THE BALKANS
Entering the War-torn countries of the former Yugoslavia, known as THE BALKANS.
8.28.06, Belgrade, Serbia
My first impression of Belgrade was… damn, this place doesn’t look like much fun. It was raining and gloomy overcast all day. We ran into these two French-Canadian girls on the train, Crystal and Sara, and went to get some food with them. We exchanged our stories and ate kabobs, then split to go find a hostel. This hostel was pretty sweet. It is called Monster Hostel and it’s pretty much a loft flat above the city with a great balcony and chill room that has a great view. We were so tired that Mike and I crashed until dark.
Later that night, we were in the main hangout room on a computer and the French girls walked in! They were supposed to take a train to Budapest, but I guess they missed it and remembered which hostel we were staying at. We got a few beers and sat out on the balcony loft with these three local Belgrade guys. I found it interesting to hear these guys speak in English because their accents were so thick. It struck me that this guy is for real. He sounded like a Russian bad guy out of a James Bond movie. But this wasn’t a movie! They actually sound like that! He was telling me about the war in 1999, which at the time I didn’t really know anything about it. They said that there is a war museum here that contains the wreckage of an American Stealth Bomber that was shot down by a Serbian farmer with an RPG. They called him a National Hero. It sounded a little bogus to me but I figured I would go tomorrow and see for myself. We talked about sports and stuff. They knew the Denver Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony!
We decided to head into unknown territory and head into Bosnia. We had absolutely no idea what Bosnia was like and honestly, I was scared to go. I have heard nothing but war, war, war and movies like “Behind Enemy Lines” with Owen Wilson don’t portray this country to be a friendly place. Mike and I were trying to get to Dubrovnik, Croatia and the shortest route is through Sarajevo, Bosnia. We were a little hesitant because we thought the boarders would be difficult to get through… but you never know unless you find out for yourself.
8.29.06 Belgrade, Night bus to Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Mike and I found out our bus times, headed to the bus station and checked our bags into some lockers to leave them there for the day. So far Belgrade has been nothing but cold and rainy. Our bus didn’t even leave until 10:30pm, so we had an entire day of exploring the city. I grabbed my camera and we headed off.
We made our way North to find the Citadel Stronghold of the city and made our way through the alleyways and market places to get there. I found some places that look like a war zone, and probably was 6 years ago. There were bullet holes in a few walls and half standing buildings stand here, but most of the city looked new, clean, and friendly. I know from being in Germany and other European cities that when a city looks “new” like that, chances are it was completely destroyed within the last couple of decades. The tough part about navigating through was that the street signs were all in a “serylic” alphabet. Stuff like UTZA and other characters that I can’t type on this computer. They were not phonetics. We pretty much guessed our way up to the citadel.
Here I found old war equiptment, cannons, tanks, large mobile machine guns that were placed about outside. These were remenants of the war in 1999. I still had no idea what this war was about. I didn’t know who was fighting who and why… just that a bad war ended in 1999. It was creepy to see these machines of war all rusted up and camouflaged. I could just picture them roaming around through the forest on the hills. I walked into the Serbian War History Museum. I was hoping to learn more about the recent conflicts of Serbia in this museum and find out why they were at war so much.
Most of the museum contained artifacts all the way back from 1,000 BC. As you walk through, you travel through time to all the major wars fought by Serbia. After the WWI part I noticed that it ended. There was only one room left and it was about the 1999 war. Hmmmm…. What happened to WWII??? It is an interesting fact that Serbia was allied with Hitler and Nazi Germany during that war. What an interesting thing to OMIT from history?! Anyway, I ignored that and headed into the last room, the 1999 exhibit. The first thing I see is a giant plaque map on the wall showing the paths of American and NATO war planes and where they struck… SERBIA. Inside, they had an assortment of US and NATO weapons on display. The thing that disturbed me the most were the two uniforms of American pilots who were shot down, captured and killed, that were hanging up on the wall like it was some kind of damn trophy. Next to it was a piece of wreckage of a Stealth bomber the pilots were in when they were shot down. They also had on display “Uranium Bullet shells,” that NATO forces supposedly used on the Serbs. I don’t know if I can believe that. The reason why I was so pissed about this is because they didn’t mention one thing about what Serbia was doing at the time. They didn’t explain why the Americans and NATO bombed them. Instead they used it as propaganda to show how powerful Serbia is and finger pointed the US as bad guys who the Serbs somehow got the best of… which they didn’t. They lost the war, they lost everything. There was not one reference to the thousands of people they killed heading into Bosnia and the 11,000 people they killed during the Siege of Sarajevo. They didn’t mention that the US and NATO got involved to stop the Serbs mass murder and Genocide that they were committing. And they call this place a “History” Museum. There was an Impressions Book left on a table before the exit that people could write there opinions in. I read some. Not too many Americans, so I felt obligated to represent my country. Some people called the US Terrorists!!! Some people referred to the United States as Nazi’s. To me these people have absolutely no concept of what happened here and are blinded by a hate towards the US and NATO for radical reasons. My impressions of Serbia grew slightly dimmer after visiting their war museum.
