An Independence Day Roadtrip

Yesterday was Bosnian Independence Day and YES Abroad celebrated by taking another road trip. I was a very busy day so I'll just give you the stop by stop rundown.

Stop #1: Trebinje (pronounced Treb-in-ye)

After a long car ride through the incredibly scenic Čemerno mountain pass (it was gorgeous, I'm talking purple mountains majesty) we arrived in the southern city of Trebinje. Trebinje is tucked into a valley with the River Trebišnjica running through it. We got out of the van and walked along the river and into Old Town. Stari Grad (Old Town) Trebinje is very different than Stari Grad Sarajevo; for starters, there are Serbian flags everywhere and all the signs are written in the Cyrillic alphabet, but also there were palm trees everywhere despite the need for my winter coat.

Stop #2: Stolac (Stol-ats)

 After Trebinje, we headed to Stolac, a town  listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Stolac is one of the oldest settlements in the country. The town with its modern name, Stolacs, was first mentioned in the early15th century It’s a gorgeous little town, but much like Trebinje there was a serious lack of Bosnian flags even though it was Independence Day. Instead most shops and houses sported the Croatian flag because many in the town identify as Croats.

We walked along the River Bregava and noticed an old fortress perched on a hill above the city. Our coordinator told us that it was a very old fortress, but it was under construction at the time and we may not be permitted to go in. We took a chance and hiked up to it. Fortunately there were no construction crews and we were allowed to explore!I know I say this about every fortress and castle we’ve visited this year, but this fortress was one of the coolest I have ever seen! Pictures don’t quite do it justice.  After running around the like little kids on a playground for a bit we all headed back to the van and onto the next destination.

Stop #2.5: Stećci (Stech-tsi)

About 3km outside of Stolac there is a small area on the side of the road with these ancient tombstones called Stećci scattered about. Stećci ,or in the singular form stećak (stech-ak), tombstones date back to the 15^th or 16^th century during the medieval Bosnian Kingdom. These tombstones are all over Bosnia (they’re even in Sarajevo) and some parts of Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro. They were really interesting so we got out of the car to take photos.

Stop #3: Mostar (You got this)

As you may have read in an older blog post, I’ve already been to Mostar, but it was just as fun the second time around. The first time we went it was in September and tourist season was still very much alive and well which meant that Stari Grad in Mostar was PACKED. This time though, the city was empty and we really got to fully appreciate the Stari Most (Old Bridge). After some dinner, some coffee, and plenty of photos we headed home for the night.

Happy Independence Day Bosnia!