This is gonna be a lengthy post, so please bear with me. 🙂 I spent too much time in Mostar so I’ve got a lot to tell. It was one of the places I wanted to visit last year but I ran out of time because I spent far too many days in Greece. I made it a point to visit this year. In fact, I planned my entire route so that I can pass by Mostar. Some people would say a single day is enough for this place. Some would even say you can just do day trips from elsewhere. Clearly these people haven’t done a lot of exploring in Mostar. Sure, you can do this if you just want to see the Old Town— but Mostar is not just the Old Town. Nor is it only about the Old Bridge. Once you’ve finished reading this post, you’ll see that Mostar and its surrounding areas have a lot to offer. There’s no way you can see and do everything in a single day.

From Dubrovnik, it should be easy to get there— at least that’s what i thought initially. There are several buses running daily from Dubrovnik to Mostar— there were three the day I left Dubrovnik, so catching a bus isn’t a problem. The trip will just take longer than expected. What should have been a three hour journey turned into a 5 hour bus ride.

Looking at the map, you’ll see that Dubrovnik is actually separated from most of Croatia since about 12 miles of Adriatic coastline belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The history is pretty convoluted— it started when Dubrovnik gave up land on their northern border to the Ottomans to keep the Venetians at bay. The Ottoman territory eventually became Bosnian territory, so when the former Yugoslavia split up, Bosnia and Herzegovina regained this short strip of coastline (The Neum Corridor). For some reason, the route from Dubrovnik to Mostar would pass through several borders. One would think there was a way to remain inside the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina after crossing the border from Croatia, but no. After exiting through the Croatian border and entering Bosnia, we had to exit Bosnia again after a couple of minutes and then we entered Croatia again. And then after 20 minutes or so we had to exit Croatia again and enter Bosnia for the second time. We had to have our passports checked 5 freaking times! This takes time because everyone had to get off the bus several times to personally have their passports checked every time we crossed the border. If we didn’t get off the bus, someone from the border control would board the bus and check our passports one by one. And remember that we were approaching the peak summer travel season so buses were piling up at each border crossing. We caught the 3 PM bus and we arrived in Mostar at past 8 in the evening. Here’s the part I don’t understand. When you use any map app to look for routes, there’s a way to get to Mostar without having to exit Bosnia and Herzegovina once you’ve crossed the border. I don’t understand why the public buses won’t just pass through those routes because it would save a lot of time. I’m not familiar with these parts. Maybe the roads aren’t paved. Maybe it’s not entirely safe. Maybe it would still take much longer, all things considered. I dunno. I asked several people about this, locals from both Croatia and Bosnia and no one could give me a logical answer.

The weather was pretty crappy when we arrived. It was raining and it was cold, which sucked because I didn’t bring cold weather clothes since this was supposed to be a summer trip. I brought a single sweater just in case— that’s it. The weather was so different from Dubrovnik where it was scorching hot. The terrain is surrounded by mountains and Mostar is located inland, I should have anticipated a huge difference in the weather. Good thing the hostel I chose was only a 5 minute walk away from the bus station. Everyone I’ve met who has been to Mostar has been highly recommending this hostel. It’s called Hostel Majdas and from the very minute we walked in I could see why. There was a bit of a commotion since the owner accidentally pressed her arm on a scalding surface a minute or two before we walked in, but one other staff member immediately entertained us and gave us some hot soup and bread while they attended to the more pressing concern. This was such a nice welcome, especially considering the weather! Hot soup was something we were craving for! Two guys from Australia then sat with us and oriented us about the house rules and told us about the town. Then they instructed us to make our personalized name tags to put on our beds. We can’t simply write our names, we had to make em stand out! It was funny, it’s like we were back in art class during kindergarten, using markers and crayons to make our name tags colorful and unique haha. We thought they worked at the hostel, but they were actually fellow guests! As soon as we checked in there was this one of a kind vibe. It’s like everyone is immediately friends with each other. And dare i say it, it kinda feels like everyone is family. It’s a hostel run by a closely knit family, and their warmth seemed to spill over to their guests. We were tired so we called it an early night. All the common areas were closed at 12 midnight anyway and since it was raining hard nobody went out. We didn’t miss anything.

