Overland Journal Day 11-16: Bosnia and Herzegovina & Montenegro

We drove 3240 kilometers in total. After Croatia, we made our way to Sarajevo. What a beautiful and impressive city. I mistakenly assumed that I would see mostly concrete Soviet apartment buildings. How I was wrong. Instead, we walked through narrow alleys in the historic, Ottomon city center. We learned a lot about the war in the ‘90s and the divisions that still exist in the country. Our next stop was Montenegro. We drove the winding mountain roads of the breathtaking Durmitor National Park, visited the holy Ostrog Monastery and enjoyed a boat ride on Skadar lake.

Bosnia and Herzegovina: Mostar and Sarajevo

Although we could easily have stayed a few more days in the photogenic town of Dubrovnik, we decided to travel onwards to Sarajevo. An unknown destination for us both. We wanted to learn more about the war in the ‘90s that left its marks on the society today. We also knew surprisingly little about Bosnia and Herzegovina as a country. So it was definitely time to change that.

We crossed the border near the town of Neum. Fun fact: this is the only town on Bosnia’s 25 kilometers of coastline. It was the first border on our expedition that was not an open border, as we were leaving the European Union. It didn’t feel that way, however, as the customs officer barely even glanced at our passports. All in all, the border crossing took no more than a minute.

On the way to Sarajevo, we visited the town of Mostar, where you find one of the most famous bridges in Europe. The original bridge collapsed during the war, dividing the local population into two camps that lived on opposite sides of the bridge. Since then, the bridge has been rebuilt and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In the city center of Sarajevo, our next stop, we rented a small apartment for 30 euros a night. We read that parking could be a challenge, but luckily our car fit precisely in the apartment’s garage. And in the basement we had a private gym, guarded by the owner’s pit bull whose fierce gaze would follow our every move. For the first time during the trip we could exercise properly again, yay!

To familiarize ourselves with the city, we did a walking tour with Meet Bosnia, the city’s best-known tour operator. To our surprise, the center consisted of small, Ottoman alleys with bazaars, mosques and bakeries where they sold baklava and all sorts of sweets. These were not the grim, concrete Soviet flats with bullet holes that I was naively expecting. This was a lively, historic center! Hopefully you will forgive me my ignorance, but this was a huge unexpected surprise for me.

But, as we would see the following day on a guided tour about the siege of Sarajevo, you also have the grim, concrete Soviet flats with bullet holes. Our timing was extraordinary: it was exactly 32 years since the siege of Sarajevo began. The siege lasted a total of 4 years, making it one of the longest sieges of a city in modern history. The horror of the daily life of people in the city during the war quickly became apparent. The people of Sarajevo had nowhere to go for years, as the hills surrounding the city were occupied by Serbs with heavy artillery and snipers.

We drove along an endless path of empty shoes, symbolizing the more than 11,500 victims in the city alone. Among other places, the tour took us to the infamous “sniper alley”, a road where more than a thousand residents (including more than 200 children) were shot by snipers. We drove past a busy market, where there have been several bombings. We walked through the narrow tunnel below the airport, that the people of Sarajevo and the Bosnian army dug towards each other to supply the city. It was very impressive. What struck me most, was that all of this ‘history’ wasn’t even that long ago. People that were the same age as us, or older, went through all of it. And it is far from forgiven and forgotten.

The country is still very much divided, which isn’t strange. Especially if you know how the war “ended”. I realized that the peace treaty was merely a cease-fire, rather than peace as we know it in the Netherlands. Our guide, a Bosniak living in Sarajevo, became visibly tense as we drove into Serb territory, also known as Republika Srprska. There were Serbian flags everywhere, and we even saw a memorial of Ratko Mladić, the commander-in-chief of Bosnian Serb forces during the war. Nicknamed as “The Butcher of Srebrenica,” he was sentenced to life in prison for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. A man still considered a hero by some people.

