The bus departs at 8 am and it was a 4 hours journey, crossing 3 times the Croatia-Bosnia Herzegovina borders ( atleast they only check the passport not our luggage, it would be a hastle to do it 3 times). In the travel forum, it was suggested that we seat on the driver side so that we can see the great scenary. Only after a while I remembered that we were seating on the wrong side of the bussince we are in Europe~
Around 12pm we arrived in Mostar. It was nice that the bus station and the train station is next to each other. If you did not book any accomodation, it won't be hard to find a place to stay as the locals would wait at the bus station with signs "Room €10". They would also help with direction to your hostel without having to ask. We went to check the train to Sarajevo for the next day ( there's only twice daily train for Mostar-Sarajevo : 7.55am & 6.30-ish pm).
Our hostel is only 5 minutes from the stations and rougly 10 minutes walk to the old town where the old bridge is located:
Property Name: Hostel Miran
Address: Lazetica 13, Mostar, 88000, Bosnia-Herzegovina
The owner is friendly. He also run a tour for €20 pp if any of the guest is interested.
Our arrival was welcomed by the calling for prayer from the nearby mosques. Our 1st stop was the Koski Mehmes-Pasha's Mosque. We planned to follow the Jemaah prayer there but only to find out that the mosque has been turn into a museum. They only perform the Friday prayer there. But Muslims are allowed to pray the ( we performed our jama' there after the having a chat with the caretaker).
Note : entry is 4,00mark or €2 pp. There's also a donation bucket inside the mosque if you want to donate toward the restoration and maintanance of the mosque.
He told us his experiences during the war time. He said that about 10% of the Muslim population was lost due to the war. The city was severly destroyed during the war. Some of the building has not been rebuilt while some is still full of bullet holes. I can't really re-tell the story but if you visit the mosque, have a chat with Anil
The old bridge is just a few minutes away
There's a memorial museum next to it that showed how the bridge was destroyed by rockets.
If you are in luck, you can watch the local collecting money and in return, they'll jump off the old bridge.
In just a few hour we covered the main attractions (if you went for the 3 hour tour from out hostel owner, he'll bring you to the bunker and other war memorial).
We even tried the Bosnian's meat pie
The city has become on of the main tourist spot in Europe but Mostar rely heavily on tourism. To my friends, if you have the chance, visit here, we can help boost their economy. The city is still recovering from the aftermath of the Yugoslavian's war.
Note : A short trip or transit to Mostar would be enough. Is you arrived here at noon from Dubrovnik, you can catch the 6.30-ish pm train to Sarajevo.
This video recap our 2nd day in Mostar
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