Borders, bridges, beauty and bravery....that's Bosnia 

Border-crossings soon became routine on our recent car-trip through Central Europe. Most were simply a formality - a quick shuffle through our passport and car papers, a smile and a wave. We expected the same as we drove north from Dubrovnik in Croatia, headed for the Bosnian border.

(Pic: Gordon Hammond)

Our destination in Bosnia was the ancient city of Mostar, for centuries known for its elegant arched bridge over the river Neretva. In fact the town was named for the mostari - guardians of the bridge.

There are many casualties in any war, and the toll of human life was terrible here, yet somehow at the time, the news of this loss of such a heritage landmark hit me as especially poignant.

'We have to see Mostar," I decide when planning our trip.

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So here we are at the Ivanika border crossing, a mere hour's drive from Dubrovnik, Croatia, and still in sight of the Adriatic coast - but the man at the gate is not happy.  

'No, you may not go!' - the words no motorist wants to hear when attempting to drive into a new country.

He wants a special form for our car - one we have not been asked for in the last twelve border crossings at various countries between Austria and here. We've given him all we have used before. And wait. He confers with his colleagues, makes lengthy phonecalls to his superiors, then comes back to us, shaking his head.

'Look in the glove box!' he says, and I sigh. I have done that. Twice. Then - surprise - there is the magic 'green card' under some other papers, and immediately it is smiles all round, a handshake, and we are on our way. Whew!

We are already a little twitchy. Bosnia, after all, was in every headline 25 years ago. We had been expressly told (not advised, TOLD) that when in the countryside, a walk away from the road, even for a comfort stop, could be deadly, due to the thousands of yet-undetected landmines.

This is remote border country, and we see roofless and abandoned buildings. After ten minutes driving we are stopped by a queue of stationary cars. 'Why?' we ask another motorist. 'It is until 12 o'clock,' he tells us. 'Ten more minutes. So the land-mines can be detonated.' We hear no explosions, but at noon we are waved ahead, noting an ambulance on standby.

Fortunately, it turns out that this is all the drama we are to experience in this now-peaceful country

Driving up-country towards Mostar, the terrain and thriving vineyards allow us to half-believe we are in Italy.

Just beyond the small town of Trebinje, we follow an inconspicuous sign to a monastery that has survived for centuries.

The Tvrdos Monastery has Roman foundations dating from the fourth-century AD. What we are looking at here, in the adjoining 15th-century church, are murals from the early 16th-century.

As we travel through Bosnia and Herzegovina we see many churches like this. 

(Pic: Gordon Hammond)

It is estimated that a third of the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina follow the Serbian Orthodox Church and throughout the Western Balkans there are approximately eight million adherents.

(Pic: Gordon Hammond)

The beauty and detail of these murals is amazing, especially in such a small remote church.

These gilded icons are very important to worshippers, and we saw people bowing deeply before them, some shedding tears. We could only guess at the pain and loss still deep in their minds and memories.

The road to Mostar (which by now we had realised was perhaps not the main route from the coast!) seems to just go on and on through inhospitable, unpopulated country. Mid-afternoon we are hungry and cheer when we see this roadside building. Our joy is shortlived when we realise it only offers drinks at the bar, and no food. The day is passing quickly, and we need a quick snack.

As the countryside becomes less harsh and more fertile, we begin to relax. This area has been settled for 15,000 years and soon we sight Stolac, the country's oldest city.

This familiar sort of sign (in English, too!) lets us realise what we can expect of the now-lush countryside. 

It is late afternoon by the time we arrive in Mostar. After checking in at our B&B, we cannot wait, and hurry to see Stari Most, meaning 'old bridge', the lure that has brought us all this way.

There should have been no rush as it was built in the mid-sixteenth century and has been meticulously re-built, using local materials and Ottoman construction techniques, and reopening in July, 2004. Yet we decide to see it immediately. 

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO GET THE FEEL OF MOSTAR

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This picture taken shortly after the destruction shows the terrible damage. For those interested in knowing more of the bridge's history, the Old Bridge Museum is worth visiting, and for panoramic views, take the narrow staircase to the minaret of the Koski Mehmed-Pasha Mosque.

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It is inevitable that the streets closest to the bridge will cater for tourists. I am very happy with this, especially when much of it is good quality, handmade by local artisans.

Nearby we discover a laneway restaurant and hungrily order focaccia which comes with local white cheese. I don't think it is only our appetite that makes it taste so delicious, either. It's generous and freshly-made, and we demolish it in minutes.

Nearby a sign - considerately in English - says it all.

The old bridge has been restored, but the scars of war remain, and we see them unexpectedly amongst the newer buildings and signs of normalcy.

As we look for (yet another) angle on the old bridge we find this one with a long view upriver. As we are fiddling with our cameras, a local man, also with a camera, speaks to us. He was wounded in the war, on a ridge above the town as he defended it. He was only 28 and lost both legs, yet his attitude remains so positive. 

'I use my photography to help me forget,' he tells us, remarking that we had missed his latest exhibition in town the week. before. 'The new bridge is exactly the same as the old one,' he adds, 'but now I can't walk on the cobblestones in the old town.'

At the Divers' Centre below one end of the old bridge we talk to a lavender seller. She is a blonde blue-eyed Muslim and she tells us her husband is one of the bridge jumpers. Originally from Stolac she says, calmly, that she was 'relocated' to Mostar after the war because of the ethnic cleansing in her area.

Every day jumpers make the leap into the river 24 metres below. It's gasp-worthy enough that they choose to wait until they have enough of a fee-paying crowd to make it worth their while. Depending on the season this may take some time, but they keep it filled with jokes and banter while the crowd grows.

