Day-3 May 18

Sarajevo(Bosnia & Herzegovina) to Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

As we wake up, the first thing that fires up our spirits is to see a bright sunny day ahead of us. Seems we were the only guests in the hotel last night and our host Mr. Fakreddin served us a warm breakfast. One of his friends also joined in soon and we chatted a lot of things with combination of broken English and sign language. On such biking trips one of the best things when staying at such local B&Bs is the chance to interact with people and hear their stories and give them some of our own tales, which all makes the whole experience so much more enriching.

Thereafter, we ventured out on foot exploring the old town of Sarajevo with its cobbled streets, mosques & oriental style shops and avenues where historic monuments and modern structures seem to blend in seamlessly. The place is steeped in history and you can spend hours on end walking along cobblestone alleys and narrow streets filled with culture & heritage from a bygone era.

There is great religious diversity as you can be walking by a church & a synagogue and hear the Islamic call to prayer at the same time. We visit the Bascarsija Square, Sebilj Wooden & Stone fountain, Town hall, Husrev-beys mosque- a pearl of Ottoman architecture, the historic Latin bridge-which was the site of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914 that sparked off World War-I and a few other attractions. Well this country has had a tortured past with wars and destruction and its evident from many damaged and bullet ridden buildings that stand as a testament of its chequered past...

On a side note Mrs Adventure was however not too amused with the large number of big intimated looking stray dogs all around town, most of them minding their own business ofcourse!! After an early lunch of yummy Bosnian  Cevapcici, and Cutlet chops, we get back to the B&B, pack up and we rode out to our next destination in Bosnia, which is the historic town of Mostar.

Although the ride was not too long the whole route was pure motorcycling bliss with very curvy roads and all around fabulous scenery. Nothing compares to riding next to a wonderful & twisty blue stream and the other side flanked by jagged edge mountains.

Arriving early evening into Mostar, we round off the evening visiting the world famous Unesco Heritage site Stari Most bridge, which was originally built by the Turks in 1566.  It was heavily damaged during the Baltic war in the early 1990s and was subsequently rebuilt and restored. After taking in the views and the customary photographs, we then settled at a nearby restaurant for a traditional Herzegovinian dinner.

Subsequently, we point our GPS to Pansion Villa Nadine, our rest stop for the day which is located just on the outskirts of the town. They have a steep downward driveway into their parking which was a little intimidating especially on a fully loaded bike. We are welcomed by the fantastic hosts and we soon unload, unwind and settle down.

Tomorrow we leave Bosnia and head into another country- Montenegro