Budva...

Ok to be honest I didn't do a whole lot in Budva. I drank cocktails and beers, wandered the promenade markets, sat in beach bars, swam, and read a lot while sitting on the roof top terrace or the air conditioned room in my hostel. It was near 40 degrees and had to have been at least 70% humidity so needless to say I was a sweaty mess a good portion of my time in Budva. Staying in the hostel seemed to be the best choice for staying cool and dry. I managed to make some new friends from Vancouver and New Zealand. We all got on well so it made for a good time. The two gals from Vancouver and I went on a shopping and Chinese food mission one day. We had a good time but our Chinese food was questionable at best. We concluded that Montenegrins do not make very good Chinese food.

One day several of us from the hostel went on a boat tour offered by Saki, the hostel owner. We had a good time, saw some beautiful sights and were able to swim in the pristine waters. We also got to go to the island across from Budvas main beach. It appears it was called "Hawaii" which I thought was slightly random. I quite enjoyed our little boat trip. To be honest, I am perfectly happy on any boat at any time though. I guess its the island girl in me.

A highlight of my stay in Budva was PARASAILING! Melissa, one of the gals from Vancouver, and I went double parasailing and it was such a great experience. I have always loved being up high and looking down on the world but this was unlike anything Ive ever done. With my feet dangling in mid air and nothing but open space and the ocean 400m below me I was able to capture some decent shots of Budva from above. I have always loved flying and being in planes but this was an all new way of flying! It has me really keen to try paragliding and hang gliding now too!

Budva was such a fun place to party in. With all the beach bars spread along the beach during the day and the open air beach clubs lining the main promenade in the evening there is no lack of entertainment. I hear the night life in the old city center was more subdued but just as fun also. Plus, there is a club, appropriately called Top Hill, on the top of the hill above Budva. It is a massive open air nightclub with live DJs, fire dancers and trapeze artists on stage. Now, what do you reckon we paid to get into such a place? Maybe the equivalent of 20$? Possibly more? Nope, it was 5 Euro. Which is approximately $7 CAD. Gotta love the balkans!

 As much as I hate long bus journeys, sometimes its a chance to see thigns I never would have seen otherwise. The drive through the mountains from Bosnia back into Montenegro was absolutely stunning!

Crystal clear, perfectly calm, turquoise water. Perfect.

 My fellow Brit. Columbians!

 The beach bar!

Foam party!

 Mel and I getting ready to head up, up and away!

Perfect day! 

Photos of the view from up top to come soon.

Skaka-whats?

SKAKAVAC!!!! As in the Skakavac waterfall. I had such an amazing day trip from Sarajevo to this extremely tall waterfall. Its a whopping 98 metres tall!

Raquel, my friend from the hostel, and I started our trip off on slightly the wrong foot. We arrived at the wrong bus stop and after "talking" to several non-English speakers we finally found out where our bus was leaving from and made our way there. Luckily, it was only a 10 minute walk from where we thought it was. However, we were late and had to wait for the one coming an hour later. So we stopped in a cafe and decided to have a little break while waiting for our bus.

 Now those who know me can vouch for the fact I tend to get a bit grumpy when things aren't working out how I imagined. So needless to say, I was a little perturbed by the fact we would be heading out an hour and forty-five minutes later then planned. Luckily, life always has a way to prove that things happen for a reason. While we were sipping our drinks we were treated to taste a sample of this local, homemade drink made by the lovely lady who owned the cafe. I can't remember its name but its basically a fermented pear drink. I assume its slightly alcoholic cause it had that flavour but it was tasty! As we were enjoying this treat an older lady sitting next to us started chatting with us. It turns out she had taught herself English, German, and Spanish. Enisa was a lovely lady and we enjoyed a good conversation with her. I think she was very eager to practice her English but considering she taught herself, using the internet, movies and by reading English books, it was very good! Enisa offered to have us stay with her if we ever return to Bosnia and said she would love to introduce us to her daughter, whos in her late 20s. While we were all chatting another man joined the convo and it turns out he was one of the many Bosnian that immigrated to North America during the war. He was a kid at the time so he grew up in the states and comes back to visit every year.  Despite how frustrating our morning had started out, we never would have met these wonderful people if we hadn't have missed our bus. Of course, this wasn't our last example of Bosnian hospitality we would encounter on our adventure.

