Gary and Lesley's Travels: The Balkans Part 2 - Kosovo, Serbia and Bosnia (2-14 August 2016)

The war scarred countries of the Balkans...

Kosovo (2-4 August 2016)

Busing from Macedonia to Prizren in Kosovo our planned ~3 hours bus trip turned into 6 hours after our bus broke down and we encountered several small towns and crawling traffic on single lane roads (an hour to get through one place alone). We arrived in Prizren (eventually) at 5.30pm so we immediately needed to extend our stay here by another night.

Long term ethnic division between the Kosovan, Albanian and Serbian populations led to violence and resulted in the war of 1998-99. NATO and the UN stepped in to end it and Kosovo later declared independence in 2008. Although most of the world recognises this it is still disputed by Serbia and as a result peace keeping forces are still actively monitoring the Albanian majority and Serbian minority. NATO forces still guard Serbian monasteries today.

We relaxed into Prizren's vibe - which is very cool. Loads of people, happening place and really cute town - again back to the cobbled streets, the fort overlooking us and lots of churches and mosques. Our taxi driver confirmed that Prizren has the least ethnic division of any place in Kosovo and you can certainly see it with the diversity of the people around. Thanks to the bus we are here for two nights now and thankful for it.

Our full day in Prizren was for exploring. First stop - the Castle (Kalaja) of Prizren. Built in the 11th century on the ruins of an old Roman settlement it has been somewhat restored and provides amazing views of the city. As with most things in the Balkans there is a lot of history - we visited many places of note although most churches and mosques are closed to the public (there is unease here about admitting tourists for the most part, perhaps because they are still getting comfortable themselves).

Sites we visited included Church of St George (17th cent) and the much smaller and very cute St Nicholas which was founded in 1331. We crossed over the 15th century restored stone bridge - an icon in the city and headed to the Orthodox Church of the Virgin of Ljevis - founded in 1306 it was built on the foundations of an earlier Byzantine church. It is one of the most important sites in the city and was later used as a mosque until 1911. It has been the subject of damage and looting due to unrest and is still in a state of disrepair. It is heavily guarded and surrounded by barbed wire. Somewhat very sad but also a sombre beauty about the building from the outside.

Alongside this is the 18th century Haxhi Ramadans Mosque and not far away the Gazi Mehmet Pasha Hamam - these are 16th century Turkish baths that were one of the three biggest in the Balkans (now non-functioning and the building under restoration).

Our final site for the day was Sinan Pasha Mosque. It's a 17th century mosque (1615) that has been fully restored and is a central landmark in Prizren. After being allowed the privilege to enter we were taken aback by its stunning paintings inside (completed in the 19th century).

The following day and we are heading to Pristina but wanted to take a rather large detour to Visoki Decani Monastery, hence the taxi as opposed to bus. The route is not long distance wise but the traffic here is not good so it took us a good 90 minutes to reach the monastery (~40km). The gates are fully guarded by KFOR (Kosovo Force for peacekeeping) and we have to hand surrender our passports to be allowed entry. The first views inside the monastery of the church are unbelievable. The gates and church were built in 1327 (finished in 1335) and are in pristine original condition and the site itself is beautiful – located at the foot of the mountains and surrounded by pine and chestnut trees and beautiful green gardens. It’s owned by the Serbian Orthodox Church and has been under the legal protection of Serbia since 1947 – prior to that is has always been protected hence its undamaged state. We were allowed entry to the church and a local gentleman shared some of his knowledge of the church with us. As you step inside the views are nothing short of exceptionally breath-taking. The highest point within the church is 28m and it’s fully painted with frescoes and religious images (the painting took 15 years after the 8 years it took to build). It’s beyond beautiful and we could easily have spent a day just sitting inside taking it all in.

There are still 25 Serbian monks that live here in isolation – there are locals that would rather they weren’t there and the last grenade attack on the monastery was as recent as 2007 (hence the heavy guarding). How anyone can want to damage the building or anyone in it is beyond us. Interesting though that the guide talked about the church and its treasures as if we were in Serbia (definitely confirmation that they don’t recognise Kosovo’s independence).

