Balkans

Day 4 - Mon 21 Sept 09

Mostar

Up at 07:30 so I can have a look at the bridge in daylight, and before all the tourists arrive. It works and I have the place to myself. Then it was back to the hotel for a very nice breakfast, and a grand tour of the house - very interesting. The house has been with the same family for 500 years, and they have a lot of documentation, including a planning application dating back to the 1850's. As soon as that was finished it was out on the road with our taxi tour. It was going to be €30, but two Americans appeared so that cut the price in half. The good news is that they are a good laugh!

Pocitelj

We head off to Blagaj which is the source of the Buna river, it appears from a cave at the bottom of a sheer cliff. Next to this is a tekke (a Dervish monastery) which we had a quick look around - it reminded us very much of the hotel we're staying in! The next stop on the tour was Pocitelj a village that was hit hard during the Bosnian war of 1993. The village has been rebuilt since then, and the best views are from the castle at the top of the hill behind the village.

After an petrol and pee stop we stopped off at the kravice waterfalls - it's never going to rival the Victoria Falls, but it is rather picturesque and the locals seem to love it.

The final stop of the day was Medjugorje a village where the Virgin Mary appeared to six children back in 1981. Found a statue of a crucified Jesus which has people queuing up to collect a liquid oozing from the knee. Ended up in the Irish centre for a bite to eat, before heading up apparation hill on the outskirts of the town where Mary was seen by the Children. The climb up was steep, and made worse by the heat.

When we got back to Mostar walked up to the bus station to sort out the tickets for tomorrow. In the afternoon walked down to the bridge and saw a diver jump from it into the river far below. A dusk got something to eat and then headed back to the hotel - what a day. I managed to get the hotel to wash my trousers and fleece, so I'm now diesel free!