Bosnia's star city, Mostar

Travelling by bus from Dubrovnik, Croatia, to Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina is an interesting experience. Dubrovnik is a small landlocked isthmus and is connected with the rest of the country through the Neum corridor. There are multiple immigration security checks en route and the border control personnel get on the bus to stamp passports. Therefore, by the time you have crossed all the border posts, you’ve acquired at least half a dozen stamps on your travel document making it appear you’re extremely well-travelled.

Entering into Bosnia you witness a number of mosques and churches, and Christian and Muslim cemeteries along the roadside. You almost get a sense that one side of the road is inhabited by Muslims and the other by Christians. As we got off at the main bus stop in Mostar, our host, Senel, was at hand to receive us. Senel had fled to Germany during the war and returned to Mostar only because he loves the city and knows everyone here he says. Another Bosnian I met, however, did not share the same sentiment. Arman, Senel’s cousin, whose taxi we hired for a day trip around Mostar, spoke of German officials threatening forced eviction if they and other Bosnian refugees did not leave after the end of war.





Despite stark reminders of the war, such as the pockmarked walls, the city has healed fast and is on the road to recovery. Bosnia is not a part of the European Union but food prices and rent here are lower than neighbouring Croatia. Incidentally, Pakistani peacekeepers played a prominent role in restoring peace in Bosnia and Kosovo.

Mostar has an old war charm about it and a distinct Ottoman heritage. It is also known as the place where east meets west. Its famous landmark is Stari Most, literally the Old Bridge, over river Neretva. It connects the two parts of the city. Constructed on the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent in 1566, the bridge was designed by Mimar (meaning engineer) Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the famous architect Mimar Sinan. The Old Bridge is an exemplary piece of Islamic architecture in the Balkans which was destroyed in 1993 by Croat forces during the Croat–Bosniak War. After the war it was rebuilt with help from UNICEF and was reopened on July 23, 2004, in all its old splendour.





Located next to the bridge is a divers’ club, where daredevils change before jumping off the bridge into the cold waters below. A short walk away from it is another famous bridge known as the Crooked Bridge.

The city’s unique appeal is its quaint restaurants, some of which are located just next to the ancient river. A meal in these cafes, serving large portions of trout and kebabs, is a memorable affair, especially because of the enchanting scent of lavender wafting through them.

There are a number of mosques in the old city, but attendance is thin. Many of the minarets bear green flags with the Islamic symbol of a half-moon and a star, which bore a lot of resemblance to the flag of Pakistan. The flag is, however, not the official coat of arms of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. I saw similar fags in other places with a Muslim majority.



On our day-drip here we also visited Tekia in Blagaj, a Sufi lodge, and the old fort in Pocitelj. Nestled in the foothills of mountains, Tekia is a place where Sufi saints of different principle (tarika) conduct dhikr rituals, systematically chanting “Allah Ho”. Pocitelj, located on the left bank of the river Neretva, is a fortified town steeped in history. In the middle ages it was the administrative centre and centre of governance. Business, however, is slow here and salesmen and women sit outside on an exceedingly hot day to sell their ware.

Our final destination in Mostar was the magnificent waterfalls at Kravica which neatly rounded off our day trip. There are about a dozen cataracts here falling down a steep precipice, but none as high as the Niagara Falls, and easily accessible for all who want to beat the heat. Lots of tourists who visit the waterfall take a dip in its extremely cold waters, while others sunbather or enjoy a beer in the shade. Despite the large crowd, the waters were not muddied and there was no litter around the place.

Even though we were in Mostar for only a day, they city is hard to forget. It underwent a long siege, but today, twenty years after the genocide, they seem to have recovered from the trauma and are fast returning to normality.