We arrived at 5am at the bus station in Sarajevo after an exhausting no sleep bus ride from Split, Croatia. We did not know where we were staying and at 5am nothing in Sarajevo is open. So we did what any good traveler does in this stituation, we wandered towards the city center. Oh it was also pretty cold because Sarajevo is in the mountains. We made it to a hostel office and met a nice Bosian guy who had to problems telling us about the war int he 1990s. A very complicatd thing and he compared it to the current Russian/Georgian conflict. Again the tensions between the Blakan states still exists and I could see easily come to the surface.
We made to the hostel for our 24 hours in Sarajevo, took a four hour nap then got up to tour the city. There is a very noticeable ethnic and religious mix found in very few places in the world and it seems to work and has for hundreds of years even with the war and seige of Sarajevo in the 1990s. There are also very stark reminders all around the city with bullet holes in buildings and grenade holes in the sidewalks. It is quite hard to imagine living in a city under seige for four years and the visible symbols left over even 15 years later.
The people were friendly and even seem to make you forget there was a war just a short time ago but the physical reminders always bring you back. We both agreed the city was worth a return visit in the future. I also heard my first call to prayer in Sarajevo at 5am. Hard to describe in words except to say I hope everyone has a chance to hear the call to prayer at 5am as the sun begins to rise. I also ate too much food for dinner that night and felt like I had the flu all day. I think the lack of sleep and travel was finally taking its toll on both of us. But enough of that, off to Romania via Belgrade, Serbia.
