Sarajevo and Mostar, Bosnia

After visiting Montenegro, we decided that we were going to visit Bosnia for a few days. The trip from Zabljak to Mostar was impossible to plan as nobody could tell us if and when there was a bus. They mostly only know the direct destinations from their town and can't help much with the transfer after that. We then decided to start with Sarajevo as it was easier to get there and move to Mostar afterwards. We were up really early to get on the 7:15 am bus to Sarajevo. We were actually really fast at getting ready and waited for a little bit at the station. Nobody was around for a while but then all of a sudden, everybody seemed to arrived at once. We were hoping for a big bus, but instead it was a little mini-bus that pulled in. Fortunately, half the people were going to Podgorica. The 18 passengers mini-bus was full, but the road was nice.. well the view anyway! We spent a good portion of the trip chatting with a guy from California that has been on the road for 15 months. It was inspiring to hear about all the places he visited so far. We arrived in Niksic for the transfer and there was already a bus leaving for Sarajevo. We got in only to find the bus fully packed. We spend the first 1.5 hour standing in the back of the bus. The bus was really slow because of the mountain road. It almost felt as if it was not going to make it all the way to Sarajevo. Eventually some people got of the bus and we could sit. When we arrived in Sarajevo, we were in the east station and needed to find a way to the center. We were going to walk but it seemed way too far. Suddenly a guy with a backpack was running after us. He also didn't know how to get to the center so he tagged along. We finally found the city bus station that was 5 min away, hidden from the bus station. For once our french was useful as a man beside the bus helped us understand the bus driver and he exchanged us 5 Euros to Convertible Mark. It was enough for all of us to take the bus. We got of the bus in the old town and decided to look for a place with WiFi in order to book a room somewhere. We usually prefer to have a place booked when we arrive in a new place, but we didn't this time. We had a beer in the Pirate Pub that accepted Euros with our new German friend where we booked a private room in a 'hostel' (really a 4 bedroom apartment which 3 rooms are rented out). We set our bags down and went for a walk in the old town. The city looks really different than all the other European cities so far. We liked the mixture of religions; there is a Catholic church facing a Mosque. We had a good time in Sarajevo, enjoying the nice vibe of the city.

When we left Sarajevo, the temperature outside was 28 C. Shortly after we left, we could see the temperature rising... when we got to Mostar, it was 43 C outside. It felt like leaving a fridge to step into an oven. Or as one friend said; it's just like you are standing in front of a hair dryer... all day! We weren't too sure how to find the pension as the map was rather confusing, but really it was not even 2 minutes from the station. Our room had AC, which we enjoyed for a little while, before being ready to go back in the oven, and go for a walk in town. There are a lot of buildings with bullet holes or half destroyed in both Mostar and Sarajevo, a constant reminder of the war that happened not too long ago. There wasn't as many tourists as we first expected so that was a plus. We walked all the way to the old bridge and around the little streets of the old part of town. Mostar was worth the detour.

City Hall Sarajevo

Bridge over the canal

Small pedestrian street

Beside the Mosque, Old Town Sarajevo

Eternal flame, Sarajevo

Building cribbled with bullet holes on main street, Sarajevo

View from the bus, Sarajevo - Mostar

View from the bus, Sarajevo - Mostar

Mala Neretva (River), Mostar

Old destroyed building, the nature is taking over.

Mostar Old Town restaurants

View from the old bridge, Mostar

Old Town Mostar 

Mostar old bridge

Mostar old bridge

Zabljak, Montenegro

The bus ride from Kotor was interesting as it goes through a few mountains. The driver was speeding and breaking every few seconds because of the numerous airpin curves. We were lucky enough to have some kind of AC so we could handle the almost 4 hours trip. We arrived in Zabljak in the early afternoon and were suggested to go and walk around the Crno Jezero, the Black Lake. It took about 3 hours round trip from the hostel, a walk a little over 8 km. The lake is beautiful, not sure why it is called black lake as it is a nice blue shade. It seems to be a very popular spot for tourists to step in the water to take tons of pictures of themselves. We came back to the hostel were we attended the nice barbecue offered to us by the hostel owners.

View from the bus

View from the bus

View from the bus

Tight corner

Crno Jezero (Black Lake), Zabljak, Montenegro

On our second day, we walked 15 km in a not so easy mountain terrain and were rewarded by an amazing few from the top. The mountains are very nice. There was still snow in a few places. Zadljak is located at about 1490 meters above sea level and we hiked our way up to 2191m. We did what they call the difficult loop, and some sections were indeed fairly difficult, especially the last part getting to the cave as we were almost rock climbing. We were gone for about 7 hours and had a lot of fun. We definitely enjoy more being in the nature than in the city which is why we will be looking into more hiking destinations. When we arrived back at the hostel, we showered right away as we weren't sure we were going to be able to stand again if we sat somewhere!

At the beginning of the hiking trail to the ice cave

View from the trail

View from the trail

View from the ice cave. Zabljak is in the clear spot in the middle, 7.5 km away

The cave's entrance

Still some ice in August

Us, nice background

A few minutes outside Zabljak

Nice mountains

After spending all morning trying to figure where we are going next, we decided to go for a walk to the Tara Canyon viewpoint. While we were getting ready, a German guy that arrived in the morning at the hostel asked if he could tag along. We all got ready and headed toward the viewpoint. The walk consisted of mostly paved road, except for the last 1 to 1.5 km where it was back in the mountain. A total of another 15 km. The view of the Tara Canyon was wonderful, lots of mountains are surrounding this pretty turquoise river that is really deep in a curved canyon. There was also lots of butterflies and even a not so shy salamander. Our legs are really tired though so a bus day tomorrow will probably be very appreciated!

Tara Canyon viewpoint

Tara Canyon viewpoint 

Tara Canyon viewpoint 

Tara Canyon viewpoint

Tara Canyon viewpoint

Kotor, Montenegro

The bus from Bar to Kotor had great views of the Adriatic Coast and the ride itself was worth the bus fare. After a good night of sleep in the Old Town Hostel, we left to climb the 1350 steps to the top of the fortress. It was definitely a satisfying exercise for the amazing view of the fjord. It was really hot but at least we went up in the morning, while there was still shade on most of the path. The fortress is partly in ruins now and looks amazing. The fortifications are impressive as they are built right on the mountain. We also walked through the wall to get to a small church on the other side of the fortifications. On our way back we were even happier to have gotten up has a lot of people were walking up. The small old town of Kotor is like a little Dubrovnik, a city we visited a little over a month ago in Croatia, not very far from here. We love to get lost in all the old cobblestone streets.