When we woke up the weather was perfect! It was miraculously warm and sunny! So I decided to join the tour that they run daily (except on Sundays). They only have 9 spots for this tour, so I suggest signing up early if you only have a limited amount of time in Mostar. This tour will definitely be the highlight of your trip. It may seem pricey at 30 euros, but I’d say it’s worth it. The entire tour lasts for 12 hours on the average, and it doesn’t start early so it won’t be a problem for those people who have trouble waking up early— like me! lol.

The tour is run by Bata, the owner’s brother. You’d spend about an hour or two at the hostel common area just listening to his stories, and it’s heartbreaking. You see, Bata is a survivor from the war, and your heart will really sink as you hear his first hand accounts. I knew about the war even before I got here. I’ve been to Serbia after all, but the stories I’ve heard were mainly from the Serbians— i.e. the aggressors.  The Bosnians were the ones who felt the brunt of the war, so hearing their side of the story is ultimately more depressing. I literally had to continuously fight back tears as this man shared the darkest moments of his life. He has lost a lot, and it’s amazing how he was still capable of sitting there in front of us, telling his tale, a man beaten but not broken. We also got a lot of insights about the country’s past and present state. He shared how life was before the war, and how many people still believed that they were better off when Bosnia and Herzegovina was part of Yugoslavia. Hearing his stories, I could understand why. People may have different opinions on how their government used to run things, but one fact cannot be ignored. That government was able to provide a lot of people’s needs— things that the present government finds hard to provide. The country is still healing. The fact that there is a need for three separate presidents (each representing the Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats) clearly shows that it still has a long way to go before it achieves unity. This is still a country that is greatly divided. The people are still heavily segregated, and I believe this is one factor that delays its healing.  I also believe how the country is run isn’t really any of my business. While traveling I have learned that knowing the country’s history makes me appreciate the country’s current state and enables me to understand its people. Dwelling on a country’s present government though only hinders this appreciation and understanding. Because politics is often ugly. It’s best to dismiss all political noise temporarily so that one can see beauty, which isn’t always clearly visible.

With the way the tour started, I thought it was gonna be a really depressing day. But soon after he finished telling us all his war stories, he quickly changed gears. Gone was the depressed man in front of us, replaced by someone quite crazy hah. He started telling jokes, most of which i found funny. I have to say though, his jokes aren’t for everyone. I’ve heard some people commenting he came off as mean and insensitive. The trick is to not be onion skinned, after all he doesn’t mean what he says. He may make fun of you, you just have to learn to laugh it off. If you can do that then you’ll have no problems with the tour. Because everything else about it is excellent.

Riding inside his van was an experience in itself— because at times he drove like a madman. After about an hour, we reached our first destination— the Kravice Waterfalls. Since it was summer there were a lot of people swimming, but it never got overly crowded. So the plan was spending about 2 hours in the area, and we were gonna have a group lunch there as well. Lunch wasn’t included in the payment for the tour, but we didn’t spend much because we were able to share a cheap group meal, and what we got was a feast. While waiting for lunch we were free to do our own thing. Some swam. Some explored a bit. The water was freaking cold but you’d get used to it after a couple of minutes.We were told there were caves behind the waterfalls, and one girl in our group decided to check it out. I though that might be interesting so I joined her. We had to climb this huge rock to get there, which was easy enough. After a few minutes we decided to go back down. What happened next eventually altered my entire trip. Climbing down, for some reason i didn’t check where i was stepping on. Temporary stupidity— that’s what it was. Halfway down, the rock I was stepping on gave way and I fell feet first on the water. I was able to walk, there was no pain, so I figured nothing was broken. I swam for a bit before joining the rest of our group who were already on the lakefront. As soon as I was ashore, one girl exclaimed that I was bleeding. I looked at my foot and thought nonchalantly— oh yeah, I’m bleeding. I guess since the water was so cold it numbed my entire foot so I didn’t feel a thing. It’s probably just a minor cut, no biggie. I sat down and checked the wound. Oh f*ck. It was deep. It was bleeding profusely, And i could see the bone. Damn. I almost peeled the skin off one of my toes. I can’t just wrap it up and wait for it to heal. I had to get stitches. And this meant I was  gonna be stuck in Mostar for the next couple of days. My plan was to head to Sarajevo after 2-3 days so I can visit both Herzegovina (where Mostar is) and Bosnia (where Sarajevo is). Looks like I’ll only get to see Herzegovina.

