From Croatia to Bosnia Herzegovina

The ferry from Otok Hvar back to the mainland.

The harbour of the tiny port town of Sucuraj where we caught the ferry.

The scenery from the bus.

The obvious influence of the Ottoman Turks.

The fort in Pocitelj, the first town in Bosnia Herzegovina.

River Neretva

The restored Stari Most or Old Bridge.

The pattern in the pebble road.

Working hard.

The Old Bridge from our restaurant.

Wednesday, October 3rd.

Today we drove for two hours from the west end of the island of Hvar to the east end to catch another smaller ferry. The road was narrow and winding over the many hills of the island. It is amazing how many pieces of rock cover the island and how people over the years have moved it to build walls and buildings in order to clear small plots of land to plant olive trees and sage bushes. Urska had to use all of her driving skills to navigate the road and avoid approaching cars. The ferry took us back to the mainland at Drvenik from where we drove along the coast to Opuzen before turning inland to the border crossing from Croatia into Bosnia Herzegovina at Metkovic. After crossing into Herzegovina we drove to Pocitelj where we stopped for an opportunity to hike up a hill on ancient stairs to a fortress built by King Tvrtko of Bosnia in 1383 to control a merchant trade route inland through the River Neretva valley. The predicted rainy weather held off, and although the skies were grey and ledden it was warm and the hike and views were excellent.

From Pocitelj we continued our drive to Mostar arriving late afternoon. Despite great damage suffered in the last war (1991-1995), the city on the emerald green River Neretva has been rebuilt and preserved a great part of its authentic Oriental architecture and the way of life conceived on the boundaries of different civilizations. The Ottoman Turks ruled here for centuries and it is evident in the flavour of the city, the Muslim dress of some of the women, the mosques and minarets mixed in with the Orthodox and Catholic churches. We walked along a cobblestone road lined with shops selling many Turkish and eastern items, including clothing and souvenirs reminiscent of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Then we came to Stari Most (litterly ‘old bridge’) now known as Mostar Bridge. It is a 16th century high arched bridge built by the Ottomans. It is very beautiful with multi-hewed medieval buildings on either end and the line of shops. We had time to explore the shops for a while before assembling at a restaurant right on the river where we had another excellent meal and a good time. While there the promised rain arrived with a vengeance and it poured while we ate. Luckily it let up and became a light rain as we walked back through the market area and across the bridge back to the bus. It was actually very pleasant walking in the rain through this historic and beautiful area. We checked into our hotel by 8:30 and I had a chance to catch up on blog posts for the last couple of days before bed. The rain has returned and is predicted to rain a lot overnight.