We arrived into the capital Pristina later that afternoon and immediately headed out to explore after checking in. Not so much to see here so an afternoon will do it and first point of call was the Ethnographic Museum. An addition to the Museum of Kosovo the two beautifully preserved Ottoman houses are open to view, along with the history of the people inside them. The older house was from the late 18th century and the newer one (both owned by the same family) in the 1900’s. Lots of gems inside, not outdone at all by the houses themselves. It was a great experience to be taken through them with explanations of the way of live at the time.

We passed the Sultan Mehmet Fatih Mosque (1461), Clock Tower, Jashar Pasha Mosque and Carshi Mosque on our way to the Kosovo Museum. Unfortunately the two later were under heavy renovation and closed also, although a very kind man did let us in to the ground floor of the museum to see some mosaics recently discovered – as well as the kids mosaics that are made through a children’s education programmes.

We spent the rest of our exploration time around the more modern centre – it’s very much a happening city here with lots of traffic, noise and people, although they do have a nice pedestrian only Boulevard lined with statues, restaurants and shops. Had to head to the famous “Newborn” sign which was unveiled in February 2008 when Kosovo declared independence. It is painted in new colours every year and unveiled in February in celebration.

Things we will remember about Kosovo:

Old towns

Piggy in the middle (everyone wants a piece)

Peace keepers

KFOR

War damaged buildings

Bad roads

The traffic

The border crossing

Coffee drinkers

Cigarettes

Serbia (5-9 August 2016)

The fun began immediately as we arrived at the bus station to transfer from Pristina into Belgrade in Serbia. After our hotel owner had been advised that we were "good to go" as we had no Kosovo stamps in our passports, the bus administrators had other ideas. Pretty much absolutely no way you can go from Kosovo into Serbia one way (the direction we were heading) as it's not a recognised border (from Serbia's perspective), so that meant a reverse turn and a bus back to Macedonia (Skopje) before we could begin the journey to Serbia as planned.

The bus back to Skopje was pretty painless and we got there around 1.30pm. The next bus out to Belgrade wasn't until 4.45pm so we had some lunch. The bus to Belgrade took ~7 hours (that was after the border crossing and swapping buses in the middle of the street). So effectively our "short" journey ended up being 3 buses, 2 border crossings and 11 1/2 hours long, arriving to our hotel just after 1am the following morning. Belgrade is known for its nightlife and translates as "white city" - red hot as far as the many party goers are concerned and the river night club scene was going off, we were going to bed.

Our hostel view

We were staying on the Sava River just a couple of hundred metres from where it joins the Danube (our hostel was a floating barge) about 2 1/2 kms from the city centre and the following morning we decided to walk in and have a nosey around, opting for the free walking tour in the early afternoon.

We spent a good couple of hours wandering the streets of Belgrade's inner (old) city being filled with facts about its history. We started in Republic Square where the National Museum is (although it's been under renovation for 12 years! The rumour here is that they don’t have the money to reopen it). There is a monument here of Prince Mihailo Obrenovic who’s most important achievement was complete expulsion of the Turks from Serbia and liberation of the remaining 7 cities (then under Turk rule) in 1867. It’s a popular meeting spot for locals and a trivia fact that the horse is standing on 3 legs (meaning he was assassinated). Standing on 2 legs means they died in battle and all 4 legs on the ground mean they died of natural causes.

We then headed to Skadarlija, the Bohemian heartland of Belgrade at the turn of the 20th century. It's narrow cobbled lane now lined with cafes and restaurants. We headed past Silicon Valley (nick-named due to the nightclubs that are filled in the evenings with women with fake boobs and oversized mouths due to silicone implants).

