Herzegovina

Today was spent touring the places near Mostar and seeing more of Herzegovina. It was a very very hot day but we seem to have gotten a little acclimatised and tried to find every shaded spot.

We drove to Pocitelj, seeing a ginormous new bridge coming up, connecting two mountains. I love bridges and it’s beautiful.

On getting to the town we walked up to the tower and climbed the stairs to the top. Lots of British Muslim families were visiting too and the young girls took some great pictures for us. We then made our way to a fort that has been modernised with glass walkways. We randomly saw tortoises along the way which had us all very excited. 

The street vendors are very cleverly selling frozen fresh pomegranate juices, very enticing in the heat. Aanya loved her bottle of purple ice.

Next stop was Blagaj a ten minute drive from Mostar but the temperature jn the mid 40s. We walked to the old house at the bottom of the hill which showcased the style of the Ottoman buildings. To be honest the house was nothing great, a bunch of rooms but its setting was beautiful. It was on the banks of a river as it enters a cave. Given that it’s a tourist attraction the bridges are filled with colourful flowers making it all a very pretty sight. 

Post lunch we doused our clothes and hats  in icy water from the fountains and walked to our car and we stayed cool throughout. 

On getting back to Mostar I decided to go sit  near the old bridge to keep an eye out for a diver. Everyone else decided to join in, so armed with books/ journals in view of waiting for a few hours we made ourselves comfortable. The bridge seemed very empty so didn’t think we were going to see much when two divers started walking on the outside, within 10 minutes they had the money. A third very slim built man arrived on the bridge, posed and dived. It was pretty cool to watch and we didn’t even wait long, so glad I went along and the rest came too.

On the walk back the kids tried Cola and Red Bull Gelato, I don’t think either was their favourite.

To end our day we went to Fortica, an area on top of a hill with a skywalk and expansive views of the city. We got to see a beautiful sunset and also a marriage proposal. The couple were very happy to get unexpected photos from us (much better than the ones a person took right close to them). 

We were staying on to see the town light up when we saw people zooming along the zip line, 1km long! It was still on Aanya’s list since Savik and I did it in Jodhpur fort. 

Luckily for her, she could do it tandem with an instructor and they had finished but being a little girl they made an exception. It was so quick, they got her in a harness and before she had a moment to think, they were gone. She absolutely loved it and was thrilled with herself.

We have loved Mostar and so glad we visited.