Sarajevo Pictures

 

 

 

 

Bobsled

I am looking at the skeleton of the bobsled from the 1984 Winter Olympics. It was built in 1982 and cost 12 million dollars to build. It is completely destroyed. The Serbian forces used it as protection and made holes in it to point their guns and shoot at the Bosnians. Haris warned us to stay only on the pavement because there were still active mines all over the woods.

35% percent of Bosnian land still has mines, which are basically around the mountains and in outside rural parts of Sarajevo. No one knows exactly where the mines are, but the military detenates bombs on a daily basis. I heard one go off in the distance and saw smoke rising upwards. A Bosnian man saw me jump after the loud explosion that echoed down the mountain. He said it was the military who were "safely" setting them off. They use dogs to detect the mines.

The city itself is clear of mines, but I still feel uneasy walking past construction sites or areas with vegetation.

Sarajevo

Today is my Dad's birthday and I am in Sarajevo. I went on a bus tour around the city. Haris is our tour guide and the owner of the hostel. He is 21 and opened the hostel when he was only 15. We are driving around in his old white van. The flooring in the van is plastic wood, the same material zou would see in a kitchen. Haris is a good representative of the Bosnian people. He is verz friendlz, hospitable, and verz nationalistic. The radio is playing a Bosnian pop song, which sounds like Leonard Cohen with a calypso beat and is about the war. We are driving to the tunnel museum in the suburban part of town. Even out here you can see the frames of bombed buildings and houses.

11,000 people were killed during the 4 years of being under seige. A tunnel was made under ground connecting to the airport. This was the only entrance/exit to the citz. The tunnel saved the city since Bosnia was attacked right after they became an independent countrz and didn't have a militarz. Serbian forces knew of the tunnel, but couldn't see it because it was underground. The tunnel itself was 875 zards long.
It took volunteers about 4 months to complete it and became the onlz way to export and import everzthing from food, medicine, homemade guns, oil, and electricitz. After the war ended the Kotar family (who owned the propertz) made it into a museum.

Sarajevo

I made it to Sarajevo. It is even more fascinating than I could ever image. The city is divided into sections based on religion. I am staying in the old town, which is the Muslim side of the city. It has a very strong Turkish influence dating back to the time of the Ottamon Empire. There is a Muslim cementary by the hostel with hundreds of tombs from the war. The death dates are all from 1995.

Tomorrow I am going sight seeing and visiting some of the many mosques in Old town. I hope to make it over to the stadium where the olympics were held in 1984. I know already I want to stay for a few days.

Dubrovnik, Croatia, Click here for pictures

I went on a bus to Dubrovnik, Croatia today to see their Old Town. I left at 5am again. It was beautiful and took me about five hours to walk through. Nothing was in English. I don't know anything about the history of the fortress except it dates back to the 12th century. I plan to look it up tomorrow on my long bus ride to Sarajevo.

This gated community was covered with thousands of tourists snapping photos at every corner. It was overwhelming and annoying. This is why I like where I am in Budva. It is more communal with families around and the beaches aren't packed. There are so many good places just to get fresh fruit and buy homemade pastries. Everyone is friendly. I have been here for a week and feel it is time to move on. Tomorrow I'm going to Bosnia.

Left Bar, Monte Negro heading for Puke, Albania

Just crossed over the Albanian border and the scenery outside changed completely from city to a rural mountainous village. There's a flock of sheep and a donkey grazing right out of my window on the bus. The bus driver announced it is forbidden to take photos at the border.

A very stereotypical Serbian man with a pink shirt with flamingoes and mullet came on the bus to collect our passports. Most of the people here dress as if they were two decades behind and from an episode of Miami Vice the rest of the world. There is about 97% Russians on the bus and two British and one me. The Serb man says to us "Welcome to the poorest country in Europe." It turns out this man is going to be our tour guide. We were lucky.

Albania's border on the North is Serbia. It borders Macedonia, Greece, Monte Negro (where we came in) and Lake Skadar (one of the largest lakes in Europe.) The climate in Albania is very Mediterranean. As soon as we got off the bus I could feel the heat stick to my skin. Looking up to the top of a hill I see Fortress Skadar which dates back to 9 B.C.

There are three styles of buildings here. The communist style apartments look like gray cement bricks with holes for windows. Then there are modern buildings, and sort of traditional looking housing.

My favorite part of the city is that all the Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches and Muslim mosques are right next to each other. They aren't spread out in their own separate city centers like most Eastern European cities have them. I think this shows that the Albanians are very united. In fact, they don't call each other by anything but Albanians. If you visit Albania and stay for a while you become Albanian to the people here. Its not a communist concept but to me shows how the people believe in equality.

Albania Photos