Mostar and Medugorje

Tony arrived early and off we went. He is 32, speaks excellent English and is a delightful young man. Unfortunately, the weather was not kind to us - cloudy, cool and threatening rain. The 8 of us (minus luggage, as this was only a day trip) packed ourselves into an 8 seater van. Needless to say it was cosy. Marie had decided that Jill, Liz and I were the “unclean”, so she bought some medical masks for all to wear. We certainly looked a sight sitting there with our green masks, trying to look as if we weren’t at all contagious to the rest of the world.


The first part of the trip required us to retrace our journey into Dubrovnik from the north. The winding coastal road was a challenge for me, sitting in the middle between Jill and Marie, trying not to lean too heavily either way as we sped around the tight corners. Our first stop was at a small town just north of Dubrovnik where the summer house of the Yugoslavian dictator, Marshall Tito still stands. The old mansion has been left derelict because of political indecision between Croatian and Serbian governments - apparently neither wants the expense of its upkeep. This is a great pity because the old building is certainly a grand old piece of architecture that is simply rotting away.

We crossed the border into Bosnia - the guards fell about laughing when they saw our masks and Tony’s explanation that we were protecting ourselves from each other brought forth more whoops of laughter. Then back out again - remember, dear reader that this section of the Croatian coast has a small section that belongs to Bosnia. When we reached the delta of the Neretva River, we turned off the coast road and headed inland. Arriving at the real Bosnian border, we prepared our passports and were waved through with more grins - this time the guards asked Tony what mysterious disease we had. We began the climb up into the mountains - the rain began to fall in earnest.

The next stop was Medjugorje, a once small town, where a vision of the Virgin Mary appeared before 6 children in 1981. Since then, of course, the town has mushroomed with accommodation facilities springing up and extending the town limits - there are about 10,000 beds for rent now and still growing! When we arrived, Tony said that he had not seen so many buses in the car park as we pulled up. When we got out, we could hear singing and voices over a loud speaker system. As we got closer, we saw a huge outdoor mass in progress - if they had all stayed, every one of those beds for rent would have been snapped up! We mingled with the crowd and inspected the souvenir shops - every possible religious knick knack that is in existence sat in the many shops which lined the main street. As Liz said later: “I didn’t know there were so many different types of rosary beads!” As usual, I had an ice-cream - vanilla for me and apricot for Jill (that’s for you Jo!).

After a long wait to get out of the carpark, we set off for Mostar, which is in a valley further into the mountains. The final drop from the heights into the Mostar valley makes the trip down Bulli Pass look like travelling across a level field! Mostar is a very interesting place. It is known as the melting pot of cultures. The Neretva River flows through the town and once, it was the dividing line between the Islamic and Christian inhabitants of the area. The bridge that spans the river has one of the most graceful arches one could imagine. For over 400 years it was considered a symbolic link between east and west. Its destruction during the Bosnian conflict in 1991 was a terrible blow to the city and its reconstruction and opening in 2004 was given world-wide prominence in the news. Tony dropped us off on the eastern side of the bridge and we crossed the bridge in the rain - not an easy task as the arch is quite steep and gets slippery in the rain. We have seen this bridge featured on Getaway. We didn’t actually see anyone dive off the bridge as shown on the show - but did see the Bridge Divers Club room.

As we entered the western side of the old town, we were rounded up by a pretty Bosnian lass acting as a hawker outside the many restaurants that lie tucked away off the narrow cobbled street that winds through the old town. We were grateful for the invitation - it was raining and the cobbles were quite slippery - we needed a break. After leading us through 3 more restaurants, up and down several flights of stairs, we were shown to a long table sitting in a cave under shelter right beside the river with a superb view of the old bridge. The waiter who attended us could speak German and Gert came to our rescue, translating the various dishes. I tried something I couldn’t pronounce - a local specialty - and waited with some trepidation. The mysterious meal turned out to be small skinless sausages, served with fries and salad - quite tasty!

Jill ordered the hamburger and got the same meat, fries and salad, the only difference being that the meat on her plate was something like a large flat meat pattie - the taste was identical! The bread for the hamburger was what was served in the basket for the table - certainly nothing like a traditional hamburger. Again cats were everywhere - they kept creeping in and out through the rocks! Ron witnessed one cat leaving a ‘message’ on Steve’s rain jacket. I think if the opportunity had arisen either Ron or Steve would have liked to see how well the cats could swim.

Following the meal, we made our way back to the main street - it was souvenir time - I managed another ice-cream! We crossed back into the eastern side and the difference in architecture was most noticeable - a definite Moorish influence. It was the same for the souvenir shops - more Moorish influence in the products on sale - water pipes, patterned dishes, the odd fez and curved knives - just like the tales of a thousand and one nights! The rain didn’t let up so we made it back to the van a little damp but otherwise intact.

Back across the border into Croatia - more strange looks from the border guards but no hassles. Ron was most disappointed that none of the border guards had asked for passports - he has a new one and would like to get some stamps in it!

The next stop was Ston, a small town well known for it’s salt production that also has a city wall that rivals the Great Wall of China - not in size but in spectacle as it extends up over high ridges and plunges into steep valleys. The challenge was on to walk the wall as we had done in China several years age. The combination of rain and the ‘flu was enough for Jill and I to pass, so it was left to Liz, Marie and Dave to be the Aussie stalwarts. The sign said that to walk from point A to point B would take about 15 minutes. Half an hour later the trio emerged triumphant, but wet and we all boarded the bus for our last stop before reaching Dubrovnik.

Pocitelja was our last stop. After a bit of a climb we came to a ‘working’ mosque. There were many interesting artifacts and ruins. Of course there was the prescribed little row of tempting shops. There was also a dear old lady ‘flogging’what we believe to be her produce - strawberries, cherries, prunes, figs and apricots. Some of our group purchased from her. Jill had a fig and enjoyed it.

Some 45 minutes later we arrived back at our hotel Petka. It was still raining and we were a little weary so Liz sent a text message to Emily, our obliging laundry lady, asking if we could collect our laundry tomorrow due to the circumstances - it was no problem!