We took a walk around the modern town because we had a few more hours left before our bus took off. Belgrade actually seems like a nice city. The sun eventually came out. It had a ton of shops and was a very fashionable, contemporary place. We walked till dark and ended up at a large Muslim-esque Church. It was obviously a Mosque before turned into a church. The fountains outside it were beautifully lit up with blue lights in the water and a fountain show would go off every 15 minutes or so.
With the day coming to an end, Mike and I made our way back to the bus station. While checking out our bags we met Ryan Schultz, a guy who does financial work for Microsoft and X-Box in San Francisco. We became friends right off the bat and we were all going to Sarajevo on the night bus. We even happened to have seats next to each other on the crowded, stuffy, double decker bus.
The movie they played on the bus surprised me a little. First of all, they started the movie at 11pm and they blasted the sound. So there was no chance of going to sleep. The movie was super violent and sex scenes ran rampant! This was on a public bus! I actually thought it was kind of funny, it was some French Cop movie. When we got to the Bosnian border, about 10 guys were forced to get off the bus and they never got back on… hmmmm.
8.30.06, Sarajevo, Bosnia
Where to begin… this city blew my mind away and is probably one of my favorite cities in all of Europe. The bus was winding around in the mountains right around the fog line where you couldn’t see the mountain tops. I woke up on the bus and looked down below me. I saw a beautiful city surrounded completely by green mountains. The houses were sparse up on the hill, but gradually became more dense around the cliffs and into the city center. It was POURING rain. The kind of rain that soaks you completely through within a 20 seconds. We got off, put on our rain gear and tried to gain our bearings. The city was nowhere around us. We must’ve passed the main city and ended up in some side village. We walked about half a mile in the pouring rain with our gear to the local ATM/Bankomat, got our some cash and walked all the way back to the bus drop off. We were soaking wet and so was our gear. We hailed a taxi to take us to Sarajevo.
Now I thought Belgrade looked a little War-torn… my jaw dropped when I saw the destruction of this city. Bullet holes were everywhere, on every building, sign, anywhere my eyes landed. There were shrapnel pockets and grenade blasts that punched holes right through the painted concrete walls of the city. Some buildings looked like swiss cheese. Of course rubble wasn’t on the ground, but most buildings weren’t re-built do to a serious lack of money. Despite the marks of war, the rain, and the cold, I still looked in awe at the city and how scenic and naturally beautiful it is. One thing that surprised me was the heavy Muslim and Arabic influence the city had. There were mosques, synagogues and cathedrals mixed together throughout the town. I still couldn’t see the mountain tops because of the fog. I just saw the houses rise up and out of the city and then just disappear into the heavy fog that blanketed directly over the city. It was so cool looking. The fog was not in the city. It was crystal clear. The fog was hovering thickly above the city. I haven’t seen such a cool weather effect before.
We came to this hostel only to hear from people crashing there that it was infested with bed bugs. We complained to the front desk about it and they brought us down the street to stay with this wonderful old woman named Hana. She didn’t speak a word of English, but welcomed us as if we were her own sons. So Mike, a British fellow named Alfie, and myself had a room together in this genuine Bosnian house. The hostel fortunately organized a tour for that day even though it was raining, foggy and cold.
The tour was incredible. Although it was raining the entire time, I know understand a little more about the horrible history of Sarajevo and its role in the Fall of Yugoslavia during the ‘90’s. The first place we stopped at was the man made underground tunnel entrance that desperately tried to sneak in the food, water, gas, medical supplies and weapons that the city needed to survive. This was a tunnel so small that I had to bend over in and so narrow I couldn’t extend my elbows to the walls. The city was completely surrounded from the hills around them by the Serbian Army, who wanted to take Sarajevo as their new capital city. So this tunnel was necessary because the city was totally cut off from the outside world. Everything was cut off. It was the only lifeline Sarajevo had to support thousands of suffering people. The Serbs couldn’t take the city through force, miraculously enough, so they tried to starve the people of Sarajevo and snipe/bomb/and rocket innocent civilians from their elevated position in the mountains to try to make the city give up. The men who talked to us when we walked into this house covered in camouflage netting showed us a 20 minute film of the destruction and Siege of Sarajevo. It was horrible. Completely horrible. People would be walking down the streets when a mortar smashed into a car or blew out a floor of the Holiday Inn Hotel and they would run for their lives for cover. Old men, women, children getting killed by snipers walking from the grocery store or playing on swing sets. It amazes me that this once wonderful, culture friendly and modern city that held the 1984 Winter Olympic Games fell victim to war. I remember seeing on the news war clips of Yugoslavia (which is now broken down into the countries of Serbia, Bosnia, Slovakia, Slovanja, and Croatia) and its refugees when I was a kid, but to stand here, now, and witness the city was a heavy experience.
