A War Torn Land

The past few days Doug and I have taken a slight detour up to Bosnia/Herzegovina (BH). I did not mention this before we went (sorry Mom) because I didn't want to cause any undue worry.
That said, it was a sobering experience. It sets quite the tone for your stay when the FAQs on the door at your hostel include information about landmines. Apparently they think approximately 4% of BH still has landmines. Most of these areas have been found and clearly marked somehow, but they advise you not to go off trails or roads. Don't go exploring. Got it.
We stayed in a little town named Mostar. It was hit very hard during the war -- first attacked by Serbian forces who pulled out after intervention by the international community. The city was then left under defense of the allied Bosnian and Croatian armies. Unfortunately fighting soon broke out between these formerly allied troops and even more blood was shed.
Unlike other areas that were also affected by the war (such as Dubrovnik), in Mostar they have not rebuilt due to continuing hostility and lack of funds. This makes for a very interesting landscape. Several of the buildings are falling down and have bullet holes all over.



We visited this bank that was bombed during the war so badly that it was abandoned. Once abandoned, it became a sniper nest because it was one of the tallest buildings in the area.


You go in, and the building is just totally destroyed.






The ground is covered in rubble, mostly glass and bullet shells.



It was like in a movie where the offices are abandoned with papers strewn all over the ground.



When I try to understand what really happened here and what is still going on, I get lost in the complexities of Bosnians, Serbs, Croats, Muslims, Orthodox, and Catholics. More than anything, I become aware of just how much I don't know about what goes on in the world. And although I may not yet understand the root of this hostility that is centuries old, places that have previously been only headlines to me are now becoming real. That at least is a step in the right direction.