Četiri dana na Balkanu (Four Days in the Balkans)

May 16th was a public holiday in France (Whit Monday aka Pentecost) so I again leveraged the day off with the weekend to take a four day trip to the Balkans. In this case, I stayed in Dubrovnik and did not shift my base to other cities, but instead took day-long excursions to neighbouring countries. Travelling from one country to another in this region is not as easy as in the rest of Europe, and most of the guided bus tours that go from city to city are expensive and are usually packaged for at least a week. In this case, a hub and spoke approach was cheaper and more convenient. The excursions were booked using guided small group tours, which made the border crossings easier as well since the guides could speak the local language.

The weather on all four days was warm (around 21°C) but volatile. On each day, it would rain hard twice a day, but only for 30-60 minutes, and then turn sunny again.

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik has one of the most picturesque old towns that I've seen in Europe. The entire town is built with a light grey stone and red roofs that contrast with the clear blue waters of the Adriatic Sea. You can get great views of the city by taking a walk through the city's main streets (the tourist information centre provides a free map outlining the best walking routes) as well as by walking along the city walls (where you can get a rooftop view of the old town from every angle). The city is touristy, containing a lot of souvenir shops and restaurants, but it has a few churches with moderately ornate interiors and two small palaces (one of which houses a small art exhibition and a war memorial).

A view of the old town of Dubrovnik (on the right) and the old port, facing southeast on Fort Minceta, one of the larger towers of the city walls.

A view of Fort Lovrijenac and the Pile area of Dubrovnik, seen from Fort Bokar facing northwest.

Walking through the old town and then on the city walls took an entire morning, and I spent the afternoon of the first day on Lokrum Island. The ferry takes only 15 minutes and the island provides a more tranquil atmosphere compared to the tourist-filled streets of Dubrovnik. There are about a dozen notable, but simple, sites on the island, including a botanical garden, an old monastery, a Dead Sea (basically an inland pond connected to the sea), an abandoned fort, and a small information centre on the Game of Thrones.

Guess who's the new King of Westeros?! The Game of Thrones Visitor Center is housed in a non-descript building on Lokrum Island. The center is small and doesn't have much besides a few information displays and a replica of the Iron Throne. There's actually another replica in Dubrovnik, in a souvenir shop near the north gate. That one is easier to find because there's a life-size statue of Tyrion Lannister outside the shop.

The highest point on Lokrum Island is at the top of Fort Royal, which would have provided a decent coastal view of Dubrovnik except for the rain storm that started just as I arrived.

When I returned to Dubrovnik in the early evening, most of the tourist crowds were gone and the streets were near empty. I'm not sure if the tourist numbers dwindled because of the rain storm earlier in the afternoon or because most of the tourists were on chartered bus tours that had to move on to their next stop. Either way, if you want to see Dubrovnik in a more relaxed setting, the early evening is the time to go.

I spent the second and third days of my trip in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro, respectively (more details below), but the last day in Dubrovnik again.

At the southeast end of the Main Street Placa in Dubrovnik is a bell tower, a statue referred to as Orlando's Column, and St. Blaise Church.

I spent the morning visiting War Photo Limited, which is an exhibition centre displaying photos from the wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo (with particular emphasis on the siege of Dubrovnik) as well as from the Balkan route of the migrant crisis in 2015. This is one of the top rated places to visit in Dubrovnik and it is worth a detailed look, as there is an information pamphlet (more like a book) lent to visitors that includes a caption providing the context behind each photo. I read a lot of info not available through the regular media reports and felt like I developed a slightly better understanding of the migrant crisis after viewing the photos and going through the book.

From War Photo Limited, this photo was taken in Idomeni, Greece. Iranians are protesting the decision of the Macedonian government to only allow Afghan, Syrian and Iraqi refugees to cross the border, leaving all other migrants stuck on the Greek side of the border.

I had enough time before my flight to take the cable car up Mount Srdj to get a higher view of the city, and was surprised to find that there were a few interesting sites at the top, including a fort housing a war museum.

The old town of Dubrovnik and the island of Lokrum, as seen from the top of Mount Srdj. The mountain is accessible by cable car.

On Mount Srdj is Fort Imperial, which houses the Museum of the Croatian War of Independence. The museum contains detailed information displays on the war as well as a few military artifacts.

The one other item to note is that I had the chance to try frog's legs at a restaurant in the southwest corner of the old town. (It happens to be a local delicacy in Herzegovina.) There wasn't much meat on the legs, but it was an entrée comprised of six breaded pairs of legs served with rice, so it was reasonably filling for what I paid (only 100 kuna). Frog's legs are just like others describe; they taste a lot like chicken with a hint of a fish flavour (e.g. haddock). The meat is tender and comes off the bone easily, but after mangling two pairs of legs with a knife and fork, I realized it's much easier to just use your hands.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

I spent the second day of my trip on a guided group tour of a few towns in the Herzegovina region of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The tour started by stopping in Neum, which is the only coastal town in the country and is somewhat scenic, although there wasn't anything noteworthy there.

