Travelogue: Balkans Part 2 - Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

DAY 3 - Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Let me start by recounting our journey to Sarajevo. Our overnight bus ride from Belgrade to Sarajevo was, unfortuantely, not smooth!! We had to change buses not once, but twice!! In the heavy rain. Unsheltered. In the middle of nowhere. At 1 plus am. #help

To make things worse, all the instructions were given in Serbian language and of course we couldn't understand anything! Thankfully there was a young man sitting near us (on the very first bus) who very kindly translated everything for us. Thank God we still arrived in Sarajevo safe and sound!!

It was 7am and the bus station was very very quiet. Probably because it's not the main bus station of Sarajevo. Made our way to our hostel, and we soon realised that Sarajevo has many many steep streets!! And then it dawned on us that Sarajevo is a city in a valley. LOL.

Our hostel - up on a hill. It's a steep climb from the main road down to up here haha. But that means that we'll have a view of the city!

^ The reverse direction from where the previous photo of the hostel was taken from. Don't think this photo shows how steep the road is lol.

And this is the view of Sarajevo from our hostel!

After washing up we headed back down to the main road (i.e. city centre) to explore~

Sarajevo National Theatre - the meeting point of the free walking tour!

This monument is named Multicultural Man Builds the World. It consists of a naked man pulling the meridians of the earth together. Surrounding him are doves that help to lift the meridians. I guess it's pretty obvious what the significance of this monument is. At first I thought that this is very befitting of Sarajevo, because despite just emerging from the Siege of Sarajevo (1992-1995), it is able to uphold peace in its multiculturalism society. The population is made up of diverse ethnicities, and today, its people maintain peaceful relations amongst the different groups.

However - yes you do expect the however, don't you - we learnt from the guide that while there is peace today in Sarajevo, it is not quite as multicultural as it used to be anymore. Before the war, Bosniaks made up about half of the population. But now, it is almost exclusively dominating the population. Furthermore, the government conducted its first post-war population census in 2013, and until now, the figures have yet to be released due to a 'methodological disagreement between the statistical agencies in the countries entities'. *raises eyebrows*

But on a lighter note, the monument is located in a square full of pigeons, so the locals joke that when you look at the monument, you can't tell which birds are real or fake lol.

The Miljacka River that cuts the city laterally into its North and South regions.

We walked to this building named Papagajka, but more notoriously known to the locals as the 'ugliest building' in Sarajevo. Lol what a name. You might think, what's so ugly about this green and yellow building? Is it just because of the colours?

Well, it's actually 'ugly' because it was built back in the Communist era, prior to the 1984 Winter Olympics that Sarajevo hosted. The leaders thought that this green and yellow facade will show the world that Communism is not all dull and gray. But because this is the only building with such an unconventional facade, it truly stands out and the locals have been calling it the ugliest building for the longest time ever haha. Today it is an apartment building (with very high rent!) and shops on the first floor.

And now time for some WWI history! This is the Latin Bridge, a stone bridge built during the Ottoman era. But it is more famously known as the bridge near the WWI assassination site!

Right at the corner where the 'MUSEUM' sign is was where the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was shot, triggering the outbreak of World War One.

The walking tour guide told us a detailed account of the events that led up to the assassination. Sorry I'm a bit lazy to elaborate so I won't go into the details haha. But basically there was a change in the route that the Archduke was supposed to travel, but no one informed the chauffeur, so this allowed the assassinator, Gavrilo Princip, to have his chance of killing the Archduke. He was actually waiting at the cafe at the corner of the street (where the museum presently sits), and when the carriage turned the corner, he just had to shoot and that's it! What a miscommunication lol.

What gave me a strong impression of Sarajevo is its religion. Islam is the main religion here, and while it's not an unfamiliar one to someone living in Singapore, it's quite different here because of the architecture of the mosques. The mosques in the Balkans have a distinctive (half) dome shape, with a tall, thin tower called a minaret just beside it. Not the same as the ones in Southeast Asia where you have the onion-shaped structures and the crescent and star symbol on top.

Our trip there coincided with the Ramadan festival too, so it was eye-opening to be able to observe certain practices that they do! Certainly broadens the cultural exposure. :)

That said, there are also other religions practised in Sarajevo. This is a Franciscan Church. And there are also Catholic churches around too.

This is the Sarajevo Brewery, the longest-running brewery in the city. It has been in operation since 1864, and has not stopped even during the war between 1992 and 1995. In fact, this brewery saved the city under siege.