After our little detour to the cafe, and a stop for some yummy burek we finally made it onto our bus. It only took about 15 or 20 minutes to get to Nahorevo, where we would begin the hike. The first half of the walk is through some mountain roads and farmland. There were a lot of animals and beautiful sights to be seen.  Unfortunately, it was about 40 degrees, humid, and virtually no shade to be seen so this part of the hike was a little exhausting. With the exception of one minor hypoglycemic episode, no thanks to me (although one nectarine later I was as good as new), we finally made it to the half way point! We came across the hut where we were told we could refill our waterbottles and gets some drinks if necessary. Little did we know, this funky little joint was run by a man named Dragan! Who welcomed us in right away, filled our water bottles, and offered us a free shot of his homemade rakija that he sweetens with pine sap. It was delicious! In my experience most rakija tastes like turpentine but this stuff was goooood. Dragan was quite a character. He makes juices, rakija and herbal mixtures to make money and lives in the mountains. He lives off the land as much as possible and of course helps tourists on their way through to the waterfall in the peak season. After a good chat with him and some of the other hikers passing through we were back on the road to the waterfall.

The second half of the hike was much easier. It led us through the forest so we were covered by the shade and it was MUCH cooler then in the searing hot sun. It took us about another hour to get to the waterfall and boy was it ever worth it! The waterfall is simple but gorgeous. We took a ton of photos, ate our lunch and had a good relax time before heading up to the top of the water fall. At the top you can literally look over the edge of the water fall and down into the valley below. Its quite surreal and made me a little dizzy looking so far down. After reaching the climax of our adventure, we were both pretty quiet and tired walking back to Dragans. We were planning on walking back down to the bus but at just the right moment two guys came down on a rickety old tractor and trailer. We had already discussed the idea of hitch hiking back down and this was our perfect chance. Dragan kindly flagged them down for us and explained to them where we were going. They didnt speak a single word of English so this was very useful! We enjoyed a nice leisurely ride back down the hill and arrived just in time to catch the bus back to town.

Over all this is probably one of my most memorable days of my entire trip. I had such a wonderful time and was really humbled by the hospitality shown to us by all the lovely Bosnian people we encountered through the day. I can't wait to come back one day!

 This farmer and his wife (up top) were adorable! They were waving and smiling at us as they passed!

 The amazing view.

 Dragan collects money from around the world. This was my first time seeing Canadian money in over 5 months!

 Theres Dragan!

Dragans hut.

 Thar she be!

 I look tiny in comparison!

 Hello Butterfly!

 View at the top looking down into the valley below.

 This is the exact point where the waterfall begins.

Hitch hiking back down. I wish I had taken a photo of our drivers!

 

Friendly Bosnia and Herzegovina

Wow! What an experience Bosnia and Herzegovina was! I highly suggest this country to anybody going on a trip soon. Its in this awesome stage in its history between the war and becoming a hot tourist destination. It makes for an incredibly authentic and not very touristy experience but with enough touristic development that you aren't likely to get lost or lack things to do. I really believe that Sarajevo will be Europes next tourism hotspot. There is so much history in this country and some of the biggest events are very recent. The war between 1992 and 1995 have had a huge impact on the country and its people. This is evident everywhere you go. Some landscapes you are not allowed to access due to remaining active landmines and even in the capital, Sarajevo, there are still war torn and abandoned buildings. In the streets of Sarajevo you can see the "Sarajevo roses" bullet holes in the pavement have been filled with red plaster to mark the sights of civilian massacres. It truly is sad but a good reminder to never forget the pain this country has gone through.

I started by Bosnian adventure in Mostar. My hostel hosts were warm and welcome. Nina and her mother picked me up at the bus station even though my bus was almost 2 hours late. After settling in and meeting the other guests, Ninas mom made us guests a wonderful, authentic meal and we all sat out on the terrace chatting away.

