Sarajevo

Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia with a total population closing in on 600,000. During the war, that number was cut in half and since 95 has slowly been climbing up. Sarajevo feels small. It has a big population but does not feel too occupied or busy. There is an old town and a new town (see any pattern in these cities?). One of the things I like most about this city is walking down a crowded street you'll see plenty of people stopping eachother as they pass by to say hello. It feels like everyone knows eachother. It's a fun people watching city. It is not too big. You can walk from one of the surrounding hills to the other in about 30/40 minutes. The hills are lined with houses. Not giant apartment complexes or anything of the sort, just regular houses. It makes Sarajevo feel like a quaint town but thats not the case. The nightlife here is loud and crowded. The live music is fantastic. Bars are crowded and overflowing with people who are easily approachable and friendly.

There is no cause to be concerned about safety here. I know people may be hesitant to come here, but really there is nothing to worry about. It's safe, friendly, and people aren't going around throwing hand grenades at you.

Worth noting is that Sarajevo has four main religions: Islam, Roman Catholic, Orthodox Christian, and Judaism. The city is often described as the meeting point between the Eastern and Western worlds. I see a lot of mosques, but also a fair share of christian churches (I have seen no synagogues but supposedly they're here). If you look at that top picture you can notice the church steeples and mosques all over. Unlike Mostar, there is no religious tension to be found here. There is very little crime at all in the city. Sarajevans will boast about how peacefully they live together. When the war is brought up they will point their fingers at the Serbians who forced ethic discrimination upon the city. Sarajevo is surrounded by hills which allowed the Serbs to basically control the entire city and bomb any spot at any given moment.
The Serbian line surrounding the city

They never took over the city due to the Sarajevans defense, but they did make the people live in constant fear. At any given moment the Serbs could bomb basically any part of the city. Snipers lined the hills and were told to shoot at anybody they please especially people walking on what is now known as "Sniper Alley" (keep in mind, I was hearing the Sarajevans point of view).

Unlike Mostar, Sarajevo does not show as many battle scars. From what I have heard there was more destruction here but there has been a bigger effort to rebuild. Bullet holes can still be seen but I have only seen one bombed out building. Sarajevans have filled in mortar hits with red filling and they're called the "Sarajevo Rose". These are the only signs I have noticed.

I went on a tour of the "Tunnel" which is a tunnel that was dug under the aiport to bring supplies into the city and let civilians out. The drive through the city was more interesting than the actual tunnel site. Our guide would point out things like sniper alley and the open market where the Serbs killed 80 civilians doing their daily shopping. Hearing his stories and experiences was far more interesting than the 25 meters of the tunnel we walked through.


The tunnel museum. Not very well marked. Looks like every other house on this road.

Something to note also is the Eastern Europeans sense of direction or lack thereof. Sites and streets are not marked well. I have talked to two different people who tried to find this tunnel museum on their own and were searching for two hours. They would ask locals who lived no more than 2 minutes away and they would be sent in the wrong direction. This bit of information is not just word of mouth: many guide books say the same thing. They actually recommend not asking locals for directions as they will just screw things up even more.

As I am writing this I have been in Sarajevo for about 11 days. I find it hard to leave. I had a great group of people with me earlier in the trip, most of whom extended their stay by 3 or 4 days. They all left and I'm currently the only person in my hostel yet I still find myself resisting departure. Its a fun city, the coffee and food is delicious, and its also very cheap. The hostel I am staying in feels like home (literally, I know most of the family) and I find it hard not to have fun when going out. I really feel lucky to have come here. If you told me I would be in Bosnia before I left I would have called you crazy. Now I'll call you crazy if you have the chance to and don't make it out here.

Bonus:
On the second picture in this post you can see a graveyard. I walked through it and noticed that there was not one grave that didnt end in the year '95.



This is the Latina Bridge. It's famous for being the spot where Franz Ferdinand was shot which resulted in the start of WWI. This is interesting. Franz wasn't supposed to even go over this bridge but he wanted to see a friend in the hospital. He changed the route of his "horsecade" and wound up going over. The man that intended to shoot him was at the right place at the right time. His friend, when he realized what his assassin friend was going to do, pushed him to mess him aim up. The result ended up in the death of Franz with an off-balance miracle shot.


I mentioned I was with a good group of poeple. These are two of them. On the left is Stewart, a bloke from England. On the right is the lady we all called Mom. She cooked for us and shared lots of her traveling wisdom. She has been traveling for 4 years and puts any other traveler I have met to shame. Shes been through Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan (recently). She is from Iran and gave me a whole new perspective on life there.


This guy is Dave. Hes from Canada and represents the power Sarajevo has over the people that visit. For about 5 straight days he planned on leaving but never actually made it. Sarajevo conveniently has trains and buses departing at very early hours making it difficult to get out. Dave fell victim to these awkward hours and the attraction to Sarajevo. One day he got out. I am still impressed.