Watch it happen on the video.... (above)

As ever, the memories of the war, still only just over 25 years ago, are never far below the surface or - in this case - around the next corner. Here bullet-casings have been used to make model aircraft and other 'trench-art' souvenirs.

Another famous stone bridge in Mostar is nicknamed the Crooked Bridge.

It is much quieter and smaller than the other, yet it's a quaint and quiet place for lunch.

Souvenirs always fascinate me: the things that towns and countries choose to make their own spot in the word more memorable. Here you can see the recurring theme of bridges and towers - and sunshine. The last is important as Mostar has a modified Mediterranean climate, making a visit there comfortable at most times of the year.

Just run your eye down the children's names here. They are very different to Susan, Anna, Peter, Oscar, Olivia and Ruby, aren't they?

Bosnian food has many similarities with other Balkan countries. Cheese and eggs appear at every breakfast and soup (in the case of the one on this menu-board - Bey, a traditional chicken and vegetable soup) and cevapcici (are worth trying). Watch out too for sogar dolma (onions filled with meat) and sarma (cabbage rolls) or, for dessert, tufahinja, whole apples baked with a walnut filling. And don't forget klepe, peppered ravioli ofr dumplings in butter.

Although, for a quick eat-and-keep-shopping snack, a simple plate of tomato bruschetta, derived from Italy, just the other side of the Adriatic, is all anyone needs, and is often on local menus.

Parts of the old city remind us of Morocco, or some other eastern country, and little wonder as all these lands within sight of the Mediterranean or the adjoining seas, have shared commerce and culture for centuries. This is the aptly-named Bazaar Street.

Close to the Crooked Bridge (which our map charmingly calls the 'Aslant Bridge')....

... is a minaret over the Turkish Baths.

Part of the former Yugoslavia (and before that the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empire) Bosnia and Herzegovina has a heritage dating back to neolithic times. It's a complex tapestry of faith and argument, ever-changing borders, dictatorships and ethnic divisions.

A lazy lunch in Blagaj

'You should go to Blagaj,' says Nedim, one of the owners of Villa Monera, the B&B where we are staying.

Of course we take his advice. He has been so patiently helpful and even let us leave the car in his garage while we walked the town.

Blagaj is only fifteen minutes away by road, and yet we feel we have skipped a few centuries. 

Across the fast-flowing waters is Blagaj Tekke, a 16th-century Dervish monastery and mausoleum. The Buna river gushes out from rocky cave at the end. It is known as a 'sinking river' sourced from a karst spring deep in the mountains about nine kilometres away.

The waters emerge, noisy and energetic like a child released from school. Of course we decide to stay and watch it for a while with a coffee...

...oh, and all right, the waiter talks us into trying smokvara - intensely sweet fig cakes to go with it.

We can't bear to leave this beautiful place. The sun is stupefyingly warm, the rushing water has hypnotised us a little, and so we ask for the menu. Chicken skewers arrive with a dill dip and the mandatory serve of hot chips.

I ask for bread, and the waiter nods and suggests the Blagaj plate. Why not?

I am so glad I say yes, as this is one of the best things I have eaten in Bosnia. Those rather strange 'doughnuts' are called peksimeti - crumpet-soft in the middle and ideal to tear open and stuff with the cheese, a locally made sour cream (kajmak) and salad. Bliss!

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Heading south again

Sarajevo, the country's capital, is about two hours north of Mostar. Much as we would have liked to visit and see more of this fascinating part of the Balkans, reluctantly we turn southwards, heading back to the Adriatic and Croatia.

'Welcome to the Wine Road'. Almost as soon as we leave the outskirts of Mostar we see this prominent sign. It tells us two things. Even though the two countries blend without a physical border, we are now definitely in Herzegovina, and it is a wine-producing region.

Within minutes we pass a vineyard with workers training vines onto the wires. Sadly as we drive on, we do not find a cellar door. Oh, well. That's yet another addition to the bucket list for our next visit here.

On a roundabout, as we head south towards Medugorje, a cathedral town known for pilgrimages following the 1981 reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary, we pass this marble statue. It reminds us that despite the large number of Serbian Orthodox adherents in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the number of Roman Catholics is estimated at around 15 percent of the population.

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Time for relaxation

Another must-see that our B&B host insists we visit on our way to the border is the Kravica Falls about an hour's drive south.

Despite a few signs it would be impossible to know such a wonderful sight is here. The falls drop between 26 and 28 metres, and while they are not the highest in the world, they are spectacular because of the number of them - around 20 - and their proximity to each other.

As waterfalls go, they are also quite easy to access. From the carpark, there is a downhill walk, or you can hop on the little train that runs every ten minutes or so.

(Pic: Gordon Hammond)

The falls are three kilometres downstream on the Trebizat river, near Ljubuski. This 120-metre wide watery amphitheatre displays the falls to perfection. Long ago there were once many mills for processing cloth nearby, doubtlessly using the water energy to run their looms.

Naturally it is a great place for selfies....

.. dining with a front-row seat view of the cascades...

...and families, of course.

On a sunny, lethargic day like this, it is almost impossible to leave this idyllic place, but we need to get back to Croatia, where we will stay in Split tonight.

Oh, no! I realise that means we have another border to cross!

As we get into the car, preparing to connect shortly with a snazzy new toll-road on the Croatian side, I urgently check the glove box.

YES! there's the green card, all ready and waiting.

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More information on Bosnia and Herzegovina.....

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Text and Pictures: ©Sally Hammond (unless otherwise marked)

Video: ©Gordon Hammond

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Sally & Gordon Hammond travelled independently to Bosnia and Herzegovina and stayed there at their own expense.