   Mostar was probably the one city to come out of the war the most destroyed. It was the frontline during the war and a lot of the buildings are still destroyed and abandoned. The citys beautiful Ottoman era bridge was destroyed and many people still get emotional when remembering the day it fell. It has since been rebuilt and is the highlight of the city. There is a diving club that will jump off the bridge, which might I add is extremely high! Its apparently quite dangerous and some people have died doing it. For a fee tourists can jump off the bridge also. Its about 50KM ($37 CAD) to jump feet first and about 500KM ($375 CAD) to jump head first. Even the trained bridge divers only jump off head first a few times in their career. Anybody could really walk up to the bridge and jump off at anytime... But then they wouldn't be able to sign their name in the book, which of course is mostly filled with Aussies. Besides the bridge, I absolutely adored wandering through the market (everything is dirt cheap) and enjoying Bosnian coffee at the cafes. Seeing the mosque minarets peeking above the city skyline and hearing the call of prayer 5 times a day was another novelty I very much enjoyed. Its just so peaceful to listen to. Especially at dusk.

From Mostar, I made my way to Sarajevo. The train ride was only 5 Euros ($7.50 CAD) but some of the scenery was very beautiful. It goes up through the mountains so it kinda reminds me a bit of being at home. Sarajevo, at first glance didn't seem as though it had a lot to offer. However, after a day I was absolutely hooked on this city. Its so laid back! People sit and enjoy the day in the many cafes, wandering from one to the next. The old town market is unlike any other old town I have seen. The water follows freely from the many mosque fountains. Plus, if you drink the water from the fountain in Pigeon square it is said you will return again to Sarajevo in some way, shape or form. I lazily enjoyed my time most days eating, drinking and all around living like a queen. Its so cheap in Sarajevo that anyone can afford to eat out all the time. I did several tours and day trips from the city. I did a city tour, the Tunnel of hope tour and a day trip to Skakavac waterfalls (I'll do a separate post on my waterfall adventure). There is so much to see and do around/between Mostar and Sarajevo that I could have easily spent much more time here.

Whether or not its due to the magic of the water in pigeon square, I feel I will come back to Bosnia and Herzegovina again in my life time.

Mostar

 One of the largest mosques

 The market.

 The bridge from above.

 There were bullet holes in the facade of almost every building.

 Beautiful Mostar and its cherished bridge.

 Those are all bullet holes. 

 Some more of the remaining destruction from the war.

Sarajevo

 The Pigeon Square fountain. Note: the pigeons in the back ground.

 Some of the Sarajevo roses.

 Inside a pretty mosque courtyard.

 Buregdzinica. Its kind of like Burek. Just another kind of rolled phyllo pie... but smothered in sourcream!

 Vladimir and Raquel. I met Raquel at my hostel. Vladimir is from Sarajevo. He shared some stories and an unbiased view of the war with us. He also took us to his favourite cafe and restaurant. He was a very kind person!

 The market.

 Inside the Tunnel of Hope.

 Entrance to the tunnel.

Artillery shells remaining from the war.

I made yet another cute little furry friend.

Team Korcula move on.

After our funny few weeks in Korcula, Alice, Amy, Eddie and I all decided to explore Kotor, Montenegro and Dubrovnik. We made our way out of Korcula on the water taxi early in the morning and spent the day in Dubrovnik hanging around the bus station. We then jumped on a bus to Herceg Novi where we jumped on yet another bus, which might I add was probably built in the 60s and looked like it was on its last legs, to our final destination of Kotor. Unfortunately, Eddie came by the flu and wasn't able to enjoy our time there as much but us gals made the best of it. We wandered around Kotors old town and decided to climb to the top of the Fortress. We had a grand time, despite a sudden down pour while making our way back down the hill. The top of the fortress offered some great views of Kotor and the fjord.

After a couple nights in Kotor we made our way back to Dubrovnik for one night. We thought we had booked a hostel dorm room but when we arrived it turns out we had rented a whole 4 person apartment to ourselves! We had a deck, cable TV, a kitchen and two bed rooms! And the entire thing cost us only about 20$ CAD each. I think we all wished that we didn't have to move on so soon so we could have stayed and enjoyed our little apartment for a bit longer. Unfortunately, we only had one night booked because Eddie, Amy and Alice were flying out to Barcelona the next day and I was heading to Mostar. We made the most of our time sprawled on the beach, cooked a good meal in the evening and wandered the old town by night.

 It was sad to say goodbye to Team Korcula. I had such a great time with my three new pals and we made some hilarious new memories together. I honestly don't think I could have asked to meet people any more awesome then they are! I look farward to seeing each and everyone of you again in your own countries!! RED CARD for the win!

 The water taxi.

 To the fortress we go!