bosnian roadtrip #2

dirt road to Jajce |  iPhone 4s + VSCOcam

Bosna i Hercegovina

a 7 days long travel is not enough to know a country, but, like i’ve said, i did not know much about Bosnia and Herzegovina before, so this trip helped me building some grounds.

first of all, the country is a federal republic divided into two parts: the federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska. the population is composed by three ethnic groups: the bosniaks, or bosnian muslims, the bosnian serbs, and the bosnian croats. Bosnia and Herzegovina territory is inhabited mainly by bosniaks and bosnian croats, while the majority of the bosnian serbs live in the Republika Srpska. the three ethnic goups have three different faiths, too: bosniaks identify themselves as  muslim, croats as roman catholic and the serbs as orthodox.  the three major ethnic groups are equally represented by a three-member presidency, composed of a member of each group.

BiH map 

Sarajevo is the capital city and the heart of Bosnia, Mostar is the most important city of Herzegovina, as Banja Luka is of Republika Srpska.

while Bosnia and Herzegovina  write using the latin characters , in Republika Srpska the cyrillic alphabet are officially in use, so any road sign in the whole country indicates the double letterings.

on the road | iPhone 4s + VSCOcam

this country could be either the best example of positive integration or the worst, over complicated mess. it has played the latter role for a while, and now political tensions could be easily seen and heard everyday,  even by a tourist, so the problems that has been on the news during the nineties are far from over.  

in Neum, the only city of Bosnia and Herzegovina located on the coastline | iPhone 4s + VSCOcam

on the road

Blagaj Tekija,  nikon f-801 + fujicolor 200 | Jajce waterfalls, iPhone 4s + VSCOcam

our trip concerned just the Bosnia and Herzegovina regions, leaving the territory closer to Serbia for another time.

Herzegovina, the southern region,  is a hilly land, while Bosnia is higher and greener, and has  plenty of water.

the road condition are mostly fine for travelling by motorcycle, with lots of ups and downs.

however, both the gps and the map failed to show us an unpaved stretch of road and led us in the middle of a forest, showing that as the best itinerary. another time, we couldn’t take a path because of mine danger, not reported by the gps but carefully indicated by a road sign. 

on the road | iPhone 4s + VSCOcam

eat & drink

bosnian coffee |  nikon f-801 + fujicolor 200

Bosnia and Herzegovina is not the right place for a vegetarian. they love meat and put it in (almost) every meal, although there is something bosnian love even more: coffee. 

if you call it turkish coffee they’ll correct you. it is similar, but not the same. from what i understood, the main difference lies in  the process, but i really cannot say where. anyway, coffee powder is cooked in a copper pot called džezva, with water. the thick and bitter blend is served in a iron tray with a full džezva (a small one holds about three cups), cups, a plate with sugar cubes and glasses of water. i’ve been told that you cannot buy a coffee set with just one cup, because coffee has to be shared.

another part of the usual drinking ritual is rakija, a liqueur made from distilled fruit, usually grape or plum. it is served in a small glass with a long, narrow neck.

the Bosnian cuisine dishes i liked the most are cevapi, grilled spiced sausages  served with pita bread and yogurt, and burek: a long pastry roll, filled with meat (burek) or cheese (sirnica), or spinach and cheese (zeljanica), or potatoes (krompiruša) .

we also tasted a delicious cake called baklava, made with phillo dough, nuts and (lost of) honey.

handmade

i usually need to bring home with me an handmade piece. in the markets of Mostar and Sarajevo you can visit some small workshops where craftsmen are shaping copper in finely decorated  džezva, pots, bracelets, or enter in the multi colored world of the carpet dealers, or buy a patterned pair of wool slippers, called priglavaks.   

carpet patterns in a ottoman house, Mostar | iPhone 4s + VSCOcam