The first notable stop was in Medjugorje, a small town known for both a nearby site where six locals claimed to have seen visions of Mary, and a Jesus statue that mysteriously seeps water from his right knee. This makes Medjugorje a popular destination for some Catholic pilgrims, although the Vatican has not confirmed the validity of the visions of Mary and there are suspicions of fraud. While it was touching to see the emotional response the pilgrims displayed from coming in contact with the Risen Christ statue, it was creepy to see the open worship of the idols of Mary as well as the large amounts of money being spent on Christian jewelry in the nearby souvenir shops.

In Medjugorje, a statue of Mary in front of Saint James church. This is a copy of another statue built on Apparition Hill (Podbrdo) outside of town where six locals claimed to have seen a vision of Mary.

The Risen Christ statue in Medjugorje. There is a small amount of water that seeps from the right knee of the statue. Pilgrims will line up in order to rub the knee or absorb some of the water with a napkin.

The tour continued on to Mostar. The town has a small old town (which now appears to be stone walkways lined with souvenir stalls) but is best known for its Old Bridge. The original bridge was built by the Ottomans in the 16th century but was destroyed in 1993 during the Croat-Bosniak War. The bridge has since been reconstructed and its architecture, along with the mosques in the area, reflect the Ottoman influence in the region.

The Stari Most (Old Bridge) in Mostar. There are a few locals that will dive from the bridge if they are paid enough (usually 50 Euros collectively from all of the tourists). One of the divers is standing on the outside of the railing at the middle of the bridge.

The Kriva Crupija (Crooked Bridge) in Mostar crossing the Rabobolja Creek. One of the mosque towers will sound the call to prayer, although at a lower volume than the mosques in Istanbul.

The tour ended with a quick stop in Pocitelj, a very small town along the Neretva river where a mosque and fortress are built into the neighbouring hillside. I had just enough time to run up to the fortress and take in a great view of the surrounding area.

A shot of the Neretva river, facing southwest, from Citadel Pocitelj. The trees hide the walkways connecting the mosque and stone homes in the small town of Pocitelj.

Montenegro

I spent the third day of my trip on a guided group tour of a few small towns in Montenegro, all of them on or around the Bay of Kotor. The first town was Perast, known for its close proximity to two very small islands in the bay. The first (natural) island, Saint George, is not accessible to the public and has a Benedictine monastery. The second (artificial) island, Our Lady of the Rocks, is accessible by motorboat and has a small church (with museum) and a souvenir shop.

A shot of the Bay of Kotor from Our Lady of the Rocks, a small artificial island with enough space for a small church and a souvenir shop. Behind the church is the even smaller natural island of St. George. On the left is the town of Perast and in the distant center is a rain storm that fortunately moved away from town and out to the Adriatic Sea.

The trip continued on to Kotor, known for its medieval old town and for its fortifications originally built by the Byzantine Empire but rebuilt (in its current form) by the Venetians when they controlled the area. Our small group had a guided tour through the old town, which only left about 40 minutes of free time in Kotor, so our tour guide warned us that it would be crazy to try to climb to the top of the fortifications in our limited free time and only a fit adventure tourist would attempt this. I don't consider myself the most fit adventurist out there, but I had enough energy in reserve from the last two days (sitting in a van for long parts of these guided tours) that I ran up to the fortification and back and was only three minutes late. So if you end up on a guided tour of Kotor and the tour guide says you don't have time to climb the fortifications, don't believe him! Take it as a challenge to get up there and back in the allotted time.

The outer fortification at Kotor. It is hard to spot from the haze of the sun and from being a similar colour as the mountain, but the wall zig-zags up the smaller mountain nearest to the town. There is a small church (Saint John) half-way up to the fort at the top.

A photo of Kotor taken from the top of the fortifications, facing northwest. The old town can be distinguished by the concentration of red roofs.

The tour then stopped in Budva, a coastal town with a small old town. The old town did not offer much to see, but Budva is instead being developed as a resort town catering to tourists from Eastern Europe. Most of the tour buses will stop here for lunch instead of in Kotor (which has few restaurants and a reputation for petty crime). As a result, Budva has a great selection of restaurants along its waterfront to go along with its sandy beaches (although the beaches were empty due to the rainy weather that day).

The outer wall along the west side of the old town of Budva. The old town area is small compared to its counterparts in Kotor and Dubrovnik, and it wasn't as picturesque.

The tour took a quick stop in Tivat, primarily to use the ferry to cross the bay and shorten the trip back to Dubrovnik. Tivat actually looked more authentic than the other towns visited, as it wasn't overrun with souvenir shops and restaurants catering to the tourist traffic.

A shot of Tivat while approaching the Porto Montenegro by ferry.

So that was Dubrovnik and the surrounding area in four days. In my excursions, I didn't get to see the capitals Sarajevo and Podgorica, but the small towns in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Montenegro provided for a good mix of historical and cultural sites along with scenic landscapes. Dubrovnik is also a picturesque city, with some interesting museums in and around the city as well as some fun places to visit if you're a Game of Thrones fan.