Out of the Schengen Zone: Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro

Nikita, here! 

We're officially out of the Schengen zone and well into the Balkan peninsula. The Schengen zone allows a lot of flexibility to travel among much of Europe but is limiting in that it's for 90 days. In order to make the most of our time in Europe, we had to balance our days both in and out of the zone. With that, we're visiting 3 out of the 7 countries in former Yugoslavia: Slovenia (Chester recapped our time there), Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. Notably, we are missing Croatia, which we're hoping we can do a more dedicated trip in the future. 

The fountain in the square in Old Town Sarajevo

Bosnia and Herzegovina 

Sarajevo

Primarily, we spent much of our time in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. TL'DR, there's a lot going on here. It was an outpost for the Ottoman Empire, so it feels like a place where East meets West. There is a lot of Turkish and Austro-Hungarian influence. This is a city where three ethnic groups reside: Bosniaks (Muslim), Serbians (Orthodox), and Croats (Roman Catholic) and in the past, more or less got along. Recent years, not so much.

Historically, this is where World War I started with a Serbian nationalist assassinating of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire. This essentially was a canon event for the events of the 20th century: World War I, World War II, the Cold War, etc. It's really interesting to think about what would've happened if things were slightly different. Would it have been better or worse? Arguably, depending on who you talk to, probably both. The location for this was right near our hotel, and we passed it everyday. We also ended up having one too many beers at the bar next door, which was an interesting experience.

Outside the assassination spot

In recent years with the fall of Yugoslavia, the ethnic groups that were able to live amicably together wanted control of the new Bosnia and Herzegovina and went to war from 1992 to 1995. We went on a tour specifically focused on the Siege in Sarajevo, which was between the Bosniaks and the Serbians. Our tour guide drove us around the city to different places where attacks occurred like the Children's Hospital and Sniper Alley, a busy street that people had to cross daily to get to work and run errands. A lot of the buildings today have bullet holes adorning the outside as reminders of their recent history. It also hints at the ineffectiveness of today's government. They have three presidents from each ethnic group, which creates a ton of bureaucracy and ensure nothing gets done. A frozen conflict, if you may. Another insane thing we learned on the tour was the wealthy Westerners (Italians, Brits, Americans, and Russians) paid money to participate in sniping the Bosniaks. There were different prices based on who they wanted to shoot. Utterly horrifying and dystopian. To be honest, it reminded me of Squid Games.

Bullet holes in the Children's Hospital. They leave it as is as a reminder of the war

Most notably on the tour we went to the Tunnel of Hope, which was a tunnel created during the Siege to allow Bosniaks to bring supplies to and from the "safe zone" outside Sarajevo. The Serbians fully surrounded the city, making it completely impossible to get food, water, supplies, ammunition, etc. into Sarajevo. The Bosniaks were starving and scared that they were going to lose their lives at any given moment. This tunnel gave them a fighting chance. Ultimately, the Siege ended with NATO stepping in, and the Dayton Agreement being signed bringing the end of the war. Thirteen thousand people were killed with over a thousand of them being children.

A visual of how Sarajevo was surrounded

Tunnel of Hope

While long-term travel has been fun and carefree in a lot of ways, it really was important for us to learn about the history of the places we are going to and that felt especially relevant in a place like Sarajevo. I'll admit I didn't know much about the war coming to the Balkans but have gained a deeper understanding of the region and the people. Reflecting back on the tour, both of us really could see the parallels between the siege and the war in Gaza. These are people who lived through a very similar experience 30 years ago, and my heart continues to ache for the people of Palestine.

On a lighter note, we also did a food and crafts tour in Sarajevo. We were especially excited to try Bosnian food as after Italy, we haven't been quite as excited about the culinary scene. Bosnian food has Turkish influence due to it's Ottoman roots, but they want it to be known that it is different! We tried a variety of breads, pies, soups, baklava, and Bosnian coffee. Notably, our tour guide introduced us to a fermented corn drink called boza. Think kombucha without the carbonation. It was super delicious and unlike anything I've had before. Sharing some pictures of the yums we had.

Somun, their bread that most resembles pita

Pies filled with various fillings like meat, potato, and spinach

Different kinds of Bosnian baklava

Cevapi, their barbecue, with a yogurt sauce and solum

From a crafts perspective, copper and brass is the name of the game with Bosnian coffee pots being the most popular. Like the Turks, they have a specific way of drinking their coffee and take great pride in it. Even the coffee grinders grind the coffee slightly differently. Something interesting we observed is the repurposing of bullets and shells from the war into souvenirs. There was something healing about seeing the Bosniaks take something so horrific to their people to something they can earn a living from. I would've loved to buy a pen, but we were warned that the borders don't really like that, which fair enough.

Tanks made of old bullets

Bosnian textiles

Bosnian coffee pot

Last fun fact, Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, and we visited the old toboggan track. It's really interesting to think just 8 years before the fall of Yugoslavia, Sarajevo hosted a world event. It's a little less pristine than other Olympic villages due to the resulting war.  

Rest of Bosnia

On our way to Montenegro, we did a tour through the rest of the country, mainly the Herzegovina zone to see more of the countryside and the town of Mostar. Mostar is a historic town with their Old Bridge and Old Bazaar that makes you feel like you're in another time period. Much like Sarajevo, there is division between the people. The Bosniaks live on one side of the bridge and the Croats on the other side. Our tour guide mentioned that there are people who have never crossed the bridge due to fear and pride. They have a tradition where men jump from the old bridge and we were able to witness a jump while we visited.

Bridge diver teasing the crowd

Jumping off the bridge

The Old Bridge

Much of the rest of this day was admiring beautiful turquoise waters of the river, the towering mountains, and the beautiful Kravice Waterfalls. The Bosnian countryside has huge potential for being an outdoors destination; however, there are many leftover mines from the war that haven't been cleaned up, which makes activities like hiking pretty treacherous. This was well-worth the visit, while a little fast as there was a lot of ground to cover, and I'll let the pictures do the speaking for us.

Konjic

Blagaj Tekke

Pocitelj

Kravice Waterfalls

Montenegro

Our time in Montenegro was short and sweet. We spent a couple days in Herceg Novi enjoying the sea for the first time since the Amalfi Coast! We also enjoyed delicious seafood for the first time in awhile after eating really meat heavy that is prevalent in Bosnian, Slovenian, and Austrian cultures. Our first day we did a boat tour along the Bay of Kotor, which was breathtaking beautiful with its blue water, gorgeous mountain peaks, and charming medieval towns. We spent time swimming, walking around various towns like Kotor, and visited a church on a small island. We also tried their fire water and ate fried sardines, which both really weren't my taste at all. The area is filled with wealth as its a popular touring destination for yachters, and we saw one yacht worth 8 million euros! 

Church on island

Town of Kotor

Chester in the sea

Perast

Our second day was true R&R for us. We're starting to feel the tiredness of long-term traveling and really needed a recharge day. We enjoyed the delicious breakfast our hotel provided and lounged on our balcony facing the sea. We went swimming in the warm sea, and I was able to sneak in a run too. All in all Montenegro was exactly what we were looking for at this point in the trip: rest and beautiful views. Stay tuned for our next blogpost!