Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

I did a day trip from Split to Mostar. This has come highly recommend by friends and other travelers that I have met along the way and I have to say it didn't disappoint. The tour I did was very small, only about 8 of us, and the tour guide was great. He was so informative and shared some history about the former Yugoslavia and the wars. The former Yugoslavia now consists of Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The wars lasted from 1991-1995, and ended a bit earlier in some of the countries. During the war many soldiers and civilians died, and many people today are still vastly affected by the wars as they were only 25 years ago.  The population of Bosnia and Herzegovina 3.5 million with 50% Bosniak, 30% Serbs, and 15% Croats.  There are two major religions in Bosnia and Herzegovina 51% are Muslim and 46% are Christian.

First we stopped at Porcitelj with stunning views of the mosque and the river, then we continued on to Mostar. Mostar is known for it's old bridge which was built in 1566, the bridge divided the two religions-one side is the Christian side and the other side the Muslim side. Still to this day the bridge divides the religions. Unfortunately during the war the Croatian's destroyed the bridge so that the Bosniaks could not use the bridge. It was reconstructed with some of the original stones and finished in 2005. In 1995, there was a mass genocide of more than 8,000 Muslim Bosniaks after several years of ethnic cleansing campaigns and the largest amount since WWII. This unfortunate event got foreign forces involved to help end the wars. The bridge is 27 meters high and men jump into the river below to prove their courage, now locals lump for money. All around you can still see the damage from the wars, chucks missing from buildings from shrapnel and whole areas demolished. Once the synagogue is finished being built Mostar will be one of the only areas in the world that has a mosque, synagogue and church are all within 1km.

After Mostar we were able to get back on the air con coach, it was 30C (86F) today and they said this was mild, as most days in summer get up to 50C (125F)! We went to Kravica Waterfalls next and got to have a dip in the chilly water.

Great day and highly recommend if in this area of the world to stop into Mostar.

Bye for now <3 nbsp="" p="">