"Yugo"

Past the 1575 Bajrakli Mosque (the only one left of 273 that were in Belgrade when the Ottoman's ruled), and then into Kalemegdan Citadel. First mention of the fortress was 3rd century BC and since some 115 battles have been fought over it with it being badly damaged more than 40 times throughout the centuries. It still looks remarkable and any rectification work has been done extremely well. It is impressive with huge walls and really intriguing gates that still look like they've just stepped out of history. The whole area is filled with grassed areas so is more like a 24/7 park with great views out over the Sava and Danube Rivers.

St Michael's Cathedral is a Serbian Orthodox Christian Church in the middle of the old city. It dates back to 1837 but was built on the site of an earlier church dating back to the 1570's. It's an impressive building but is more amazing on the inside (no photos of course). Just opposite the church is Belgrade's oldest traditional tavern (now called the question mark - literally a ? symbol). It was built in 1823 and became a tavern in the early 1830's.

From here we said our goodbyes to the walking tour and headed by bus to St Sava temple. The 1935 temple was built 340 years after the burning of Saint Sava's remains on the site (the sarcophagus and relics of the Saint in 1595) due to Serbian rebellion against the Ottoman's at the time. The church is 82m high and the last 4000 tonne large centre dome was lifted into place in 1989 (there have been many stoppages and alternate uses during the numerous wars over time). As at 2009 the church was largely completed but inside decorating is still taking place today.

It was well time to head back "home" to freshen up (this time on the bus) before coming back to the ? for a relaxing drink and dinner trying the local dish “Pljeskavica”.

Pljeskavica

The following day we decided on another couple of tours. The first was the Cycling Tour. The main purpose of this was to get out of the old city and check out the "new Belgrade". We crossed the Sava River and headed towards the "concrete jungle". Lots of buildings all built in various decades between the late 1960's and today mainly from the Communist period of being Yugoslavia. As with most of "old" Belgrade things are somewhat in a state of disrepair - mainly due to various conflicts and lack of money. It was great to see the other side of the city though and development is definitely still happening here.

Graffiti "Saint of Belgrade"

The highlight of the bike tour was heading into Zemun. Zemun is a historical town that prior to 1934 was a town separate to Belgrade. In the late 20th century as part of the development of "new Belgrade" they were joined together so effectively it is now a suburb of Belgrade.

The town has been inhabited since the 3rd century BC and is now a very cute place to visit with pretty surroundings - the Danube River one side and hills on the other topped by the 1896 Gardos Tower (a memorial dedicated to 1000 years of Hungarian settlement on the Pannonian Plain - or in modern times the bulk of the Balkans and some).

It was a really scenic and relaxed ride back along the river to return the bikes to their destination approx 3 1/2 hours later. Time for a quick bite and then on to the Mysterious Belgrade walking tour. Most of these tours are free and rely on tips but they are great easy way to learn a bit about where you are in a short space of time.

The mysterious tour took us on a walk around the old city pointing out old Masonic buildings and talking a little about their practices and secrecy but the main reason we were here was to see the underground part of Belgrade in particular the Kalemegdan. First up was the Roman Well - actually built by the Austrians between 1717 and 1731. It’s 60m deep and 3.5m wide so pretty impressive; then it was onto "Tito's Bunker" that was built for use during the Cold War but was never used - it was only recently that those in the "know" unveiled its identity and it's now open to the public.

Next was the gunpowder magazine built by the Austrians to keep their explosives dry in the damp conditions by the river. The stunning thing about this area, apart from the inside of the building itself is the Roman ruins it contains - easily some of the best relics we've seen from that time.

Last but not least after a short walk around the walls was the secret wine vault hidden under Karadjordjeva Street that dates from the early 19th century - and still has a good wine or two!

"Speak from your heart" graffiti

Under Belgrade there are hundreds of cellars, caves, tunnels, bunkers and passageways, many of which have yet to be opened (lack of funding) and only very few have seen more than we got too. They believe it would take decades to explore them all.

We finished up just after 6pm so decided to stay in town and headed back to the Bohemian quarter for dinner. It was in party mode with the locals singing and dancing to local live music and it was a nice way to spend our last night in Belgrade.

