Day 17 – A free day in Sarajevo (Monday 29th April 2024)

Nothing organised for today so we’re free to wander around Sarajevo and discover its delights. A free day is too good an opportunity for weary travellers to slow down the pace a little so the day started with no alarm and a little sleep-in. Not a big one, mind you, as there is still plenty to see and do. Suffice to say that we were hurried out of the breakfast dining room at 10:00am by the staff, eager to close it up for the day.

Yugoslavia was a Federation of states that had some control over their own destiny. In a sense not dissimilar to Australia in that we too are a Federation of states that have self determination at some levels. However, the lion’s share of their GDP ended up in Serbia so clearly that was an untenable situation. Imagine if most of what Victorians produced ended up being mostly to the benefit of people who lived in New South Wales. So, a referendum was held in June of 1992 to get the people’s view on whether or not Bosnia and Herzegovina should seceded from the Yugoslav Federation. In that referendum 99.7% of the population said YES! In July, the result was recognised by the UN and a new government was formed.

However, Serbia and the Federal government did not accept the outcome so in July 1992 the Bosnia/Serbia war began. In Sarajevo, resident Bosnian Serbs with the support of the Serbian paramilitary groups and the Yugoslav army (JNA) barricaded the capital city and took up positions in the hills that encircle it. Sarajevo was under Siege. The people were trapped in their own city, unable to escape the constant bombardment from on high. Hundreds of bombs and rockets fell on Sarajevo every day for almost four years – the longest uninterrupted siege of a city in the history of mankind. Tens of thousands of people died, even more were wounded. The city was destroyed. The people were homeless and living in constant fear that a rocket may fall on their home at any time or that a sniper may randomly pick them off if they dared to go out to find food or water. Does any of this sound familiar? The siege finally ended with the signing of the Dayton Agreement and the threat of UN/NATO forces to attack the Serbian/JNA positions in the hills from the air.

All this we learned when we visited the Siege of Sarajevo museum in the morning. A small museum that tells the detailed stories of people who lived through the siege in their own words – children, mothers, fathers, taxi drivers, camera crews, medical people and many many others. All this horror happened less than thirty years ago. That was really bought home through the artefacts from our era that are on display – but none more so than the hand-grenade made from and empty Sprite can.

Just eight years earlier Sarajevo was in the global spotlight for a polar opposite reason when it hosted the 1984 Winter Olympic Games. This was the Games where Torvill and Dean danced their famous “Bolero” ice dance. It’s hard to reconcile the two events in the same city in one’s head.

Emily had urged us to visit the now abandoned bobsleigh track at the top of Mt. Trebević immediately above the city. So onto the cable car we jumped to climb to the top of the mountain, about 1000m above. The views of Sarajevo from the newly re-built cable car (2018) are simply stunning. On this perfect, warm sunny day one could clearly see all parts of Sarajevo and could see way off into the distant mountains. A stunning vista. Many people take the ride to the top to go hiking up there, ensuring they stick to the official pathways to avoid the many landmines that are still up there. Many more, like us, go up there to view the bobsled track. The track is 1300m long of which we walked probably half, I reckon - on the track itself, too. It’s now famously covered in graffiti which actually enhances its mystique. The track is surprisingly narrow with what seems to be barely enough room for a bobsled to get down, let alone at 100kph or more. At some places the gradient is a very steep 15 degrees – very steep!!. After about 750m we did an about face and headed back up the track. That was very hard work indeed, requiring quite a few stops along the way for a breather. A trip up Mt. Trebević for the view and the bobsled track walk is highly recommended and definitely worth the”price of admission”.

 

Back down on terra firma we retraced our steps from yesterday through the old town browsing in shops and enjoying a late lunch of Ćevapi – a Bosnian dish comprised of flat bread stuffed with spicy sausage and served with raw onion and yoghurt. Very tasty. I escorted Kerry back to the hotel where she did a little sewing while I ventured up to the “yellow fortress” to view the night-sky falling on Sarajevo. Just as the sun fell behind a nearby hilltop all the minarets in the city lit up and the call to prayer could be heard in all directions. As mentioned earlier, Bosnia is mostly a Muslim nation. With a very quick count I reckon I spied two dozen minarets across the city below – and that’s just the inner city.

 I waited until there was nothing more than a faint pink hue on the top of the distant mountain ranges and then made my way back down to the streets below and back to the hotel to pack for tomorrow’s journey to Montenegro.