I was looking around at the photos, weapons, grenades and other memorabilia in the room and noticed the guy who played the video for us was in many of the photos displayed. He was younger but it was obviously him. This must have been his house and he talked unlike most history tour guides do… He was actually there. This wasn’t something he studied in college or read out of a book. This was him. It happened to him, his friends, his family, his city. I walked down into the tunnel and tried to imagine what it was like to haul enough supplies and equipment through that tiny space for an entire city to survive… for 4 YEARS. As I walked out, I didn’t really know how to say thanks because it is something so personal to him. I just shook his hand and said thanks for sharing this information with us.
Next we drove to the Jewish Graveyard one of the hills in the “bowl” like geographical location of the city, facing to the large city towers and the Holiday Inn Hotel. This is where Serb snipers sat day after day sniping citizens of Sarajevo. Nobody was safe. Like I said before, old Men and Women walking down the street to get some bread, shot. For nothing. From this point, the snipers could hide behind the gravestones and still have a view of the city, especially “Snipers Alley.” This was considered the large cross section area between two major streets, the Holiday Inn and the two Twin Towers. Many people were shot dead in the street here, blind to their own killer. Children were even sniped on their swing sets here. So, the Bosnians would drape a massive curtain between the buildings to blind the snipers. Of course it was torn full of bullet holes, but it seemed to be temporarily effective. Sunny, our tour guide was 13 years old when The Siege happened. He said his favorite curtain was a massive pink one that had Pink Floyd written on it.
From here, Sunny explained to us the history of Sarajevo in great detail. It is a very open and accepting place. There are only a few cities in the World where Jews, Muslims, and Christians live peacefully with each other. There is a large Muslim influence here. During WWII, the Nazi’s couldn’t find a very sought out Jewish book which they knew was somewhere in the city. They looked searched the city for it but never found it because the Muslims of the city had hid it in a Mosque to protect the Jews! He also explained his intense dislike for the U.N. They were supposed to help Sarajevo and other cities in Yugoslavia, but did an incredibly poor job of it. They would fly over and drop “food” crates, which turned out to be stale 1973 cookies in large metal boxes. He said they loved the boxes, but hated the cookies. There is a book called “The Siege of Sarajevo Cookbook,” which tells the many ways the civilians used the stale cookies for ingredients to make meals. He said the cookies took a long time to get used to. They also dropped useless things like condoms and needles! At least the people of Sarajevo are practicing safe sex while being slaughtered. Every once and a while, they would leave tanks in the city and they were even fired upon from the Serbs in the hills, yet they never returned fire. The U.N. was worthless.
The most amazing thing about The Siege of Sarajevo is that they survived! The stories of how the citizens went about their daily business despite being constantly shelled and sot at is what kept hope for Sarajevo. The Serbs could not break them. One story was about an old man who was walking across Sniper Alley bringing a plastic jug of water back to his home. Snipers shot at him, but intentionally punctured holes in his jug so he water drained out. The old man turned and looked right up to the cemetery and flipped them the bird then ran off. He survived to tell the tale. Another example is that the first Sarajevo Annual Film Festival was organized and put on during The Siege. Students would go out to the hills and fight in the morning, then return later in the day, turn in their guns and go to school and study every day. That shows the spirit and will to survive that the Sarajevans displayed in which the Serbs could not break.
The last part of the tour was driving around the city from the hill tops. Just to give us a view of Sarajevo and how beautiful it was before the war and still is in my opinion. I felt so bad for Sunny, our guide. He was my age. As a matter of fact, most of the people I talked to lived through this hell. Even the our lovely Hana who’s guest we were in her house. I could see the sorrow and sometime anger in Sunny’s face when he talked. He told me that occasionally he would get someone who was pro-Serb in his groups and they would call him a liar and a propagandist. He responded that he spoke only the truth because it happened to him.
Well, after the tour Mike, Ryan Schultz and I headed to a restaurant with a girl we met on the tour named Jacolyn Munro but we called her Low Jack. We went to this really nice Bosnian restaurant next to the flooded, roaring, dark red river tearing through the city. It was of course delicious. Next we walked by the bridge where the Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, sparking WWI.
Later, Mike, Ryan and I partied at the hostel with 2 Liter Beers in plastic jugs and headed to a local bar. I talked to some locals, which most of them were due to the lack of tourism in this country. I met a girl named Slavica who grew up somewhere South of Bosnia. To this day, I can’t imagine what it was like for her growing up in the 90’s. I just can’t imagine.
