Our surprises and certainties from Bosnia and Herzegovina
The plan was simple.
Close your eyes and reach Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter BiH) as soon as possible.
Below is some information about what surprised us and what we expected in BiH – and we were not disappointed.
Index
Certainty #1 – food
Going to Bosnia we were sure that we would get excellent food. Based on Robert Makłowicz’s recommendation we went to ĆEVABDŽINICA “PETICA” FERHATOVIĆ for ćevapčići. It was a shot in the 10! The restaurant has literally a few dishes, and the traffic is in it, like a beehive. You can pay by credit card. It was worth it.
To Ćevapi is served a kajmak – not to be confused with the Polish sweet. The one from the restaurant is a little different than the one from the shop. But in the shop it is also worth choosing the “home” variant, which is different from the completely industrial one.
Certainty #2 – Spomeniks
Planning a trip through the Balkans, we tried to direct the route in such a way as to visit as many of them as possible. We know about Spomeniks from previous trips. Behind each of them there is a heroic story. They are in a better and worse condition, more or less exposed.
Certainty #3 – muezzins
BiH is also a Muslim country, so everywhere there are mosques, and at certain times you can hear the singing of a muezzin from a minaret.
Surprise #1 – food
We didn’t realize that there were several varieties of baklava, especially Bosnian (with walnuts) and Turkish. In Sarajevo we went to Baklava Shop (again a bow to Mr. Robert) where there were several types of baklava, including coconut-chocolate.
A nice surprise was the Bosnian lamb. Soft, juicy. We have reason to go back to Bosnia to eat lamb roasted on live fire – because this time we did not get there.
Bosnian coffee is Turkish coffee – brewed in a crucible. A personal surprise for Agnieszka, for whom coffee had to be in a big cup: a tiny cup of coffee from the coffee machine and a lot of milk. And here it turned out that coffee with coffee grounds, without milk, is something delicious.
We didn’t think that in Bosnia candy would be a copy of Turkish candy. We brought home a supply of Lokum.
Surprise #2 – towards Spomeniks
To get to the hidden in the mountains Spomeniks, we had to go through heavily non-touristic routes. On one of them we found the remains of a bombed village. A few kilometres away our road turned into a long and wide runway – just in the middle of nowhere there used to be an airport here, probably a military one.
Surprise #3 – The war, there was a war!
It is one thing to watch war pictures on TV and another to see war scenes from close up. Cities are still destroyed, all in all, you can see the traces of war at every step of the way. Some of the houses are patched, some are left as it is, and there are a lot of new buildings. Apparently, a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina is still mined, but we have not found such places.
Surprise #4 – roads
- Many intercity roads are simply new.
- Navigation has a very good coverage of terrain and roads.
- Bosnia is a mountainous country. You can hit a hill of more than 22%.
Surprise #5 – Republika Srpska – Cyrillic alphabet
We were not aware of the complex structure of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the territory of the Republika Srpska, the boards are double – in Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.
Surprise #6 – Bosnia is a real foreign country
Phone calls and data transfers are awfully expensive. So you need to use the Internet via WiFi and stop using phones to enter Croatia or Hungary.
But when it comes to crossing the border, an ID card is enough. Although there may be trouble and it is recommended to have a passport. A green card for a car is also mandatory.
Surprise #7 – banking
Card payments are not popular. I mean, you can pay by credit card for fuel, in a grocery store, but in a restaurant or souvenir shop – not necessarily. Interestingly, cash withdrawals from some ATMs are subject to a commission for using a payment card issued by a bank outside BiH.
Surprise #8 – Sarajevo in one day
To tell you the truth, Sarajevo can boldly be visited on a walk in one day.
Powered by Wikiloc
Surprise #9 – Cemeteries in Sarajevo
Finally, the locations of cemeteries are shocking. During the occupation of the city, when there were no other possibilities, the dead were buried in parks and numerous green areas. Eventually, on the sports fields from the 1984 Olympics.
Surprise #10 – Saabs
Outside the competition. In BiH we met only one Saab. And during our stay, according to the information from the local SaabKlub, our 9-5NG was only one car this model in BiH.