Lots of folks gathered around me and this alerted the so called medics. They were just a couple of guys with first aid kits, and the minute they tried to dress my wound it was apparent that they had no idea what they were doing. I had to wrap the gauze myself to keep the wound from bleeding. Bata then showed up and told me he’ll bring me to the ambulance— apparently that means an emergency room/ emergency center in Herzegovina.  About twenty minutes later, we got there and the three doctors on duty examined my wound. They told me I was the second one who got injured at the falls that day, but the other guy’s condition was much worse because he broke his leg— I guess I was lucky? As expected, I needed stitches. They told me they had no anesthesia though— if i wanted one I’d need to buy some. Oh and they didn’t have tetanus shots either. Bata told me he’s going to the nearest pharmacy to buy some tetanus shots for me and i could just pay him later. About the anesthesia, i told him I wouldn’t need one. I mean, I’ve injected myself with vaccines. I’ve drawn my own blood several times. I play contact sports goddammit! What’s a couple of stitches?

Painful as f*ck, that’s what. The doctor told me I’d need only two stitches so I figured I could just bite down on something and bear with the pain. Turns out I needed five. Damn. So that’s what being stitched up feels like. Bata came back as soon as they were done and one of the doctors gave me the tetanus shot. I hated the fact that they didn’t give me any anesthesia— those tight stitches felt really weird. But they didn’t charge me a single cent, which was so awesome! I wasn’t too keen on contacting the insurance company for reimbursement. They saved me from all that hassle.

By the time we got back to the waterfalls everyone in our group had finished eating. I quickly gobbled down whatever’s left and we were off to the next destination. We were running two hours late because of me but everyone told me they didn’t mind. The next stop was a hillside town called Pocitelj. It offers spectacular views, it seemed as if the place popped out from a fairy tale book. There’s a citadel that offers a great view on top. I wasn’t able to climb all the way up though because of my foot. And those steps were a bit slippery, I didn’t want to risk another injury— at least not so soon!

The next stop was something special. All tours from Mostar would pretty much bring you to the same places, but this next stop is exclusive to Bata‘s tour. We went to a local grandmother’s house in Pocitelj. This grandma didn’t speak English, but she was so warm and welcoming. She served us coffee, tea, home made pastries, and fresh fruits. It was the first time I tried fresh figs and I loved it! She also made us try various syrups that she made. In between Bata told us stories about grandma and more stories about the country’s past. He then asked us if we’ve heard of  Medjugorje. I’m catholic (though non practicing lol) so I’ve heard about it. I wanted to ask him why it wasn’t included in his tour, since it’s included in the tours offered by other groups. He said it’s because there’s nothing to see there. It’s a religious tourist trap, plain and simple.  I sensed disdain and cynicism when he said that, and I wondered if it was because he’s Muslim. I did realize that he was right though. If you’ve never heard about Medjugorje, it’s supposed to be the site of multiple apparitions by the Blessed Virgin Mary. None of these apparitions have been proven though, in fact these apparitions aren’t even verified nor endorsed by the Vatican— at least not yet. It’s amazing how many Catholics do pilgrimages here even if the place has no canonical endorsement. For now, it’s nothing more than a blatant cash grab taking advantage of gullible religious folks. No offense meant, I’m just calling it like I see it.

We spent close to three hours at grandma’s house, and it was dark when we got out. We thought the tour was over, but no… there’s one more stop! We went to the town of Blagaj, and he took us to Vrelo Bune, the Buna River‘s water source. The water comes from a huge cavern beneath the cliff. Several people have tried to determine its depth, but none have been able to determine how deep it is exactly. Above this cavern there are caves with ancient markings— further proof of the county’s rich history. The water on the river is supposed to be sacred water, and a lot of people drink water from it when they visit. One of the guys in our group tried it, and no he didn’t get any diarrhea so I guess it’s really safe to drink lol. Across the river from where we were standing is the Blagaj Tekija, a Dervish Monastery. It was already closed when we got there. Religious services are still held there, but it’s also a museum of sorts so tourists are most welcome. Bata told us that the area is beautiful and if we had time we should go back on our own during the daytime. There’s also a fortress up the hill that offers great views.

Technically that wasn’t the last stop. We stopped by a pharmacy that was still open. The pharmacist didn’t speak English so Bata helped me buy the medications and medical supplies that I needed for cleaning my wound. It cost me about 50 Marks for everything (about 30 USD). I bought a lot of stuff so I expected to pay a whole lot more. Man, as if I needed any more reason to love this country hah. I saw genuine concern from Bata. He was totally hands on the entire day, making sure I was okay. I have no reason to believe he was doing it out of guilt just because it happened during his tour. I wanted to give him a tip but he refused. He said it was enough for him to know that I was okay. We got back past midnight. Thanks to me the entire tour lasted for 13 hours lol. A home cooked meal was waiting for us at the hostel. Everyone was tired, so we all went straight to bed after dinner.

