On the bus from Plitvicka national park to Split.
I am seeing a different side of Croatia right now. Don't get me wrong, the countryside is beautiful, it is just that the bus has gone through an area where the effects of war were highly evident. I, personally, have never seen anything like this before. I have always been so far away from the actual fighting. And this war was recent.... like 10 years ago.
As we were coming into the city Knin, an industrial area northwest of Split that was mainly occupied by Serbs (but being fought over by the Croats and Serbs), the evidence began. Building after building abandoned, crumbling, windows broken, some had mortar shell holes in the roofs, some had no roofs at all, still others were just a foundation. We passed what used to be a village, small houses, a church, all abandoned.... bombed out and falling down. Knin, the city, looked like it was being rebuilt... but slowly... it completely lacked the class and charm of Zagreb. As we headed south out of Knin to Split, the pattern repeated... building after building, factory, school, every once in a while I would see an occupied house with laundry hanging out to dry in the front lawn and children's toys laying about the yard. The whole things was quite erie. I remember wondering how in the world mortar shells could hit every single building in an area.. and why they would be wasted on small houses. Then I did some reading (from the guidebook) about the history and that is when I learned that this area, around Knin, has been fought over for a long time and in the early 90's, the Serbs occupied it. Apparently, when NATO was involved in Bosnia, the Croats used this time (seeing that NATO was't looking) to do a little ethnic cleansing of their own. So that must be why everything seemed hit. They set fire to houses, bombed the crap out of an area in their own country, and now occupy a city of crumbling buildings. I just don't get it. In the guidebook it says that hostels around the area are still being lived in by refugees.... so book in advance. Geez.
The little bit that I read didn't give me enough information. I must do some more research. It's actually quite fascinating.... in a sad way.