18/7/19 Mostar and Sarajevo

We spent a day in Mostar then caught a train to Sarajevo for a couple of days and now we're back in Mostar.

During the Balkan Wars it almost seems like it was a civil war in Bosnia, with Serbia and Croatia getting involved too.  We went on a great free tour of Mostar, led by an Australian who has only been on Mostar for 2 weeks, but has befriended a local, Zica, who was 17 during the war.  Alex, the Austalian, centred the tour around Zica's involvement during the war.  Mostar was severely bombed and Stari Most (the famous bridge) was destroyed (the middle at least).

Below are just some of the sights from the tour.

This building has been renovated, but this wall has deliberately been left with lots of bullet holes as a reminder.

This was a sniper tower

A very sad place.  So many young people.

The area of Sarajevo that we saw didn't have the same evidence of the war - the city was under siege for 4 years, so there would have been vast damage, but lots of countries have contributed to its reconstruction.

Sarajevo was also where Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian empire was assassinated which triggered WW1.

  

In 1984, Sarajevo held the Winter Olympics.  We took the goldola trip up to where the bobsled was held.  Great view of the city below.'

The old city directly below, with the modern part off to the left

The bobsled track

Josip Tito, who I can remember my parents discussing back in the 60's seems to be revered by quite a few Bosnians as a benevolent dicatator who kept Yugoslavia together.  He died in 1980.  We went to Tito Cafe for a coffee and to look at lots of photos of him on the walls.

Unfortunately there's another side - a ruthless murderer who ordered mass killings and imprisonment of opponents to his regime - one of them we spoke to the other day was in prison for 20 years.

Bosnia now has a government system formed by Bosnian Serbs (Orthodox christians), Bosnian Croats (Catholics) and Bosnian Muslims (who are the majority) and the leader rotates between the 3 every 8 months.  What chance has that of working!!  And there seems to be a fair bit of mistrust between the 3.  Not a good outlook for the future.