Bosnia i Herzegovina, part II - Mostar (ii) and on the bus to Sarajevo through the Dinaric Alps

The gorgeous old town of Mostar, lovely even through the rain

The restaurant served amazingly good food. I will come again to Mostar because I didn't catch it at a very good time, but also - the food. This. Yum. Hands down my favourite food here - it really agreed with me, and I agreed with it. Extra bonus for the cute waiters, but I think it's been established that I think Bosnian guys are.. well, let's just say that I don't find them ugly. Anyway, I got free rakija from the restaurant as well, so double bonus!

Rakija on the house

After I finished the extremely delicious dinner, I walked back to the hostel, and was soaked to the skin in the process. Good thing no one else was staying in the hostel, well apart from this Hungarian guy in my room and a Turk in the adjacent room, who were both absent when I returned. It is very uncomfortable to have loads of heavy wet clothing stuck to your skin. I peeled off my clothes and turned on the heater full wattage and draped my garments all over the heaters, then dashed into the hostel and turned on the water to full heat. Annoyingly, the hot water only lasted for 10 minutes, but it was enough. The Hungarian guy had come back by this point, also soaked to the skin, and I was deeply amused when he did the exact same thing as I had an hour ago - ie hung out all of his clothes on the heaters and proceeded to the shower.

In the hostel

There wasn't really anything to do, plus the weather was getting progressively worse, so I sat around, did some background reading on Mostar, which depressed me, and then I decided to go out and get something to drink. I wasn't keen on getting wet again, so I borrowed an umbrella from the stand and went out to the nearest supermarket, which was still a good 15 minute walk. When I got back the Hungarian dude was in a chatty mood, so I talked back to him, but, you know - footnote friends.

The supermarket

Outside the supermarket

Next morning, the weather was as dire as ever, but I was in a good mood because Sarajevo, and also because my AccuWeather app promised loads of snow there, and it had been a long time since I'd seen snow, and I'd forgotten how deathly cold the snow can be.
The bus ride was very comfy, and I put my feet on the heaters and enjoyed the view as we progressed into the Dinarics. My heart was singing and it was all I could do not to burst into actual song there.

In the autobusna stanica

More to come!

Into the Dinaric Alps

Bosnia i Herzegovina, part I - Mostar (i): The Old Town bazaar and Stari Most

The famous Stari Most

I didn't get very many pictures of Bosnia and Herzegovina because the weather I got was shockingly bad. In Mostar it poured with rain and was freezing, whilst in Sarajevo it snowed and was also freezing. I've never been in a country where it was so cold that I had to keep my hood on at all times, or risk hypothermia.

One of our bus breaks

Mostar is in the Herzegovina region of BiH, and it was a pleasant 4 hour bus ride from Kotor. When I got there it was pouring with rain, and the main road of Mostar was under construction, so I had to splash through muddy roadworks for about half an hour before I found my hostel, which was pretty secluded. Not very fun being soaked to the skin whilst looking on the map to see if you're going in the right direction, but I've been through worse. Been through better, though.

My first glimpse of Mostar

I was told by a Bosnian 'friend' of mine that Mostar usually has 360 days of ultra sunny weather and 5 days of rain, and that I'd gotten tremendously unlucky with the weather. Thanks for close captioning my pain.

When I got there I chatted to the very pleasant hostel owner, who told me about the war and recommended some good restaurants in town, and after that I went out to explore. It had briefly stopped raining when I went out, but it started pelting with rain not too long after I arrived in the Old Town, and after I'd walked around the bazaars I was obliged to find shelter, and decided to go to one of the restaurants that the hostel owner had recommended. I must have been a sorry sight when I entered, and it was a bit embarrassing for me - I had to dry my hair with the table napkins and ask for some more, but the waiters (who looked pretty young, certainly younger than me) didn't seem too fazed. Still, though, I wished I'd been able to patronise their establishment under more dignified circumstances.

Anyway, I apologise for the bad pictures but it was virtually impossible to get good ones with this sort of weather.

This was a department store in the old town that was a little creepy

Taiwanese tourists