bosnia: return to sarajevo

One of the things I love about working for my school is the amount of proper vacation time I get, as it is a rarity in this industry. After some back and forth, my long time travel buddy Bo and I decided to meet up and travel together for a few days.

To get the cheapest flights, I ended up flying out of Moscow at 0410. That meant taking the last train to the airport then, hanging out for a couple hours before checking in, then hanging out again until the flight left. I was knackered, and I hadn't even traveled yet!

My first flight went to Belgrade, then my second flight went to Sarajevo. My arrival was a lot easier this time, as it was in daytime, and I already knew how to get to my accomodation. Once I got there I took a short nap while charging my phone, then went out.

Since I'd arrived before Bo, I had a couple things I wanted to see and re-take some photos that had been on the camera I'd lost in July. My first sight on that list was the White Fortress, which sits on top of one of the hills surrounding Sarajevo. 

The hike to get up there was just as steep as I remembered, but not quite as long since I knew where I was going.

That being said, I was still super sweaty by the time I got to the top. The breeze up there as well as the views were awesome, and it felt good to stand and look at everything.

Unlike my last visit, the fortress was open to visitors this time around. Entry fee was 5KM, with no maps/brochures/information provided. 

I would've liked some information, but I loved being able to wander around the area on my own. 

It looks as if some areas are being rebuilt, I don't know if there is a plan to rebuild the whole thing or not, I kinda hope not.

Also unlike my last visit, my White Fortress visit took place as sunset was starting. The views from up there were pretty fantastic, and there were only a couple other people there. Sarajevo doesn't have a well known skyline, especially since it sits in a valley, but sunset over mountains is always pretty.

I followed the twisty roads down the hill to the Yellow Fortress, which no longer has any resemblance of a fortress. Now it's just a cafe with another great view of the city. This one is a lot easier to get to, and as such, was a lot busier. Heaps of people trying to get their perfect sunset photo. I ended up taking a photo of all of them against the sunset, which was as good as I was going to get.

Since I had traveled a lot, I ended up heading to dinner at that point, then went to bed and crashed early that night. 

The next morning I was up and checked out sometime in the morning, then walked my bag to the accomodation I'd booked with Bo. I wasn't able to check in yet, but I was able to leave my bag there, which was good enough.

I walked through the old city centre, and found a place to buy a SIM card for my phone. Since this trip was going to be a week long, I figured it would be worth it to have some data access. If I understood correctly, the way I bought my SIM card is the same as most Bosnians, who simply top up the credit on their card from time to time.

After the SIM card purchase I again walked what is sometimes called Sniper's Alley. It is a main road coming into the city, and you can still see the marks made by bullets as they hit the buildings during the Bosnian War in the 1990s. Nearly 30 years ago, and yet that history is still very visible. I wonder if those bullet 'wounds' will ever be fixed.

I ended up missing the opening hours for the National History Museum by just a few minutes, the same way I did during my last visit to Sarajevo. Argh. 

Obviously I should've checked those sorts of things ahead of time, and rearranged my day accordingly. This is not the first time I've made this mistake, you'd think I would've learned my lesson by now. Whoops.

Instead of checking out the museum, I just walked along the street for a while, until I felt like turning around. There was nothing in particular to see, but I wanted to walk for a while, and this seemed like a good way to do it. After turning around, I went back to the city center, then found a way to walk up the hill on another side of the city, to see if I could get high enough for some kind of a city view.

I didn't really find a view, but I did see a few more mosques and a couple cemeteries. There are always reminders of Bosnia's very recent history in Sarajevo, no matter where you are in the city.

I had dinner, then officially checked into our room, hung out for a while, then went to the airport to meet Bo.

Bo ended up arriving on the flight I'd taken the first time I'd come to Sarajevo, which arrived around 2230. It was easy to meet him (as the airport in Sarajevo is quite small,) then walk to the bus stop and take that back into the city. 

By this point I was super comfortable with how to get to and from the airport in Sarajevo.

Bo had been to Sarajevo before, but it was years ago, so it was a bit of a new place to visit for him. He had no desire to repeat the war museums, I don't blame him for that. They're intense, and somewhat emotionally draining, so you need more time to balance them out, if that makes sense.

I found out he had not seen the spot where WW1 started, so our first place to see was the plaque that marks that spot. 

More visible history. I don't know much about WW1, especially in comparison to WW2, I probably ought to do some basic research.

After that plaque we found a corner store to get some snacks, then walked to the cable car station. I think he wanted to get one way tickets, and walk our way back down the hill, but I convinced him we didn't really have enough time in the day for that.

The ride up the mountain was just as pretty, as some of the trees were already starting to change colours. 

Plus it was a clear day, the city was beautiful. Once we got to the top it was easy to follow the roads again to the top of the bobsleigh track, to explore that again.

Almost immediately I decided I liked visiting in autumn better than summer, simply because of the aesthetics. Some of the trees had already dropped a few leaves, which gathered in small areas of the track, which looked amazing in photos. Some of the graffiti had already changed since my last visit, I suppose some of the designs end up being painted over quite often.

We went all the way to the bottom of the track, where we ended up talking to two couples who were doing long term travels across Europe, living in their own cars. They had great stories, I was jealous. One day I want to do another long term trip, but that's going to take a while to save for. Anywho.

We walked back up to the top of the track, taking even more photos along the way, as there are so many spots that scream 'take a photo' as you walk along. I still wonder if this area will ever be monetized. Will the government close it and start charging admission?

I led Bo over to the other side of the station area, which gives a completely different view of the city. Beautiful. In the grand scheme of things these mountains are small, but even these remind you of how small humans are in the grand scheme of things.

The cable car took us back down the hill, then we went back to our room to relax for a bit. We spent too long inside, because by the time we got to the next place I wanted to see, we were 15 minutes too late. Argh. I'd really wanted Bo to see the Svrzo house, which used to be the house of a middle class Ottoman family back in the day of the Empire.

Instead, we went to the city center area, and since both of us were wearing appropriate clothing, we visited the most famous mosque of the city. Well, famous might not be the right word, but it is the most that gets the most tourist visitors. After my last visit I knew how to get inside, which was completely empty this time. There is something about the silence in a house of faith that I absolutely adore.

After the mosque we decided to get dinner. Bo is a chef, so food means a lot more to him than it does to me. He usually wants to try local food, and since I knew this, I'd asked a friend of mine to do some research about where to find cheap local food. 

We went to a place that serves exactly one thing: cevapci.

As far as I can tell, cevapci is a type of sausage. Of course there are different recipes in different areas, but that's the basic description. It is typically served in a pita, and you choose whether you want onions, a cream cheese sauce of sorts, and how many you want. Those were our only choices, which I kinda liked.

Not long after eating, we made our way to the airport to pick up the hire car I'd rented. It was only $9USD a day, inclusive of taxes and fees, which is a pretty amazing price. 

I hadn't driven stick in years, so it took some time to remember, making it a 'fun' drive back into the city. The other 'fun' part of this was figuring out where to park.

The next morning, we packed up and checked out, then started our great Bosnian road trip :)

I'd be happy to return to Sarajevo, there is more I want to see again, and more I want to see for the first time.