8.31.06, Trip to Mostar
Woke up nice and early to meet up with Ryan and Kate, a girl we met in the hostel, to take a bus to Mostar which is located in the Southwest of Bosnia. I am sad to leave Sarajevo but I know that we’ll find places just as cool on our trip. On the way to the bus station I saw a disturbing image and had another reality check as to what Sarajevo was like before the war and how that all changed overnight. There was a large billboard sign from 12 years ago that had a little wolf mascot on it and is said, “Welcome to the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic Winter Games!” It was a piece of the branding campaign left from the Olympics, directing people where to go who got off the trains. The disturbing thing was that it was completely torn and slashed up from shrapnel blasts and bullets. It is ironic really when you think about what the Olympic Games stand for vs. the chaos and havoc that war brings. The Olympics symbol stands for peace and unity but what does it say when it is full of bullet holes…
A lady at the train station saw us and asked us where we were going and told us that she has a friend in Mostar who would give us a room. The bus ride between Sarajevo and Mostar was one of the most beautiful rides I’ve ever seen. The bus winded through the tall, sharp, and very green mountains and cliffs. We passed through small villages and vibrant turquoise and teal blue lakes. I wish I could show you all what it looked like, but a photograph just wouldn’t do it justice. The village farmers made these weird looking dead hay stacks. They look like little huts, twisted and full of sticks poking out of them. They sit out in the fields by the hundreds. The stone here is very white which makes it very stark against the deep forest green pine trees. I can compare the beauty with that of Yosimite National Park and parts of Canada. Bosnia has such amazing scenic and natural beauty, but you’ll drive by small villages that are just blown apart and scarred with bullet holes and grenade shrapnel.
Mike had a wonderful time when he found out that there was no bathroom on the bus. He had to go sooo bad. I could just see it by the look on his face; Pale, sweaty, bloodshot eyes full of the panic… ya, he had to go bad. So he walked up to the driver and asked him to pull over. Surprisingly he did and Mike jumped out and ran behind some bombed out building. I was thinking to myself, “that was the last time I ever saw Mike Flappan. He jumped off a bus in Bosnia to take a dump and the bus driver just took off.” He got back on the bus, mission accomplished.
Mostar is a little out of the tall green mountains and more into the bold, tall white rocky mountains. You don’t ever want to wander off trails and up into them because there are hidden land mines scattered everywhere. Right as we got off the Bus, a lady was asking everyone if there name was Ryan. I said yes and she said her friend called and invited us to stay at her home. She was so friendly. As we were walking to the house I asked why there was some Muslim writing created in stone up on the mountain on the left and a cross is up on the mountain to the right. She said that one side of the river is Muslim and the other is Christian and they hate each other. So, the Christians put up a cross to piss off the Mulsims on the other side of the river, and vice versa. The Muslims view Jesus Christ as a prophet. In Islam, Jesus is the number 2 man and of course the Prophet Mohommad is the number 1 man. They still believe in Jesus to be a prophet from God, but they see it as blasphemy to Allah when Christains worship Jesus. They should be worshiping Mohommad and Allah. The Christians believe Jesus was the son of God. So there is a minor conflict there.
In her home I noticed photos of her with her children. On arrival there were two old ladies, probably family members, and some kids running around. There were no males. I guess that most of the Grandfathers, Fathers, and Sons were killed during the war.
Kate, Mike, Ryan and I walked into town to take some photos. It was unbelievably beautiful. I know I keep saying that, but each new place seems better than the last. Mostar was scarred with bulletholes and destroyed buildings as well, but it was really bad. Some had gaping holes in the sides from grenades. But they did rebuild, considering the city was completely destroyed in the war. The old city was really something. It was made of white sand colored stone, with Mosque towers standing out against the bright blue sky. The old bridge was the coolest thing though. It is very tall and 120 feet below is the deep but crystal clear river that divides the city. Mostar is not only known for the bridge, but for the Divers of Mostar. These are a group of young local guys who dive off the bridge and do flips, spins off the 120 foot bridge! It is VERY cool to see. But unfortunately they are ass holes as well. I found out from some lady that they are a bunch of ex-soldiers who have nothing better to do since the war than dive and pick fights with tourists. Ryan and I were talking at one end of the stone bridge and we had our cameras out to take a photo when they jumped off. One of the divers with a crew cut and full of tattoos walked by and must have miss heard us. He obviously didn’t speak English very well. All of a sudden this bucket of water gets poured right over Ryan’s head. We turned around and that tattood asshole in a speedo started swearing at us. Ryan just went off in a cussing storm at the guy. He was holding a $1,400 camera and that dude almost ruined it. The diver thought we were laughing and making fun of him. He thought we were planning on stealing his money or something ridiculous like that. We said absolutely nothing like that and didn’t even know who that diver was! I didn’t even see him until he dumped the bucket. This guy did look like he could kill someone, and probably has killed a lot of people, so we didn’t want to fight. We got the hell out of there and told a cop who said he would take care of it. He said that they actually punched out a tourist the other day. Not a friendly dude.