We got up early the next day to head out for a run around the park (haven't been too many of these but this is the third one in less than a week!) before packing up and heading to the bus station. We jumped on a bus to Novi Sad which is a cute town a lot less busy than the capital. There are pretty lanes and a pedestrian only area in the centre of town (much like most old towns) and immediately upon arriving we decided to stay an extra night.

The following morning we headed out in Novi Sad to explore what it is famous for - the Petrovaradin Citadel. It was constructed with slave labour between 1692 and 1780 and is nicknamed "Gibraltar on the Danube". It has been the sight of many Austrian-Turkish wars and is filled with underground tunnels and passageways. Along with a clock tower, there is a museum atop the citadel that houses many articles of furniture and clothing (among other things) that were the centre of Serbian life in the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as some really interesting history about the battles and ownership and another "wing" filled with ancient artefacts and weaponry/articles from the world wars. There are many remains from the Bronze Age (3000 BC) within the museum that were found during 2005 excavations. Clearly this place has been here a long time, and life along with it.

The views over the Danube and city were very pretty, particularly in the direction of the very old town at the foot of the Citadel. We took a walk back down to it and past two churches (one old and one more recent) and through the fantastic streets that make up the town. They're a bit rundown (not unusual in this country) and the little town looks and feels like it should be abandoned but it isn't, which is also kind of nice.

Heading back across the bridge to "home" we headed into Liberty Square (Trg Slobode) to capture the beautiful buildings that surround it, as well as The Name of Mary Church. The 1894 church is the biggest in Novi Sad with a height of 72m and sits on the site of the original 1719 church.

To the side of the church is Katolicka Porta square which is also very quaint and last but not least for today is the Cathedral Church of the Holy Great-Martyr George (or St George Cathedral) completed in 1905 and built on the ruins of a church built in 1734.

Novi Sad has been a really nice place to visit and spend a couple of days slowing down the "moving" pace a little. It's very relaxed with as much to see or as little as you like with no pressure to do anything you don't want to. Will be a nice quiet night as we have an early start tomorrow and a big travel day.

What we will remember about Serbia:

A past full of war

Rivers

Green spaces

Basic agriculture

Finished sunflowers (sad droopy ones)

Maize and corn fields

Bosnia (10-14 August 2016)

The bus from Novi Sad in Serbia to Sarajevo in Bosnia was roughly 7 hours. Not so much a bus as a minivan but pretty comfortable and the time went quickly considering, and as an added bonus we got dropped off at the door of our accommodation. Buildings full of bullet and shrapnel holes - the first thing we really noticed as we dropped off the others in the van first. Quite a sobering first impression.

After checking in we headed straight out to get the lay of the land. We're right on the edge of the old town so very cute and a lot like another little Turkey in places. It's full of 1500's Ottoman style buildings, narrow bazaar lanes and mosques and yet a short walk away there are Austrian style European looking buildings. The city is peaceful now but most certainly scarred from the 1990's Yugoslav civil war and 1425 days of brutal siege.

After a short time out looking around ourselves we commenced the free walking tour. The tour itself was a lot about talking and the history as opposed to specific sites but we did get to see a bit which provided us with more of a comfort level about where we were.

First stop was Bascarsija (Sarajevo's bustling old quarter). It's a great place with a square (aptly named pigeon square by the tourists because of the hundreds of pigeons), pedestrian courtyards and lanes full of mosques, copper and jewellery workshops as well as cafes and restaurants. The shops are much like they were originally in the 16th century and quite possibly still in the same families.

A short walk (everything is a short walk away here) and we were outside the Bezistan (market place). It's a 16th century stone vaulted covered bazaar almost 100m long and still used for the same purpose. It is alongside the Taslihan ruins which was originally a caravanserai (hotel) and dates back to 1543.