I asked our guide, “So what is it like for you, being here?” He told me that he indeed did not like to be in Serb territory He said: “I always make sure that I take my valuables out of my car when I have to park here. And my money, as well. That way, if they shoot me at least I won’t leave anything valuable for them to finance them.” To us perhaps unimaginable, to many people in Bosnia part of their daily lives. It made me realize once again how lucky we are to be born in the Netherlands and how privileged we are in this world. With the words of our guide still in our minds, we drove to the border with Montenegro after three impressive days.

Montenegro: Durmitor National Park, Ostrog Monastery and Skadar Lake

Our plan was to drive the “Durmitor loop”, a road through the mountains of Durmitor National Park of approximately 80 kilometers. Along the way there was a spot for wild camping, which we were looking forward to after spending several days in the city. We made our way to the top of the mountains via winding roads with sharp U-turns. The green, barren meadows gently gave way to thick snow, next to and ón the road. The first few snow-covered roads were fine, but slowly it brought us to halt.

Out of nowhere, a car appeared in the distance and indicated that we had to stop. It was the first car we had seen in hours. Naturally, we stopped. The driver told us there was too much snow on the road further on to continue. With a glance at our car, he added that “we might get through, though.” We drove on, but unfortunately in vain. Our car become more of a snowplow than an actual car. The wheels kept turning and the snow kept accumulating in front of the car. At one point, we were just stuck and didn’t move forward anymore. Too bad, we had to turn around as well. Although it was not a bad place to end our journey: the panoramic views of the high plains, glaciers and snow were breathtakingly beautiful. For me, it was the highlight of the trip so far.

We were in a bit of a hurry as it was 6:30 PM already. The sun was about to set and wild camping is prohibited in Montenegro (except for the spot that we were driving to, but couldn’t reach). We drove back along the winding roads to the first village. According to our offline navigation, there should be a guesthouse. Fingers crossed that they would be open. And they were indeed: for 10 euros we could pitch our tent in their garden and use their facilities, including a hot shower. They also had a restaurant with delicious food and cold beers. I was quickly convinced. During sunset, we pitched our tent – again, it only took us 2 minutes – and the rest of the evening we sat by the wood stove with cold beer. Wild camping for not-so-diehards.

In the morning I woke up 5 minutes before the start of the Formula 1 race. I woke Marcel, we ran to the restaurant with WiFi and witnessed yet another win for Max. I did not expect at all that we would be able to watch a Formula 1 race live in the mountains.

The rest of the day we slalomed along the park’s beautiful roads, deep gorges, clear mountain lakes and green forests. To get some mileage in too, we drove on to Montenegro’s southern border, arriving at Skadar lake after dark. Along the way, we visited the Ostrog Monastery, a rock-cut monastery and one of the holiest sites for Orthodox Catholics in the country. People were praying, kissing the walls and bowing before a buried holy man. While monks were chanting in the background, we walked past the ancient mosaics and frescoes that decorated the walls.

We ended our time in Montenegro with a boat ride on Skadar lake. In summer time the water is covered by thousands of water lilies. Although the water lilies had yet to bloom, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. It was about 25 degrees (10 degrees warmer than usual in April, according to the locals) and the sun was shining. Our summer had started. And according to the weather forecast, it would continue for a while with temperatures of at least 23 degrees on the Albanian Riviera. Our next destination.

What I like so far is that we really live in the moment. We make a plan for the day in the morning, sometimes for the day after and in exceptional cases for the day after that. Very different to our lives in the Netherlands where the days are packed, work appointments pile up on even more work appointments and where we just seem to have so little time. While sitting on the beach, looking at the calm sea and the horizon, that life seems crazy to me. Experiencing what it is like to have time – actual time – is very special. I can’t imagine getting used to that fast life again. Although you probably will be used to it after just two weeks when you’re back in the Netherlands. Oh well, I don’t need to bother myself with these thoughts right now. We still have a long expedition ahead.

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