Not because it produced beer, but because the brewery sits on a subterranean natural spring. So this allowed clean water to be drawn up and rationed to the local people in times of war. Definitely a lifesaver, since during the siege, rivers and water bodies were very heavily polluted, and water and power lines were sabotaged.

The National Library, which is a blend of Ottoman architecture and Austro-Hungarian influence. So beautiful!

This little house here called Inat Kuca has an interesting story behind it. When the Austro-Hungarians conquered Sarajevo, they wanted to build a City Hall. However, Inat Kuca was in the way. The authorities offered the owner of the house a lot of money for compensation, but the owner refused. He would only budge if the authorities demolished his house brick by brick, and reconstruct it the same way, brick by brick, on the other side of the river. And so the authorities really did. Today Inat Kuca is a protected cultural and historical site, and a restaurant.

Houses up on the hill. I asked the tour guide if there's an alternative mode of transport that they can take to go up. He said there are buses, but only very few actually go up those roads. And since most of them do not own cars (due to the high cost relative to their incomes), they just have to walk up and down every day!

For the last part of the tour, we arrived at Baščaršija, the Old Bazaar that dates back to the Ottoman times. It used to be the historical and cultural center of the city, when it was constructed in the 15th century, where people come here to trade, to eat, to buy stuff etc. Because it was huge, there are sections and lanes selling designated items.

And some of these sections still exist till today! This street sells all the copper-related stuff.

Although inevitably, some shops are now converted into souvenir shops, due to the high tourist footfall here.

The main square of Baščaršija that is fullll of pigeons!

This exact scene above is my first encounter with Sarajevo. Saw this photo in the Facebook game Geo Challenge that I played very fervently last time hahaha. And naturally it formed my very first geographical imagination of Sarajevo - exotic and mysterious! The mosque behind is the famous Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque.

There are also many restaurants selling local food, and it's quite comforting to hear that the residents still come here too, despite the area being quite touristy.

It was really lovely to walk in the Baščaršija and to appreciate the vibrant business trade and activities there.

Indeed, Sarajevo prides itself on being the meeting point of the East and West cultures. Personally, I couldn't agree more. I know there are many other places in Eastern Europe/Turkey area that can boast this too, but for Sarajevo, you can clearly see it. In terms of religion, Islam and Orthodox Christianity are both dominant, and other aspects of culture like food, costume/clothing, architecture have a good blend of Western modernity and Eastern traditional heritage.

In the late afternoon we went for another free walking tour (yes!!), but this time on a different theme - War Scars and New Times. Basically it's about the recent war history of Sarajevo from 1992-1995 and the current post-war times.

Brief explanation of the war: in the early 1990s, Yugoslavia started to dissolve and each of the territories began to gain their independence. Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) was one of them, in 1992. However the Serbs living in Bosnia (we call them Bosnian Serbs) wanted to create a new Bosnian Serb state, calling for a 'Greater Serbia'. Hence attacks began on Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serbs and Serbian national army, in April 1992. This carried on for very long, until February 1996, which meant the 1,425-day long siege was the longest ever for a city in the history of modern warfare.

Thousands of missiles, mortars and bombs were fired and dropped onto the city. So today, you can see still many scars of the war - some left there intentionally, some unintentionally. The holes in the building on the photo above were caused by the shellings - of up to 3,000 in a day! I can't even bring myself to imagine how intense and crazy that was!

The previous photo and this photo right up here is the Memorial to the Children of Sarajevo, those who died in the war. The footprints on the side of the fountain basin are imprinted by the siblings of the children who were killed.

And just right beside the fountain are the names of all the 1,600 children who died. Their year of birth and death are reflected, and for some, you can count they barely lived for 3 years even!! So, so heart-wrenching.

This is the Sarajevo Rose, which is the damage and impact of the mortar shell's explosion on the ground. They decided to keep these scars as a reminder of the war, and paint the indents red. There are over a hundred all over the city today! Over time, as people walk pass them, the emotional impact gets lessened, but sometimes, it still can be quite painful when you stop to think and remember those terrible times the city endured.

We also walked to this Markale (market), one of the more popular ones in core of Sarajevo, where it was bombed on two separate occasions during the war. The first one in February 1944 killed 64 people and wounded 144 others, making it the single most fatal attack during the siege. The second one in August 1995 had fewer fatalities and casualities, but it was allegedly the reason for NATO air strikes against the Bosnian Serb forces (attackers) that would eventually lead to the Dayton Peace Accords, and the end of the Bosnian war.

