The bus journey was a breeze. I was sitting right at the front. Buying your ticket three days in advance has it's advantages. My neighbour was a traveller from South Korea. He was a funny guy, he's 'doing' Europe in a month . But he only really stays in places for an afternoon. He's taken about 10,000 photos and looked totally exhausted. We did have a great chat about Islamic design...he had a day in Morocco and we had a laugh about North Korea. He said there is no way that South Korea will be bombed there are just too many non-Korean people living there that would be killed and The Great Leader isn't up for the retaliation he would have to endure.
We went through three different border checks but were able to stay on the bus.It was all very smooth. One thing I noticed at the border is how the Cyrillic spelling of towns on signs have been spray painted out. Croatian Bosnians want nothing to do with Eastern spellings of their citites. I also noticed burnt Croatian flags hanging on wires over the road...umm, interesting!
Bosnia seems to be bi-alphabet in European and Cyrillic spelling of things.Words and pronunciation seem to be the same from what I can gather.
I've had problems with Hostelworld, the Internet site I book accommodation with. For this hostel I didn't get an acknowledgement email. To be honest I wasn't sure the booking had gone through. So I couldn't email or call them for a transfer from the bus station because the details are sent via Hostelworld and the hostel's phone number is not revealed on the Internet. Hence I had to walk with all my bags through the midday 40 degree heat for about half an hour. There were no taxis in sight! Jesus, Keith and Sylvia from Australia would be proud of me. My mantra was...one foot in front of the other. When I arrived Radjenka and Nina were in shock..hence the reason why I got this bloody amazing room to recover in I think.
Not bad for less than 8 quid.
Prayer niche inside the mosque. I can't get the damn photos to turn clockwise on this computer.
It's annoying but just get a cricked neck.
This one is great and was taken from the top of the minaret ...the tower coming out of my left ear in the above photo. Yes, I climbed a tower and the lights went out...slight trauma but all worth it in the end. It was only 89 steps. Im a Dubrovnik pro now!
This afternoon I have been to the left, right, behind,infront of, under and on the Old Bridge. I have been in the most beautiful book shops, bought bracelets and a bowl. Watched a harrowing video on the history of the city. been in one of the oldest mosques and up the minaret. Met an interesting Japanese guy up the minaret. We stood up there chatting for a while marvelling at the view. He had been to Jerusalem too and loved it. We chatted about Israel and Jordan. He's on a World trip, but being taken at a more leisurely pace. I've eaten a veal kebab for lunch and river trout by the bridge in the evening. It's getting dark now so I decided to come back. My feet are still ruined and the cobbles of the old town really hurt my blisters...even with the granny sandals.
Tomorrow I'm on a day trip around the area and until 5.30pm and then am catching the train to Sarajevo at 6.30pm. Radjenka says she will take me to the station and that the office only opens half an hour before the train leaves. It will be about 3 hours and then I have to find my next hostel. *Different website this time and no pick up organised!! So no blog tomorrow I think. What an adventure. Night.
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