We set out for Bosnia full of trepidation, our heads full of half-remembered Newsround reports of the nineties conflict and warnings of landmines. The journey to the border proved eventful as we were caught in a terrific thunderstorm which resulted in Harriet being swept off (toppling off because she was going so slowly) her bike, causing two friendly Croatian men to take pity and let us shelter in their house.
Once the rain had eased off we were on our way again and reached the Bosnian border in half sunshine. The friendly border guard seemed pleased to see us and gave us the thumbs up when we said we were cycle touring through the country. He then stamped our passports and we were in Bosnia, suddenly very aware that we knew nothing about this country except that it was hugely mountainous and Croatians seemed to think that we were crazy for wanting to cycle through it.
After a quick coffee we cycled down the infamous E73 amid thundering lorries, passing through a vivid green landscape of meadows and woods. We decided to spend the night in a town called Modrica in the foothills of the mountains. After finding a small motel and getting a room through hand gestures alone we ended up with six beds to ourselves for about £20.
Waking up the next day to glorious sunshine we set off along the Bosna river valley on a rolling road which tested the fitness we had built up over the last month or so. At several points along the way we passed signs warning us not to stray off the road due to landmines. After covering an unanticipated 110km we rolled in to a little village near Zepce to stay with our host for the night, Ilija and his family, who we had got in contact with through the cycle touring website Warmshowers.
We were blown away by their hospitality, as they welcomed us into their home and cooked us a delicious dinner, before we spent a lovely evening chatting and being sources of amusement for Ilija’s three children. We said goodbye feeling touched by the warmth shown to us, and carrying an enormous smoked cheese they had given us as a leaving present (much to Harriet’s delight).
Two more days of rolling hills saw us enter Bosnia’s capital Sarajevo to stay with another Warmshowers host, Cat, in her beautiful hostel The Doctor's House. Still feeling very ignorant of the history of the amazing country we were cycling through we made it our mission to educate ourselves a bit more during our stay. Visiting galleries, museums and going on a walking tour provided us with a tiny snippet of what had occurred with the break-up of Yugoslavia, the nineties conflict, the siege of Sarajevo and the atrocities that happened in and around Srebrenica.
Our departure from Sarajevo was another one of trepidation as we were heading off the beaten track into the mountains for 3 days to reach the ancient city of Mostar. We had decided to opt for the more beautiful, if adventurous, route in order to steer clear of the direct route - a dual carriageway with multiple tunnels, pounded by streams of lorries. Our first day saw us completing two climbs to reach passes above 1000m, through stunning mountain scenery, occasionally passing Bosnians who seemed either very surprised or elated to see us puffing and panting past their homes.
We spent the night in the mountain town of Kalinovik, which we subsequently discovered had been a major site of atrocities during the war and was now somewhat renowned for its nationalist tendencies and a touch of organised crime! The next day begun with a glorious descent as the road deteriorated into a dirt track and we hit the Neretva river, going for a very chilly swim, before starting a long, long 12% uphill for the next few hours to reach a beautiful lunar landscape (which Harriet insisted was reminiscent of Dartmoor).
The final day started with one last mountain climb before an epic descent for nearly 30km into the ancient city of Mostar where we spent two days exploring the old quarter, visiting the famous bridge and recovering from our mountain adventure.
Our stay was made even better when Harriet’s friend Sarah joined us. Together, we visited a dervish monastery, consumed huge amounts of Bosnian coffee and a little of the infamous rakija, although Sarah was also forced to watch us eat our bodyweight in food every day! Sarah – thanks so much for tackling the Bosnian bus system to find us on our route – we loved having you and can’t wait for Georgia!
Typically (for us), our final day in Bosnia began with a storm as we cycled out of Mostar, with the aim of following the Neretva river all the way to the Croatian coast. At one point we were told to turn back by a policeman, as we had unwittingly stumbled onto a movie set and a highly dangerous car chase was about to be filmed on the road ahead. Putting on our biggest smiles and feigning ignorance we were allowed to pass a fairly bemused looking production team. A few hours later we were at the border, about to enter Croatia again and thankful that we had had the chance to visit such a beautiful and inspiring country.