MID LIFE AT THE OASIS

Well, my loyal readers, you may be wondering what is going on with my blog the past few days? It turns out that someone hacked into the Bootsnall blog site and wiped out the last month of their database. Luckily I only lost one entry from Croatia, since they had Google caches available for all but the past week. So I’ve rebuilt the blog minus some photos that I need to reinsert later. Just one of the bumps in the road or travel, as we still have our health, passports, and backpacks for now….so no complaints.

I’m writing from an Internet cafe in Korcula, Croatia where Doom and other games seems to be keeping the local youth out of trouble and off the cobbled old streets of this medieval city. So the bus ride to Kotor was fun in both directions as the border crossing is still dicey, since the Montenegrins still don’t trust the Croats and vice versa….so from beautiful and enchanting Mostar we crossed from Bosnia into Croatia (and clearly into a place of greater recent prosperity thanks primarily to tourism). Then back into a sliver of Bosnia, then back into Croatia, and then finally into Montenegro. 3 border crossings with checks of various degrees, but mostly just a big backup in Montenegro as it seems that the bay of Kotor is the next big thing in holiday destinations, cheap villas, and historical sights. Lots of tour buses headed that way and loads of construction, real estate signs, and new things going in everywhere. Montenegro is the newest little country in the world and still is developing its infrastructure.

Looking back from 6 days in peaceful Dubrovnik and Korcula, Montenegro seems more interesting, as it was unfinished. Bosnia was great since the real interaction of cultures just gave the place and energy that doesn’t exist here. The Croatian coast feels much more finished and more like a small Italian or other Western European country. Beautiful, but not exotic feeling. A very nice place to visit and vacation, but for us, we’re ready fro more adventure in Hungary and Poland, as medium sized vacation destinations are perfect for a two-week holiday, but are limited in history and cultural diversity. (Or maybe is just feels too much like Italy)

What have I learned here in these beautiful Adriatic Islands and as we get into the 4th week of our trip?

SWIM Haven’t found swimming in the world much better than this. Swim off the rocks, swim anywhere, swim 3 times a day if possible!

APARTMENTS Don’t even look at the hotels, the private rooms and apartments are still a bargain and nicer than most hotels

CONTACT Take time out of your day to catch up on the Internet. This will keep you sane.

On to Hvar in an hour or so, and I promise to get back into more regular updates here. Now we’re going to try to swap books at a cafe nearby. Wish us luck as books are valuable currency here and you don’t want to give one up unless you find another good one.

Cheers,

Rich

We successfully took the bus out of Sarajevo yesterday to Mostar, a small city in southern Bosnia that had the entire old city and surroundings bombed into oblivion just 13 years ago. There are two striking things here.

1) How fast they have rebuilt the bridge, mosques, cathedrals, and many, many other core structures of great pride

2) How the old dividing line between the Muslims and Croats is still a complete wasteland with clearly no one wanting to invest in this high risk area.

Mostar has much more of a tourist scene than Sarajevo since the old Stari Grad (old city) is much more compact and tourist friendly in a traditional tourist way. The bus loads of tourists you would have expected in Sarajevo are here instead, as it is also a popular day trip stop from the Coast of Croatia just an hour or so away. The photos of the various stages of the old bridge being destroyed over a 10 month period in 1992/1993 were stunning, as you could see the desperate attempts of the Bosnian-Muslims to protect this 500 year old gem with sand bags braces and other make-shift devices.

Luckily for the city, the bridge has been rebuilt and was rededicated in 2004 with much international fanfare as a great symbol of the reunited Bosnia? Will it last is the big question, but it seems on the surface that everyone gets along now, but apparently there is a great divide still under the surface. For now, tourism is clearly on the verge of exploding and new restaurants, clubs, and pensions are opening along the lovely river and creeks that run through the heart of the old town. The downside of all this new construction is that it all looks a bit “Pirates of the Caribbean” with little bridges, waterfalls, and terraces everywhere, but its still got enough soul to please even the most cynical tourist as myself.

Today we successfully went back to the bus station to get tickets to Dubrovnik and hopefully on to Kotor, Montenegro. It was rather comical as we switched to German first to try to communicate with Cheryl, and Cheryl got about 80% of the conversation, and then another agent tried French on me and we confirmed that we had to buy tickets here only to Dubrovnik and then buy the onward ticket to Montenegro in Dubrovnik. We’ll see how that goes as the intercity bus website (Globtour) has different times on their site and is all in Croatian. Either way, we have an early morning (7am) departure and should at least get to Dubrovnik by the late morning. No arrival times anywhere, so its all kind of a fun mystery.