The next day, word got around. Everyone knew what happened to me and the staff kept asking how I was. I told them I was fine, it was just a little hard to walk. I had to adjust how my foot stepped on the ground. It was awkward at first, but i eventually got used to it. I informed them I had to extend my stay. They had to make some adjustments because this hostel was almost always fully booked. The entire time I was there I know for a fact that other hostels barely had any guests checking in. It seemed like everyone wanted to stay at Majdas. I was thankful because it was going to be such a hassle to transfer to another hostel. Some people who were part of the tour were leaving, but four people would stay for another day or two. They were all planning to walk around Mostar to see the sights. If it’s only around town, I figured I could do that so I decided to join them. Mostar has a variety of sights. Some parts of the city were incredibly modern, some parts retained their historic character. Some parts were outright peculiar— there’s actually a statue of Bruce Lee in a park. I asked some locals about it. Apparently Bruce Lee is a unifying figure. The people of Bosnia and Herzegovina are still greatly divided. But since everyone likes Bruce Lee, he’s one person everyone could get behind on. Makes sense. Walking around town you’d come across several ruins, a number of abandoned buildings. Some buildings, including ones that are still being used, have a lot of bullet holes— bitter reminders of the war. One of these abandoned buildings is the so called “sniper tower”. It was an unfinished building that was supposed to be a bank. It was used by snipers as their base during the war, hence the name. Locals see it as a hazard, but for backpackers it’s known as one of Mostar’s attractions. We decided to check it out. It’s easy to get in from behind the building. Either climb up the wall or crawl underneath the metal gate. There are lots of shards of glass on the floor though, so you’d have to be careful where you step on. The place is full of interesting graffiti. We made our way to the roof top and we were rewarded with an amazing view of the city. We loved the place so much we decided to come back later that day to have dinner at the roof top and watch the sunset.

That afternoon, we went to the old town to check out Mostar’s main attraction— the old bridge. Walking around town, we didn’t see much people. When we went to the Sniper Tower we mostly had the entire building to ourselves. Apparently all tourists gather at the old town. It was crowded AF. I didn’t mind it though, it adds to its charm. All the structures were well preserved, it’s like stepping back in time. And even though the Old Bridge was reconstructed (the original was destroyed in the war), it still looks and feels like the original. There are professional divers jumping off the old bridge several times a day. They would wait for sufficient donations though before they jump— when I was there each diver was waiting to accumulate at least 25 euros before he jumped. Visitors can choose to jump too, but you have to pay 25 euros and you’ll be trained first by professionals by the riverbank. There’s a lower jump off point, only about 10 feet, where they would teach you the proper technique to avoid injury. Once you’ve made the jump, you’d get a certificate as a reward. I wish I could have such bragging rights, but I couldn’t get my foot wet for 2 days and I couldn’t swim for at least a week. Oh who am I kidding. Only way I’d do that jump is if I were drunk. lol.

I planned to just stay at the hostel the next day to allow my foot to heal. When I was cleaning my wound the previous night I noticed that my toe was swelling so I told myself I should take it easy and just stay put the next day. But my new friends were planning to follow Bata‘s suggestion and head back to Blagaj during the daytime. They were planning to take a bus, and I figured I could do that. But then they mentioned they were planning to hike up the hill as well to check out the fortress, so I backed out. But then everyone else was heading out. No one’s gonna be left at hostel. What would I do then? Try to take a nap and just stare at the ceiling if I can’t? I decided to join them. So this, ladies and gentlemen, was how I managed to re-injure my foot lol.

Getting to Blagaj was fairly easy. We just had to go to the Spanish Square and wait for the number 11 or number 12 bus by the bus stop across the Gimnazija Mostar. You can’t miss it, it’s the yellow orange building (see the photo above). A single journey bus ticket only costs 2.10 Marks, and you’ll reach Blagaj in 30-45 minutes. We had to figure out where to get off though. Most locals don’t speak English and the Map apps we were using weren’t really accurate since our actual destinations weren’t on the bus route. We just made a guesstimate and figured we should get off when the bus starts to veer off the route shown on the map app. Thankfully the bus driver understood “dervish” and knew where we wanted to go. It was only a 15 minute walk to the main gate from where we got off.