We walked through the tourist markets along the river cliffs and I saw a bunch of pens sitting on the table. They were made out of bullet shells and I’m sure they have more than enough in stock. I bought one to remember my trip here. It is disturbing that this is what they do make money, make things out of spent bullets they found in their city.
Ryan and I climbed up one of the Mosque3 towers for a good view of the city. We took a couple nice photos to send home to Mom. On the way back to our house to freshen up for the night, a guy approached us in a very friendly way. We decided to be friendly and talk to him. I noticed that he really just wanted money, but I let him talk anyway. When we told him that we don’t need a tour guide and we didn’t have any money to give him, he went into a plee mode. He told me that he was homeless and he had no family. I don’t enjoy writing about this, but the experience was shocking and I feel the need to record it. He said that his brother and father were killed in the war. He said he was 13 years old when he watched as his little sister ran through the streets to get to him and she was shot in the head by a sniper. I don’t know about his mother but she must have been killed as well. I hope that he wasn’t making that up. It would seem too shallow for a man to make something like that up. I gave him some change and said I’m sorry. What pissed me off though was that he wanted more. Usually they just say thank you and go away, but he continued his horror story. Ryan and I eventually got away from him. It is so sad of a thing to see people resort to begging.
That night we all went out for dinner along the river cliffs at a restaurant with a great view of the old bridge. After dinner we walked down along the narrow cobblestone streets by the bridge and heard music coming out of this cave entrance behind an old watchtower/Mosque structure. It turned out to be this really cool club inside. Of course we went in and checked it out. We sat up on a cave shelf with a table and bean bags because you sit on the floor. We ordered a hooka and chilled. At one point, all the lights went out and this girl started fire dancing on the floor of the cave. She was swinging balls of fire around her body on chains wrapped around her hands all over her body to the music. The bartender also lit two liquor bottles on fire and was juggling them, occasionally blowing fire out of his mouth when one passed in front of his face.
9.1.06 Medugorje and Dubrovnik, Croatia
Kate, Mike, Ryan and I rented a private driver to take us to Medugorje and into Croatia so we could take our time and stop to see some small villages and take photos. The drivers name is Adas and he is from Mostar. The ride to Medugorje was about 30 minutes away. We drove up the windy, steep cliffs surrounding Mostar to get to there. Medugorje is one of the most pilgrimaged places on the planet. Millions of people come here to pray, or possibly witness a miracle. Blind people, def, mute, handicapped walk the jagged stoney path from the tiny village to a place on the side of a mountain where a miracle occurred in the early 1990’s. Six teenagers were walking along the mountain hillside when an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to them floating just above the ground in front of them. She has appeared every day to the six teens since that day of the first appearance. The teens, no matter where they are or what they are doing will go into a trance-like state and will speak in a language as if they are praying. This could even happen in mid-conversation and all of a sudden they would go into trance. There have been claims that people who journey here have been healed of sickness, disease and disabilities.
Driving up and into the mountain village didn’t seem very different than any other. The most famouse landmark is the town Church. It has two large clocktowers and is very modern and contemporary. We parked and Asad said he would wait for us. We headed towards the church. There were groups of worshipers everywhere. There were private places to pray all around the church grounds. There wasn’t much time for us to spend here so we decided to head straight to the pilgrimage path up to the Apparition site. The path winded through grape vineyards and farmers backyards. I plucked a grape off the vine and ate it. Doesn’t get much fresher than that. There were people selling jars of honey and religious things like rosaries along the path. Everyone here was so genuine and friendly. They greeted me with a smiling and joyful expression on their face and they were always helpful to point us in the right direction. Once we reached the base of the mountain, the path turned to stones. They were white, rocky, and worn smooth from the millions of feet that have treaded over them. I was so surprised to see little old ladies walking up the difficult terrain. I was even more amazed to see that they were doing it barefoot! I guess it is a tradition or part of the ritual to hike the path barefoot. Halfway up there is a large cross that you can stop and enjoy the valley view below. It impressed me how quiet it was for the amount of people up there. I could hear the crickets chirp with a hundred people standing about. At the top there is a white marble statue of Mary. People kneel before it on the rocks and pray. It truly does have a powerful resonance to it. The aura is there. I kneeled and said a prayer of my own, took my time, and then walked about a bit noticing the faces and tears of the people around me. There were grave remembrance stones about and a cruxifition display a little ways up the slope from the statue.
On my way back down, I stopped to buy some rosaries for my family. They are made of chips off the path stones and contain dirt from the site. I was impressed by how inexpensive they were. I admire that because many people can’t afford some of these souveneers. They can spread the word and the story of Medugorje with these rosaries. As we walked back to the town I thought about how this site is truly a modern day miracle. It will be remembered and pilgrimaged for hundreds of years to come.
