We left the amazing city of Sarajevo today, but not before an impressive visit to the Tunnel Museum, the site of the Bosnian army's tunnel under the airport runways allowing them to get supplies into Sarajevo during the nearly siege. It operated successfully for nearly 3 years. It is about 4 feet wide, 6 feet tall, and ran for about 3/4 of a mile. It also supplied water and gas as well as having tracks to make it easier to put supplies into carts rather than have to be hand carried. It was operated out of a private home and the same family now operates the museum. Our guide was 10 at the time of the siege and it is his parent's home. He used the tunnel to go to school when the shelling wasn't too bad. It is hard to believe that there was a NATO presence there and yet the siege lasted so long and cost so many civilian lives! Civil War really is hell!
We then made our way through the rugged mountains into Herzogovenia and the city of Mostar. We had a late lunch in Blagaj, a nearby town where a Sufi Monastery was built by the Ottomans and where the river comes out under the mountain caves. It was an amazing place.
We were about 3 hours late for our appointment with the tour guide, who incidentally is also Rick Steeves guide when he is in Mostar and will be in an upcoming presentation of his on Mostar. She was very gracious and walked us through old town Mostar - an area completely devastated during the Croat attacks on the Bosnians. The Croats targeted the most "sacred" symbol - and namesake - of the town, an Ottoman Bridge built by an apprentice of Sinan, the architect responsible for the greatest Ottoman Mosques. The destruction of the bridge effectively cut the town in two and made commerce and community nearly impossible. In 1997, the townspeople decided to have the bridge rebuilt using the old Ottoman records in Istanbul and restoring as many as the fallen stones as possible. It was reopened and now stands as a testament to the town's determination and pride. My perception of Bosnia as a proud and resiliant people has been continually reinforced on this trip - and they are a genuine and happy people as well. Tomorrow, we leave Bosnia, spend a few hours in Croatia and then on to Montenegro - which I understand may make the mountainous regions of Serbia and Bosnia seem flat and the roads of those same places like super-highways. Looks like I should have brought more ginger!
We then made our way through the rugged mountains into Herzogovenia and the city of Mostar. We had a late lunch in Blagaj, a nearby town where a Sufi Monastery was built by the Ottomans and where the river comes out under the mountain caves. It was an amazing place.
We were about 3 hours late for our appointment with the tour guide, who incidentally is also Rick Steeves guide when he is in Mostar and will be in an upcoming presentation of his on Mostar. She was very gracious and walked us through old town Mostar - an area completely devastated during the Croat attacks on the Bosnians. The Croats targeted the most "sacred" symbol - and namesake - of the town, an Ottoman Bridge built by an apprentice of Sinan, the architect responsible for the greatest Ottoman Mosques. The destruction of the bridge effectively cut the town in two and made commerce and community nearly impossible. In 1997, the townspeople decided to have the bridge rebuilt using the old Ottoman records in Istanbul and restoring as many as the fallen stones as possible. It was reopened and now stands as a testament to the town's determination and pride. My perception of Bosnia as a proud and resiliant people has been continually reinforced on this trip - and they are a genuine and happy people as well. Tomorrow, we leave Bosnia, spend a few hours in Croatia and then on to Montenegro - which I understand may make the mountainous regions of Serbia and Bosnia seem flat and the roads of those same places like super-highways. Looks like I should have brought more ginger!
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