Yesterday evening we wandered back down to the old city; the cheap mobile phone which we had bought in the morning wasn't working. After about half an hour of testing, the people in the shop decided that I had a faulty SIM card; when they put in a new card (hence a new number), the phone started working. Later on in the evening, I accessed the phone's manual via the Internet and figured out how to change the display language from Croatian to English, a change which helped me set up the phone somewhat better than it was. It still doesn't ring very loud.....
After a very tasty Sea Bream in one of the many restaurants in the old city, we took an evening cruise around Lokrum, pleasant but not world beating. It was dark by the time we came back to the harbour and as we were both tired, we knew that it was time to come home. We had previously determined that we were not going to walk back from the old city to our lodgings; instead we took the number 8 bus which I had been assured would bring us home. First, though, the bus had to go due north to the new harbour of Gruz, where the cruise ships dock. This was, of course, somewhat disheartening as we were nowhere near where we needed to be. Fortunately, the bus turned around a roundabout and headed back to Dubrovnik. We were still completely lost until I suddenly recognised a landmark, just by our stop. The driver let us out right by our road.
This morning we went to Mostar on an organised trip. As I had feared, we had a slight misunderstanding regarding our pickup point - we were maybe 100 metres from where we should have been. This is why I bought the cheap mobile phone: I was able to call the tour company's office who then got in contact with the minibus - we were picked up a few minutes later.
The road to Mostar starts from the north of Dubrovnik - I recognised Gruz harbour in the daylight before we crossed the Franjo Tudman bridge. I think that one day we'll take the number 8 bus again to the harbour and spend some time there before coming back. From there, we went past the botanical gardens at Trsteno, another local place which looks like it will receive a longer visit from us.
Such are the vagaries of the Balkan agreements that we had to cross the border from Croatia to Bosnia and then back again from Bosnia to Croatia. In the middle was the only part of Bosnia which touches the Adriatic - the small town of Neum. Here we stopped for a tea and toilet break. Later we crossed the border again into Bosnia and Herzegovina; this crossing was more serious and took about fifteen minutes. From here we drove to Mostar, passing a little village whose name escapes me; this stop was totally unnecessary.
By the time we got to Mostar, at about noon, the sun was high in the sky and the temperature was about 35 degrees, which is hot! We had a local guide who showed us around the town which had been badly damaged in the civil war. The area both before and after the famous bridge comprises a market with a noticeable Turkish flavour. The lane was narrow, full of stores selling dubious souvenirs and very crowded. As it was also very hot, I was desperately seeking shade at every opportunity but rarely succeeding.
Although there was one diver on the bridge when we got there, I never saw him dive (no one was prepared to pay the required sum). After taking photographs of the bridge from every conceivable angle (and I think that the view from the Eastern side - the right hand side in the above picture - is better than from the Western side), the tour continued through more packed lanes until we came to what had probably been a mosque as the grounds were very clean and cool.
We then had about two hours of free time; my wife had to perform her compulsory market shopping which was quite problematic regarding currency: the stall holders were as prepared to accept Euros and Bosnian marks (of which we had neither) as they were Croatian kuna (of which we had some but possibly not enough). A judiciously positioned ATM allowed me to withdraw sufficient Bosnian marks to satisfy her shopping needs.
Then we had lunch in a restaurant near the bridge - maybe not the cleanest or most salubrious of restaurants, but the food was good and cheap. I paid with what was almost the last of my Croatian money and then we returned to the meeting place.
The journey back was a repeat of the outward journey, although this time there was no learned commentary by our guide. There was a stop at Neum but no one was very enthusiastic about it. I used the toilets again and bought a bottle of water for the same price as I had paid in our local minimarket in the morning. The drive continued in reverse past the border, past the bridge, past Gruz and into Dubrovnik. All too soon a familiar landmark appeared and we were off the bus.
Had the day been not so hot then I think that it would have been more enjoyable. The drive to Mostar was very interesting, seeing the agriculture and different geography - Dubrovnik is hilly, but past Neum there is a river which expands to a delta and there are many cultured fields there. I doubt that I will ever get my head around the politics of the Balkan area, which make my local conflict seem simple. Mostar itself was not so hot - or maybe too hot, depending on one's point of view.
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