Today, the market continues to thrive, as if nothing has happened before.

However, the locals know all too well what happened here two decades ago. This is an example of the Sarajevo Rose (though not filled with red), and it reminds us of the many civilian lives lost.

So after a very heavy-hearted walking tour, we surprisingly still had appetite for dinner! Lol. We ate at the Old Bazaar (no surprise there) and we had BUREK!!!

So Burek is a Balkan speciality and staple food, that's made up of pastry layers with fillings of meat or cheese or spinach. It's very oily and sinful ahhhh but it's very delicious!! And very filling too! I love the spinach and cheese version. Yummms~


DAY 4 - Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Get ready for yet another day of war history attractions!!

We headed out to the outskirts of Sarajevo to this place called Tunel Spasa, which means Tunnel of Rescue, or Tunnel of Hope. This underground tunnel was constructed by the Bosnian army during the siege to link Sarajevo, which was surrounded by Serbian forces, with the Bosnian-held territory on the other side of Sarajevo Airport, a UN-controlled area.

As you can see from the map above, Sarajevo lies in a valley and is surrounded by hills and mountains, and its precisely this geographical characteristic of Sarajevo that makes them so easily conquered and surrounded by their attackers! Note also the quick decline of the city - in 1984 they hosted the Winter Olympics, and yet 8 years later, they were mired in conflict and war.

So the tunnel was very useful in allowing food, humanitarian aid and war supplies to be transported from the UN-controlled area (i.e. safe area) to the city. It was also one of the very few ways that people within the conflict-ridden city can escape!

Ok that's a huge chunk of small text there, but basically the tunnel soon caught the attention of international media, but foreign journalists were not permitted access to the tunnel. In fact, the entrances/exits of the tunnel remain a secret to many! So mysterious.

"Acknowledging the importance of the tunnel for the survival of Sarajevo, they did not want to endanger its existence. In reality, the tunnel was more a semi-secret, and reporters were kept quiet about it, not only because of empathy for the people of Sarajevo, but because they did not have access."

Today, only a very short section of the tunnel is preserved and open to the public to walk through. The rest of the tunnel is either destroyed or sealed off from the public because a part of it runs under the airport.

Like a typical underground tunnel, it's not very high, not very wide, but comfortable enough for supplies and aid to pass through, I would think?

Exhibition rooms.

After that slightly riveting visit to Tunel Spasa, we returned back to the city and set ourselves up for more war history attractions!! LOL we clearly are so interested in this!!

But first, LUNCH! Ate at a simple eatery and I ordered a plate of spinach just because I was so sick and tired of meat!! LOL.

Visited the War Childhood Museum next, based on the recommendations of the walking tour guide yesterday. It's also one of the newest attraction in Sarajevo, having being opened in 2017.

This museum is actually based on a book named War Childhood, where the author collected 1,030 responses from surviving children about their lives/memories of the war. As the author/curator of the museum put it, "today this generation is scattered around the world. Speaking earnestly with fellow survivors, while collecting material for this book, inspired me to create the War Childhood Museum".

This is the question posed to the 1,030 children involved in the book/museum exhibition.

The museum contained artefacts donated by the children and families that meant significantly to them during the war period.

It was honestly quite heart-breaking to see the artefacts and their accompanying captions. Because you were once a child, and certain things, you yourself have also been through it. So it made the museum experience much more real and relatable, although we definitely do not and will never be able to understand the pain and suffering they went through.

The last artefact is a swing, with the above caption. Well-written.

And so, we left the War Childhood Museum on a depressing note, and what better time than to breathe some fresh air? Up we go to climb to the Yellow Bastion, a lookout point of the city below.

Passed by a cemetery on our way up. The road up is actually quite steep...

You can really see that Sarajevo is nestled in a valley!

Something quite amazing about these houses sprawling up onto the hills.

And finally, ending our long day with dinner! Decided to go for a change and had crepes! Yaassssss.

Concluding thoughts: Sarajevo left a really deep impression on me. A huge part has to do with its war history, definitely. The fact that our walking tour guide was only 30 and she went through the war, just shows how recent that period is! In her words, "the people above the age of 23 in this city are here only because someone missed them - the snipers. It was raining shrapnel every day."

So poignant.

But what's remarkable, is that the city today stands unshaken by its recent past, united by a people so full of resilience. Even though the scars are still seen on the buildings and faces of the survivors, the city and its people are determined to carve a brighter future ahead of them, to look forward with hope.

Till the next time, Sarajevo!

Onward to the next city - Mostar!