I poked my head inside the church where hyms were playing and walked up to the large statue of Mary to say a prayer before heading out. The church also had a massive outdoor canopy that is necessary to accommodate for the large crowds that come here. They even had an entire row of confessionals in different languages so everyone can use them.
We asked Asad if he knew any local restaraunts to eat at before we reached the Croatian border. We stopped in a small town called Pocitelj for lunch. This was another Muslim mountain town. White stone, castle roads, tall Mosques and to top it all off, a clear turquoise river gently running alongside it. Ryan and I decided to climb the ruins to get some photos while our food was being made. It was a tough climb up through the city and there was such a gorgeous view from the top. After lunch, we continued our journey to Croatia. Once we hit the ocean, I understood why people say Croatian coast is an unspoiled gem. The ocean was deep blue, crystal clear, turquoise green waters and gently met the rocky beaches along the islands. The tiny villages had white stone facades and rust red colored roof tiles. The colors complemented each other so well. Winding down the rad towards Dubrovnik was so nice. We would come across an inlet and see a person swimming in the clear water… I just wanted to jump in right then and there.
Adas dropped us off and we said farewell. He dropped us off right at the edge of the old city wall. Dubrovnik reminded me of Italy a bit. The whole city is made out of marble. It had the red roof tiles and was right on the coast. The thin alley we walked into descended way down into the large main city street. We headed down to find the tourist office because we neede a place to sleep. They called these two old ladies down to show us a room. These women were so damn funny! They didn’t speak any English but were so excited that we were going to see their house. Their place was right inside the old city walls… a perfect place to stay and an excellent find being in peak tourist season. Ryan, Mike and I walked out to explore the city. There was an occasional bullethole in the walls because even this Dalmatian Gem didn’t escape the horrors of war. Ryan and I bought football jerseys to bring back to the US. I didn’t really like the Italia jerseys, which would’ve been my team, but I got the French jersey instead because it looked better. I chose Zidane’s #10 because he was the guy who head butted the Italian because he was called a terrorist.
That night we hit the town. We went walking around just outside the city walls and down across the bay on some rocks. There was an amazing view of the old port and the sea wall of the city. The moon was setting and it was almost a full red color. It was so clear, probably due to the lack of pollution. There was a nice club there called East West, so the music was bumping in the distance. We hit up another club across town and Ryan bought our cover for us. We met three Irish girls there. I only remember two of their names… Aisling and Aifa. We all went walking the city later and ended up watching the sun come up on the rocks.
9.2.06 Lopad Beach, Crotia
Today Mike and I took a ferry to Lopad, an island one hour from Dubrovnik. Ryan couldn’t go because he got new that his Grandfather is dying and he needed to figure out how to get home. This was a very small island with a few beaches scattered around it. We walked across up and over the mountain to a small beach on the other side of the tiny port. It was amazing how clear the water was. So far, I think the Greek beaches are a little better than they are here. The island was full of pine trees and smelled like it too.
I was out swimming in the cove and this girl approached me. She said, “Hey! Didn’t I ride with you on bus to Auschwitz?” First traveler contact! Jill introduced me to her other two friends Gina, a teacher from Lebanon, and Emma, a fashion designer from Australia. We talked and Gina gave me some great info about traveling the Mid East.
We said we’d meet up with them later in Dubrovnik that night. Tonight was our farewell to Ryan because he had to leave in the morning to see his Grandfather. We bought some wine and drinks for the girls and walked to meet them at the “standing stone.” This is a small stone that juts out of one of the building walls on the main town street. It is folk lore that if you can stand on the stone flat against the wall, take your shirt off, and put it back on without falling, you’ll be a good lover. I am a horrible lover. I was pretty intimate with my face smashed against the stone wall though. We ordered pizza and carried it out to our place out on the rocky terrace overlooking the city and cove. Those girls had some pretty amazing stories. Emma told me to go to a place called Fethiya in Turkey where you can sleep in tree houses! I might have to check that out.
After the ladies said goodnight, we started walking through the old city and made one last stop at a “people watching” café off of the main street out in front of this cathedral. They only have couches sitting out on the cobblestone with tiny little coffee tables to put your drinks on. Ryan told us to save him a chair and ran off. We’re all pretty much half asleep and out of nowhere the waitress comes by with three Dirty Martini’s! Ryan said it is just to put a little cap on the night. We all said our cheers and Ryan said he was so glad that he met us and was hangin with us the last week. Now I have a friend in San Fran and he said next time he fly’s to Denver on business, he’ll give me a ring. One thing he said which was really funny was “Hot chicks carry grenades…” He said he would be happy to jump on a grenade for us. Or basically be a wingman. He also told me about a game called Snaps. You tell someone to whisper a celebrity name into your ear. You then look at your partner in crime and they try to guess it. It seems like your friend has mad telephathy skills and reads my mind just by looking at me. I won’t tell how to do it though. You have to figure it out for yourself.