Other points of interest (although everywhere you look there is something interesting to see) - the 1529 Sahat Kula which is a half speed prayer clock with Arabic numerals that is adjusted daily (originally by hand and now digitally) so that dusk and dawn both show as 12 o'clock everyday.

The Gazi Husrev-Begov Mosque and tomb - the mosque dates to 1531 which is the centrepiece of a series of Gazi-Husrevbey funded buildings. He was Bosnia's second Ottoman governor and is now buried in the tomb in the mosque grounds with his right hand man buried in the smaller tomb alongside him.

We had a pit stop in an area that contains a Catholic Church, a Christian church, a mosque and a synagogue. Sarajevo was the second place in the world to have all types of practising religions and their places of worship (behind Jerusalem). The final place of note is Archduke Franz Ferdinand's assassination spot. He was the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary and was shot literally after being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This assassination was effectively what detonated WWI.

After completely filling our brains for a couple of hours with loads of information, old and recent history we headed back to the hotel before venturing back out again for dinner. Talk about a small world - we found the restaurant we had planned to go to and sat down, next to another NZ'er who just happened to work for Gary at Lion 8 or so years ago. The first NZ'er we've seen in a month, it was nice to have a short catch up while the boys talked about the old days, and making sure they took a photo to capture the moment and prove to Craig that it actually happened!

We awoke the following day to a temperature 18 degrees less than the evening before - 30 degrees to 12! A bit of a shock to the system the jumpers came out and after a couple of morning photos we met our guide for the tunnel tour we had booked. About a 45 minute drive (after stopping for petrol) we arrived at the tunnel museum. The museum sits above a section of the 1m wide, 1.6m high 800m long hand dug tunnel that was built from the city under the airport runway and acted as the city's lifeline to the outside world during the 1992-95 siege. Seems to be a recurring story but it's almost impossible to believe that countries go to war with the priority of killing civilians. Effectively Sarajevo residents (and Bosnians in general) headed underground where they were out of sniper shot and random fire.

A note about the Siege:

By May 1992 the city was completely surrounded by a 60km encirclement of 2100 artillery pieces consisting of 260 tanks 120 mortars and thousands of small artillery weapons, meaning one piece of artillery was placed every 35m. In contrast the 500,000 inhabitants had no army, no tanks, no mortars and only the odd rifle.

The house above the entrance to the tunnel is riddled with war wounds and has what we have come to know as a Sarajevo rose right out front. A Sarajevo rose is a large building scar left by mortar fire (much bigger than a bullet hole). In many places these scars have been painted red in memory of those that lost their lives and hence have become known as Sarajevo roses. They, as well as the many damaged buildings, have been left all over the city (and we were to later discover all over Bosnia) as a memorial. In Sarajevo city they lost just under 14,000 people, of which just under 40% were civilians and the estimate for the total country is ~100,000 but this number is still debated (civilian percentage much the same). Before leaving the site we popped into the little souvenir shop next door where the owner was one of the tunnel diggers and he shared a few stories making our visit here to the tunnels even more real. In short, no power, no water, no food, no fuel, no heating - you get the picture.

After we'd finished at this site we headed back into the city and up the hill to the Snipers nest. Alongside an historic Jewish cemetery the Serbian snipers lined up civilians, anyone that walked effectively and took aim along what is now known as sniper alley. It is clear why they chose this place as it does have amazing views over the city.

We did a little more wandering around town after the tour and made it to the 1798 Latin Bridge then the old City Hall. The building from 1898 was used as a library from mid 1900's and prior to the war housed 1.5 million volumes plus over 155,000 rare books and manuscripts. Unfortunately during the war in 1992 the shelling destroyed the building and the vast majority of everything in it. The full restoration of the building (off the original plans) took ~16 years being completed in 2013 and it is now a national monument and stunning piece of artwork.

Travel day again today, this time to Mostar. Mostar is most famous for its 16th century bridge which is the centrepiece of the largely renovated old town. The 1990's war didn't do this town any favours and there are still buildings that remain (again in memory) in ruins. For the town the unthinkable happened during the war in 1993 and the original 1550's bridge (Stari Most) was destroyed. Thankfully in 2004 it was restored to its former glory. The bridge is used for international diving competitions and those keen enough can jump from it - certainly wouldn't be for the faint hearted!