We’re really starting to dig the travel life and all the minute wonders of every interaction, smile, vista, and smell. The call to prayers 5 times a day amplified across the cities will be ringing in my head for a long time.

We will post some photos when we get to an uploading friendly computer, so for now, you will just have to read the text. I have 5 minutes left on our cafe computer (which by the way, a laptop is really not needed) so that’s all for now. I’ll get back to all in a day or two either in Dubrovnik or Montenegro

Wow, wow, wow….this is an amazing little city. The mix of cultures is mesmerizing and nothing like I’ve ever experienced in my limited life experience. Just seeing the big bold white letters at the airport was a bit chilling, but not nearly as striking as the first mile in the taxi as we passed over the first hill and could see the white glitter of cemeteries on nearly every hillside. 103,000 people died in the 1990´s war and you can feel the presence of recent tragedy in the hills, scarred buildings, and dramatic mountains that surround the city on the river Miljacka

Click Here to See Our Full Set of Photos on Flickr

However, my other first sense was that of optimism, from the taxi driver, to the tourist office, to the people on the streets. You can feel this is a city that is appreciating the simple things, such as the ubiquitous café culture and the ability to drive, walk , or stroll at will through the somewhat chaotic, but livable streets of the city. You can kind of sense their trepidations towards the positive aspects of their city coming to light again after so much pain. They all seem like they are a bit amazed that people what to come to their city, see the sights, and spend money. But they are coming around I suspect in 10 years, peace be willing, that this city “will be the next Prague” (last time I will use that phrase I promise).

The contrasts are striking, as Muslim women walk down the main shopping drag in very fashionable head scarves while carrying trendy hand bags. Muslim teenagers are running to the Mosque and throwing their shoes on the ground as they are obviously late for the evening prayer (we heard one call for evening prayer while sitting at an outdoor café sampling the local white wine and beer (Sarajevsko Pivo). Admittedly, this is our first experience to large-scale Muslim culture, so it is very interesting and unique indeed. Tomorrow, we plan on touring the main Mosque (which is one of dozens and dozens in the city). Today we walked up the big hills behind where we are staying and say many slices of local life, including gardens, fancy remodels, bombed out shells of buildings, and many people just trying to move their lives forward again. There are not many tourists here, so people are checking out us more than we are checking them out, especially once you leave the old city. (and where most tourists go)

We’ve only been here a day and half , but already the city has made a lasting impression on me. You just can´t help but be amazed at the recency of the tragedy and the fact that it could all breakdown again in a few short weeks or months. But I don’t think it will. This place is on its way up and renovation and rebirth are still the order of the day. What we can’t believe is that we are nearly the only tourists in town, except a few busloads of seniors getting a lecture at a ca. 1520 mosque in the old Turkish quarter that forms the hub of the history, tourism, and social scene of Sarajevo. It’s a real city in the midst of dramatic social changes and restoration of faith, and you can watch it unfold without 10,000 tourists marching along with you. Cheryl and I are both sure shat when we return to Sarajevo in the future that it will be vastly different, and it will be discovered by the hordes (and we will return as we drank from the famous fountain that myth states portends a return).

Today, in addition to walking about 10 miles, we toured a powerful exhibit at the history museum (again, is this place open?) that shows amazing photographs and objects from the 4 year siege of the early 90’s. Business people trying to cross the street and ducking sniper fire, and the thousands of children who were killed while doing such basic kid things such as sledding on the new snow. I never knew the whole story of the war, and this visit has been worth it for this new understanding alone.

These Sarajevo Roses mark the particular spots in the downtown that were hit by shells and mortars that killed people. They are everywhere and despite a huge 10 year effort to rebuild, there are still sniper holes and mortar pock marks everywhere we go.

It’s no wonder that the drivers are nuts and pedestrians brush with death on a routine basis on the rather chaotic streets, although there are still not a lot of cars. Cars rule and pedestrians dash and cower, but it’s still better than watching your city die, while there is nothing you can do about it and the outside world does not seem to give a damn.

Peace BiH