DATELINE: Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author: Andy

Although Montenegro and Bosnia share a land border and a handful of direct crossings, we somehow found a way to pass through no fewer than five passport checkpoints on our seven-hour trip up here from Budva. To wit: (1) Exit Montenegro, (2) Enter Croatia, (3) Exit Croatia (at the Bosnian town of Neum), (4) Re-enter Croatia just after Neum, (5) Enter Bosnia and Herzegovina. At numbers 3 and 5, the border guards just boarded the bus and looked at everyone's passport and gave it right back. At number 4, the guards just got in the bus, rode it for a little while and then got off in some town without checking anything. Also, at some random town just after the Bosnian border, they had us climb out of the bus and switch to a whole other bus for no apparent reason. We met a nice girl from Vancouver along the way and I attempted to explain the Bosnian War from memory. In particular I struggled with remembering the extent to which the Bosniaks and Croats teamed up against the Serbs, but all that means is I need to go back through Lonely Planet one more time. We've been in Mostar now for about an hour and already we've seen some stark reminders of the conflict. Several buildings still have bullet holes in them and there were several massive recent-looking cemeteries along the road into town.