9.3.06, Lokrum Island, Cliff Diving
Mike and I took a ferry to the island just off the coast of Dubrovnik, called Lokrum. The beaches here were phenomenal.We hiked all around the island looking for a place to cliff dive and found some beautiful coves and cliffs. Once again, the water here was so clear. We found a nice cove that had a rope swing and was totally closed off from the ocean view. It had a giant underwater tunnel that let out into the deep ocean blue.
We finally found an area with sharp, jagged, massive cliffs and headed out along them to try and find an area that was jumpable. Occasionally we would come across some naked bronzing German guy, or a naked tanning girl but it is impolite to stare… so we just took a few quick glanses instead. This place we found was so cool. There was nobody around. It was just Mike and I. As we are climbing over the sharp rocks, I come across this cliff that falls down into this little cove. It “looks” jumpable, but I was scared I’d hit something if I was to jump blind. I hiked down to the base of the water to get in and see how deep it was. It was very deep. It actually kind of creeped me out. The rocks were razor sharp, I would get cut if I touched them so I stayed away from the walls. If a swell slammed me up against it… well it would hurt very bad. I eased my way into the water and floated out into the cove. It was about 25 feet wide and was surrounded by stark white cliffs that liked like giant knives thrusting up out of the deep blue water. The white rock made the water look so blue it was just flat out gorgeous. I could see all the way to the bottom which was probably about 70 or 80 feet down. I was a little scared because I didn’t know much about the tides and such and I didn’t know if there were sharks or any other dangers. And it is scary when you are the only one out there. You didn’t see someone else out there doing it and you joined them… no, we were away from anyone… nobody knew we were out here. Well I decided to suck it up and jump off once I climbed back up and around from the opposite side of the cove. That was the only way to get back up was to try and climb up the sharp rocks and walk along the cliff back to the jump point. I even had to jump over a gap that dropped 60 feet to the water. I don’t know what it is, but I love that feeling of knowing that you’re about to do something unsafe, but something inside compels you to do it anyway. I’m standing on the edge, looking down into the turquoise blue, crystal clear water and I see a school of hundreds of tiny fish shimmering in the light out in the cove below me. That would be my target. I counted out loud so Mike could take a photo of me. 3…2…1… I lept out as far as I could, hearing the rush of the air getting louder in my ears as I fell faster and faster. I wore sandals to break the water. CLACK! SPLOOOOSH…..silence. I was about 10 feet under the surface lokking at all the white foamy bubbles I had caused rushing to the surface. I emerged and yelled out “whoooo hooo!” What an adrenaline rush. My splash was still falling on my head from when I entered the water. That was a new adventure for me. I was jumping into the unknown, pioneering a cliff dive. So Mike was next… “Cannonball!” We spent the entire day jumping here. I loved to show off to the occasional Kayak excursion that would float around the deserted part of the island where we were and pass by. Someone would say… “look! That guys going to jump!” and they’d all pull out their cameras as I did a cool dive into the ocean. Loved every second of it.
It was a little awkward though because our climbing route to get back to the top went right by this naked fat dude tanning by a rock encloseure. It is so strange when you think you’re completely alone and then, WHOOOA, you almost step on a fat naked guy hiding somewhere in the jagged rocks. Creepy. I never said anything to him, just walked by about 30 times. He was named “Sand Bag,” “Sayo’s” evil cousin… inside joke. We took the ferry back feeling very satisfied by quenching my adrenaline thirst.
9.4.06 Dubrovnik to Korcula (pronounced Korchula)
Today is our last day in Dubrovnik, so we thought we would walk out along the city wall and swim there on the rocks. The salt density must be higher because it was so easy to float. You could just cross your legs, put your arms on your head and hold your breath! I didn’t even need a floaty! The one thing to watch out for is sea urchins. They are everywhere on and in between the rocks. Stepping on one means a lot of pain. We spent half a day swimming, then had to catch a bus to the next island up the coast to Korcula Town. Mike and I had to run to the bus station in order to catch it, but when we arrived at the ticket office they were sold out. We put our heads together and thought we could possibly bribe the bus driver to let us stand in the aisle with no ticket… and it worked!
I spent the 3 hour trip standing but riding through thte coves and cliffs and mountains was worth the view. On the bus I ran into another couple I met at Auschwitz! The British couple from Exeter, England, Andy and Carolyne. They told us to stay at this hostel, One Love Backpackers Hostle, and we’d find a crazy guy holding a sign at the bus station. He was the owner, a guy from South Afrika named Zee. I guess he was on some kind of reality TV show like the Real World, but in South Afrika… Big Brother. We found him and followed him back to the hostle. It had a chill bar in the basement and very nice rooms. I recommend this place in a heartbeat to anyone traveling here.
