorm room with shared bath. It was a family run hostel and we signed up for a day tour to Blagaj, Pocitelj and Krevice for the next day.

Hostel's outdoor reception area

The day's itinerary was to walk around Mostar, on a super hot day.



The major attraction in Mostar was non other than Stari Most (Old Bridge).

Clear water of Neretva

Cejvan Cehaj Mosque in the background

Stari Most was constructed in the 16th century, survived WWII until it collapsed on 9 November 1993 from a tank shelling during the Croat-Bosniak War. The bridge we see today even though still called Old Bridge is not exactly that old, it was a reconstructed bridge in 2004.

When you are visiting Stari Most, you would notice one man going around collecting funds for Stari Most Diving. The one collecting the fund is not the diver, and this same guy jumped at least 3 times when we were there. It appears that the tradition started since when the bridge was built and there were organised annual competitions in mid summer.

The guy walking on the outer side of the barrier was collecting money for the dive

Diving in action

On the way to the bridge, you might spot this stone - "Don't Forget". Upon googled, it was said that the stone was to remind one not to forget the civil war in 1993.


Sure there are a fair bit of tourists and visitors flocking to Mostar but it was still a comfortable and charming place.

We ended the day with a night walk but not before dinner and writing some postcards to be sent.

A bit of everything - Bosnian cuisine 'chap fan' :P

Jie, one of the two was for you!

Side note: Ganbaro!

Entrance to the tunnel

Sarajevo Tunnel or also known as Tunnel of Hope was constructed between 1992 and November 1995 in the midst of the Bosnian War. It was built by the Bosnian Army, aiming to link the city of Sarajevo with Bosnian-held territory on the other side of the Sarajevo Airport as the rest of the area was under the power of Serbian forces. The tunnel allows food and war supplies to be send into the city and people to get out.

We joined a tour provided by Insider for 30 km (15€) per person and our tour guide that day was Samra. The tour started outside at Insider's office, near the Latin Bridge. Samra talked about the Siege of Sarajevo while we gather on the Latin Bridge itself while waiting to board the bus to the tunnel.

I don't know the actual age of Samra but her childhood was during the Siege of Sarajevo. Samra spoke perfect English and informed us that she at almost the end of the siege, she fled Sarajevo and was in Zagreb for 2 months before spending the next 13 months (or was it 11) in New Jersey. She talked about Yugoslavia, the geography of Sarajevo and how organising the Olympics in 1984 was a big thing. Along the way to the tunnel, she also pointed out certain buildings including the Holiday Inn and what happened then.


Next to the entrance of the tunnel are the three flags of BiH. From left - Kingdom of Bosnia 1377–1463,
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1998–present and Independent Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina 1992–1998.
The one in the middle is BiH's current flag, introduced by UN after the signing of the Dayton Agreement.


The tunnel was used to transport firearms and food from outside and cigarettes out. Samra mentioned of a journalist who wrote an autobiography along the lines of, "Coffee is a way of life but cigarette is a necessity." I can't seem to find the autobiography but it pretty much sum up a lot of BiH. They drink a lot of coffee but it also appear that almost everyone smokes. In the days of hardship during the siege, cigarette remained an important comodity. Samra recalled of signs around the city to warn of the snipers which would just read, "Beware of snipers". She also remember one cynical one that read, "Run or Rest in Peace." Cynical but very true.

During the time of our visit, Sarajevo was hosting their 20th annual film festival. This film festival started during the war days so it was an important event for them. It gave the hope that they could still have some entertainment during the siege days.

Prior to getting into the tunnel itself, we were showed some short video clips on the tunnel. Then came the part of walking the tunnel. It was a very short part that was opened but I understand that it will be impossible to allow anyone to go underground towards the airport ground.

The direction of the other side of the tunnel - the airport.

This Tunnel of Hope tour is one of those tour that I think one would learn more compared to doing a self guided one. Without any of the commentary, I think just seeing the tunnel itself would be probably be a rather disappointment.


Side note: There's a reason why people leave work phone at work....

I had an earlier day compared to K as I had to make my way to Sarajevo Airport to pick up my luggage. I found out that even though my luggage had been sent to Sarajevo but because Qatar Air does not have an office or connection to Sarajevo, they are not able to arrange for a delivery without fee. I knocked on Emir's door (the son, owner of the hostel) and asked if he can help me ring a taxi for me to pick up my bag. He was not able to send me to the airport but helped me called for a English speaking taxi driver who would pick me up, wait and send me back after picking up my luggage. Taxi came in 5 to 10 minutes. As nobody was at the lost and found counter, I was out with my luggage in less than 10 minutes.

We initially wanted to see the National Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina only to found out that the museum has been closed when we asked if it was a good museum to visit. We were told it was good but no chance to visit it any more as it has been closed down since 2012 due to funding issue.


However we thought we would check out a little further than the usual Baščaršija area. It was about 30 minutes walk away from the old town. As we walked away from the old cultural history center, the change in scenery was quite obvious.



On our way we saw the Holiday Inn building. I was not aware of the significance of this building till after we saw the same photos in the historical museum. The only reason it got our attention was because of the orange brown colour.

Currently - in 2014

Photo from the Historical Museum of BiH

Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, the high point of the city's modern history. This yellow and brown Holiday Inn Hotel was built for the Olympics, to house sportsmen, journalists.

In the early 1990s, during the Sarajevo Siege, Holiday Inn was located on "Sniper Alley" and said to be in the closest proximity to the front line.

We ended up visiting the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina instead. Entrance fee 5km.


As you can see from the exterior, the museum is not maintained very well, likely due to funding issues as well. The museum now house exhibition on the history of BiH through the Communist era as well as on the siege. On exhibits are photographs and artefacts. It isn't a very big museum and we were in time to commute back to the old town center to catch our tunnel tour.

We initially contemplated to take a tram but the lady who worked at the History Museum told us it costs 7.60 km. However another person told us it was 2 km. We being the cheap travelers/tourists decided to just walk our way back. We were in time and even had time to spare to do a takeaway burek too.

This is a very good potato burek, a big piece of it at 3.5km

Side note: How on earth when one thing break, the rest of things decided to join in the fun too and break at similar time? = ="