Day 17 - Signs of Destruction

Am in Mostar, Bosnia at the moment and it's the most devastated city from the war in all of Bosnia. As you walk around every second building has been bombed or shot out, bullet holes still very much visible. The most famous structure here is the Old Bridge (Mos = old, star = bridge). It was built around 500 years ago, but it was destroyed during the war in 1993. It was rebuilt a year after as a symbol of peace, bridging the Turkish influenced east and Croat/Serb west. Before the war mixed marriages was very common. My guide has a Muslim mother and a Croat (Catholic) father. But the war has separated the community and even the official end of the war couldn't stop sniper fire. Today there are much tourists coming back to Mostar, a much needed source of income for the former Yugoslav state.

Out of this depressing town I need have a little encounter that bought a smile to my face. As I wrote my postcard by the bridge, about six precocious 8 year old boys hung around, and started to read the postcard out loud, to show me they understood English. So I spoke to them and introduced myself and we all shook hands. They were all giggling and laughing and all trying to speak to me at the same time. They were on a school excursion from a small town near by. They were having a great day that day, eating icecream and mucking around. They were very sweet and I'm glad they chatted to me.


L: Shelled out buildings; R: Holes in walls still sandbagged.


New "Old Bridge"