The old town of Mostar is great although super hard to walk around in jandals because of the small river stones used to pave the pathways. Other than a wander around the old town and checking out the bridge and a couple of sites there isn't so much to do so we booked a tour around the wider Hercegovina region for the following day and then we visited the two historic houses - the first Biscevica Cosak which was built in 1635 and is a Turkic style house that has retained its original appearance with interesting artefacts inside.

The second was phenomenal - built in 1520 and a little more hidden away (so no tourists) so we had the house to ourselves (with the neighbour who unlocked it and showed us around). Kajtaz House is hidden behind tall walls and is Mostar’s most historic. It was home to a Turkish judge and his 4 wives and children. There was a room for each wife, kitchen, meeting space and more that we didn't see (as it has been destroyed) where the men would meet and guests would be accommodated and catered for. It was super full of original artefacts including 16th Century books, clothing and furniture and the house still belongs to the descendants of the original family. Very cool place to visit.

We also visited a war photos exhibition (actually taken by a kiwi photographer) which was pretty sobering. He actively headed to the region as an unknown photo journalist as he wanted to document the breakup of the old Yugoslavia and once there was pretty stuck in the war zone. The photos really show you how life in a war zone must have been and the reality of that strikes a number of chords. Fantastic exhibition but very sad. We did get a moment of light relief as a jumper got ready to go off the bridge - the exhibition happened to be in one of the bridge towers so got a great view.

From the war exhibition in the words of photographer Wade Goddard:

“East Mostar was what I imagined the Warsaw Ghetto might have looked like; the destruction, hunger, misery and squalor were my first observations. After spending more time there I came to realise the resilience, determination and pride of the population”.

“When I heard that the bridge had been destroyed I knew what this would mean to the people of Mostar. It would be like losing a loved one; the bridge was something special to everyone from Mostar”.

“Though the fighting has stopped the scars of war, both physical and emotional remain. Mostar is still a multi-ethnic city, though a divided one; and it will take generations for this to change”,

“What leads a people to destroy another and themselves in the process? If we can understand the answer to this and the consequences of armed conflict perhaps our political leaders would try a little harder to avoid war”.

Last but not least in Mostar we headed up Pasha's Mosque. A simple mosque on the inside, still actively used, but one where you are able to climb the minaret (very rare). We climbed the 90 stairs to the top of the minaret and were rewarded with fantastic views of Mostar and Stari Most.

Our final day in Bosnia took us out into the Hercegovina region. With a couple from Russia and our guide we headed for the first stop which was Tekija Blagaj - a 15th century house/monastery that stands alongside huge cliffs and a cliff cave where the super clear Buma River originates (the house was renovated in 1851).

Second stop was Zitomislici which is an Orthodox Church built on the ruins of a 16th century original (courtesy of a number of wars has been destroyed several times). However the original 16th century monastery ruins remain.

Next stop was the very cool small Ottoman era fortress village of Pocitelj. The towers above the town date back to the 13th century and the town and square are 15th century. Not much has changed here over the years. We climbed the tower in our short pit stop and got some picture perfect views over the town and surrounding areas.

Our last stop for the day was Kravice Falls. Bosnia's mini Niagra they are roughly 26-28m high (depending on season) and are a major tourist attraction. We had an hour here to soak up nature and enjoy the scenery before heading back to town. All in all the tour was 6 hours and was a great way to see a little more of the countryside. We spent the rest of the late afternoon relaxing before heading out for our last dinner and some beautiful views of Stari Most.

Before leaving this part of the Balkans we took time reflecting on just what we have seen and learnt in these 3 war torn countries, the wounds are real and recent and we can only hope that the worst is behind them but we fear that the desire to have Bosnia by both Croatia and Serbia will never go away.