World Tour Stop 29 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dubrovnik is a perfect launching place for a few Balkan countries including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and perhaps even Albania. We decided to rent a car and drive through Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was an intense drive! The route we took from Dubrovnik took us through the mountains and down roads that were supposed to be two lane but were definitely not wide enough.

We crossed the border at a tiny crossing that was barely marked and we were seemingly the only car on the road. The crossing officers were so nice and even joked with Bri in the back seat because she was staring one of them down to make sure she got her crossing stamp (she did, with plenty of ink).

Our first stop would be to visit the Vjetrenica Cave (translates to mean "wind cave" and it really was. The first 500 meters were like being in a wind turbine with cold wind whipping past you the whole way.) It was really warm outside so we had all worn shorts and short sleeves for the day so we were pretty cold inside the cave. With that said, the guide offered us windbreakers and we were required to wear helmets that would protect us in the event of knocking our heads on the cave ceiling.

We obviously looked adorable. The cave has over 7 km of paths that are well traveled and some believe that it goes all the way through Croatia to the Adriatic (20km to the coast). It also has hundreds of species living in its depths; one of which we were able to meet was a human fish or a European salamander. We walked about 1.2km in and were able to explore on our own and take pictures. It was an inexpensive and fun stop that I would recommend.

From here we continued on to Mostar. Mostar is the home of the Stari Most - a bridge that links the two halves of the city and stood for hundreds of years before war with the Croats brought it down. It was restored a decade ago and it is beautiful. There is an annual diving competition from the top as well as locals that will jump off if being paid by tourists. It is about 70-80 ft high depending on water levels and the water below is freezing, so if you want to attempt the jump you have to go through a few training jumps first. Also, Mostar is a beautiful city that houses all three monotheistic religions with churches, mosques and temples right in the main square.

We ate lunch right next to the bridge and had the Bosnian dish of cevapi which is a minced meat that is mixed with garlic and onions and put in a pita. It was a lot of meat, but delicious. And of course we paired it with big house beers.

Then we went down beneath the bridge and stuck our feet in the really cold water. My feet went numb after a couple of minutes and it was actually super refreshing. Plus, the water was so clean and clear.

After our lunch and visit in Mostar we headed to the Kravice waterfalls which are west back towards Croatia. The falls are tens of giant waterfalls pouring into a great green lake. The water was really cold (especially after swimming in the warm and salty Adriatic for the last few days) but we still waded in to say we experienced it.

We had one less beer while enjoying this little slice of nature and then headed back to Dubrovnik for the night. The way home was scenic as we took the coastal route and enjoyed the water and Croatian islands off to our west. The other really interesting thing about these two nations is that Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina made a deal to give roughly 8km of coast through the middle of Croatia which means if you want to drive the coastline from Dubrovnik up to Split, Croatia you have to cross into Bosnia and then back out. This border is significantly more traveled with much longer lines and Croatia is in the process of building an off coast bridge to allow commuters to avoid the stop going forward. Just something to think about if you plan on traveling the coast by car before the bridge project is completed.

This was a really fun day trip and a great way to see a little bit of another Balkan country. Back off to Croatia for the next couple of days!