The first order of business was the hike. From the main gate to the Dervish Monastery/ Vrelo Bune, just turn left and walk straight. You’ll eventually see the start of the trail on the right (there’s a huge sign marking it). It’s an easy hike since there are lots of switchbacks, you barely notice the incline. If my foot wasn’t injured it would probably only take 30 minutes to reach the fortress on top. The path was really rocky and uneven though, so every time I made a step I often hit my wound on some rock and it hurt. The views from the top of the fortress were awesome though. One of my new friends brought a drone and he was able to take lots of awesome shots. The view was definitely worth the pain.

When we got down we decided to check out Vrelo Bune again. Bata was right, the place looks really different during the day time and it is beautiful. It feels kinda touristy though. There are lots of shops and restaurants by the riverbanks. There were lots of people, though it wasn’t as crowded as the old town. If you have time to spare in Mostar, I highly recommend doing a day trip here. We decided to skip the Dervish Monastery when we saw that they charged 4 Marks to enter. That’s not much, but it’s not really a place we were interested in.

Heading back was easier. When we exited the gate to the Dervish Monastery, we just walked to the nearest bus stop less than 5 minutes away. The bus goes all the way to Mostar, and we just got off at an area we were familiar with. We decided to do some shopping before heading back to the hostel. My foot felt weird though. I tried moving my toes, and I was horrified when I realized i couldn’t raise em. My toes were stuck to my shoe… and the only way my toes could get stuck was if my wound bled again. Dried blood was like glue sticking my toes to my shoe. Jesus, I would literally die if I had to go back to the hospital to get stitches again. When we got back to the hostel I immediately poured water on my shoe. Eventually, I managed to take off my shoe and sock. I examined my wound. It bled all right, there were blood stains on my shoe and sock, but it seemed to have stopped bleeding. The sutures were noticeably loose and the wound had opened up a bit, but I would survive. I just had to clean it and wrap it up tight. Thankfully, it didn’t seem like I needed to have it re-sutured.

The next day I finally got to rest my foot. Three of my new friends left, and it seems I’ve seen everything there is to see in town so there was no reason to roam around. I did go out at night for a couple of drinks. The place to be in Mostar seems to be the Black Dog Pub. It’s a really chill place and it’s always full. There’s a live band each night, and they do open mics on some nights. It closes at 12 midnight though. This is the reason why i initially thought there was no place to party in Mostar: the place to be in town closes at midnight. But when we managed to make friends with locals and some travelers working at other hostels, they showed us other places. Yeah there are clubs in Mostar, some are even inside the old town! And yeah those places remain open as long as there are people around. One night we were partying past 3 AM.

I liked just hanging out at the hostel doing nothing. I got to know the rest of the staff well, and I had long meaningful talks with the owner. Remember that night we checked in, when we were oriented by fellow guests? Eventually I became one of those who took over that role, apparently that’s what long termers do. This is a common occurrence because lots of people decide to stay at Hostel Majdas indefinitely. At first you’d wonder why. The place has a curfew and they’re strict about it. It doesn’t seem like a place for the typical backpacker looking to party. Also, a couple of days would be enough to see the attractions in Mostar and nearby areas. You’d wonder why lots of people stay for at least a week. After spending a couple of days in the hostel, the answer becomes clear. Mostar is a really chill place in general. Everything is also very cheap, so it’s easy to stay indefinitely. This specific hostel is special though because it feels like home. The staff feels like family. This became even more apparent when I got injured. They really took care of me. Since I had to keep extending my stay until my foot was healed, Majda told me I could stay for free if I’m already spending too much money. When I was just hanging out at the hostel they kept offering food. They kept asking how I was, they were always making sure I was okay. And they didn’t expect anything in return. And I’m sure it’s not just because I got injured since they treated everyone the same. I had to leave eventually since I was meeting up with friends in Split. When that day arrived I found it so hard to leave. I would have stayed for sure if i wasn’t meeting friends. Before I left, Majda gave me a memento. It’s a small wire sculpture of a bicycle with the word “Mostar“. I asked her why. She told me she had to give me something from Mostar so that I would never forget them. Even without a memento, how could I ever forget this place? How could I ever forget them? Even though I’ve seen everything the town has to offer, I’m still itching to go back. Because in Mostar I’ve found a second family, and one always comes back to family. 🙂