As a change from our usual route up the hill back to the hotel, we diverted along a side street. We passed two Muslim cemeteries old and new.
The Greek complained that the old one was not very well looked after. I said that it was probably because those who should look after the old one were already in the new one. All the dates for death are 1992-1996.
The upright stones are a strange mixture of Arabic from the Koran, Moslem names in Roman alphabet and inscriptions in local language, which for inscriptions is close enough to Russian for me to read easily.
Still all is not well, even in this quiet cemetery, as you can just see two armed soldiers guarding it.
Update
This traditional sight for tourists in Herzegovina seems to come up regularly in Google Searches. You can read my impressions of Bosnia and Herzegovina while I was working there in 2007 here.
We had an interesting day out. Two successful meetings and we arrived safely despite our driver's risky overtaking on bendy roads. We shan't risk him again.
Although Mostar doesn't look far on the map, it took two and a half hours, through fantastic green scenery. Even the water of the Neretva river was (a healthy looking) green. I realised why the hills were even greener than England: they had trees, deciduous trees in all their new-leaved glory, instead of the ranks of marching pines that have been used to reforest hills in the UK. There were huge cliffs and mountains in the distance still with a bit of snow. Houses sat on the hills with fantastic views, of which we were very envious.
Mostar was a bigger city than I anticipated. It is famous for its old bridge.
The elegant bridge spanned the River Neretva and was designed by the Ottoman (Turkish) architect Mimar Hayruddin. It was completed in 1566 after nines years of building and the surrounding town became a thriving trading centre. The bridge was 29 metres in length and stood at a height of 20 metres, a classic example of a single span, stone arch bridge and was an example of advanced technology in its time. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site during the twentieth century.. more
That website also explained how "divers" jumped off the bridge in an annual competition. This is how they did it :)
However, in the recent war, the Croats destroyed the bridge. It was reopened in 2004 by our very own Prince Charles. The rebuilding seemed to involve EU money and it was claimed that a lot of the original stones were recovered from the river and reused.
However the result does not look quite so good. The railings at the top of the bridge looked more like reinforcing bars than 16th century.
Nevertheless, boys are still jumping off the bridge for the tourists. Now they try to collect money. The going rate was apparently 25 Euros per jump. Business was slack and we only saw one jump. But there were several contenders.
As you can see from the very first picture, the bridge is actually part of an ensemble of towers and other buildings. There are also several restaurants on the side of the river giving excellent views of the bridge which is floodlit at night. Unfortunately the restaurant we chose catered the usual low quality food for tourists so it was not something we would choose to remember about Mostar.
One of the difficulties for a newcomer working in Bosnia and Herzegovina is working out which country you have to travel to, to visit government offices. No, not Bosnia or Herzegovina as you might think, but where you need to go to in Republika Srpska or the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A quick glance at the map shows the problem. The boundary between the countries was drawn as a cease-fire line through the Dayton Agreement and not as a rational division of the country (since dividing would never have been rational).
Republika Srpska is in the north AND the south, the west AND the East. Nearly all government institutions exist at the state (country) level and at the two entity (RS and FBiH) level. For energy they are spread throughout each country (creates more jobs that way). That makes for a lot of interviews and travel, as not much is located in Sarajevo.
From our point of view, it means we get to travel all over the country, but it is time consuming to plan all the meetings, making sure you don't have to travel from one end of the country to another in one day, just to visit people who would normally be in the capital city next door to each other. It's very hot so spending all day in a car would not be much fun.
So from tomorrow we are off on our travels, to Mostar (with the bridge) and Trebinje (near the sea). Next week its Banja Luka on Tuesday. I just looked at the weather forecast, and as you might expect, while we are working in Sarajevo it is boiling hot and when we have a chance to travel, it predicts rain !
Let's hope the coach of life stays on the road.
As we walk up and down the hill to and from our hotel in Sarajevo we pass this establishment:
At first our reactions were different. My Greek colleague assumed it was a beauty salon. I assumed it was a high class brothel. We have inspected it carefully from the outside. It has blinds at all the windows but the decor viewed through the glass door is modern and shiny. By the door is a brass plate with the company name, showing it is legal and pays taxes.
When we extended our stay in our own hotel, and for one night they did not have room, they proposed we stay there. They did not understand when we burst out laughing. It seems to them there is nothing interesting in the name. But in the event, there was no need to move so we are left with the mystery of the Relax House hotel.
Perhaps I will investigate for when I come back in June