Mike and I walked into our rooms and ran into Kim the couchsurfer from San Sabastian and Pamplona! I also ran into two people I met in Sarajevo and Sighisoara. The place was pretty active already so we just started to have a good time right off the bat. That night I met a lot of cool people. One guy was from Austalia and he told me that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter was killed by a sting ray. We all had a drink for Steve. This guy I was talking to was an X-Aussie Army soldier and fought in Iraq and Afganistan. I talked to him a little about it and he sounded as if he was an American soldier. He didn’t like terrorists, we’ll just put it that way. I also met this teacher from Bulgeria named Aylin. She told me something worth remembering. There are two types of jobs one can get. One is a job that you enjoy doing, and you do it all the time. The other job is one that you have to pay for what you enjoy doing. She enjoys biking around the world and it is convenient for her because she is a teacher and has three months to travel every summer.
9.5.06 Korcula Beach
Spent the whole day on da-beach-mon… It was rocky but still nice. There was a buoy about 75m out and I would occasionally jump in and swim to it. Mike and I bought goggles so we could see the seabed. Nothing too exciting except rocks and sea urchins. I have to not this because I know some of you are wondering… yes, it is a topless beach… and I like it very much. For lunch we went to this awesome place called Fresh. It was a little shack near an alley buy the old city that had some really good cheap wraps and smoothies.
That night was the celebration Moarco Polo. Korcula claims to be the home of this famous global explorer. There was a sea battle re-enactment which was honestly kind of lame. Except when the guards ignited the gunpowder cannons that I happened to be standing right next to. BOOM…(ringing.) I lost hearing for a good ten minutes.
I went back to the hostle and watched Anchor Man with Will Ferrell. Outside was a big dance party that the town set up with free burgers, hot dogs, and wine. They lit off some firewords too. Eventually we were all out there dancing and everyone wanted me to breakdance, so I did. Mike says everyone goes crazy when I do that. Good times, nasty wine, good burgers, fireworks, singing, dancing = a very good night.
9.6.06 Korcula
We went to a beach a little further down the coast from the old city this time. It was right off the rocks and was of course a beautiful view of the Croatian mountainous coastline. We ran into Kim and hung out with her the rest of the day. “Sandbag” had thankfully not shown up that day. Kim said she would like to go on our little boat adventure Mike and I had been planning since that French guy talked to us on that train in Romania.
Walking back to One Love, I ran into Zee sitting on the curb with his cowboy hat waiting for the next fresh batch of tourist to come out of the bus station. Kim and I sat with him for a while. He asked me if I knew what the most feared animal in all of Afrika is. It is a small, cute and cuddly little fellow known as the Honey Badger, but you should not be fooled by it. It attacks with lightning speed. It runs up to it’s prey and bites the balls right off any animal. That’s right, it will bite your balls off. Even Lions will see a Honey Badger and be like… “Fuck that! I’m outta here.” So now I truly know who is the King of the jungle.
The next morning had a ferry to catch. We were heading to the coast of Hvar and we have a new shipmate, Kim of San Francisco.
9.7.06 Hvar, Adriatic Sea, Croatia
Woke up around 5am and headed out. It was only about a 2hr ferry ride to get to Hvar because we were on a hydrofoil. As soon as we got there, we sat down to have some coffee and figure out what to do at Hvar. Mike, Kim and I decided to go rent a small motorboat and live on it for 2 days. We had some shopping to do so the grocery store was the next stop. I told them to buy canned foods so we could cook on the fire… which is illegal to have fires in this country, but whatever. Mike and I also bought green foam pads to sleep on the rocks with. We also brought two bottles of wine and some vodka for those clear cloudless nights.
The guy we rented our boat from was a little sketchy. We knocked the price down from 400 Kuna to 300 Kuna per day. He told us to meet him at the edge cliff of the port. He arrived with a larger boat than I expected! It had a canopy and room for 6 people with a motor on it. When he said, “I suppose you’ve all had experience with a boat before,” we all said, “of course!” (haha, ya right). He explained to me how the motor worked, how to ancor, and then we took off. We threw our grocery bags, backpacks, and sleeping pads into the boat and I was the first skipper. It was kind of scarey navigating through the main port where these huge shipping boats cruised in next to us in our tiny boat but I just kept heading out and out and out towards the islands off in the distance. It was such an amazing feeling of freedom to do whatever you wish and to go wherever you want. I steered the boat out about 3 miles until we hit the first cluster of islands and followed those coastlines for a while. The water was so clear and blue, you could constantly see the seabed… and this wasn’t shallow water. It had to be at least 100ft deep. Clear, crystal clear.
Most of the day was made up of anchoring off a coast here and there, diving in, swimming to shore, snorkeling, avoiding sea urchins and just floating around. It was a blast. Kim studied to be a Marine Biologist in college, so she was telling me all about the weird looking aneamies and urchins we found.
I pulled into this bay/cove that had a few boats here and there, but we were looking for a covered place to build a small fire. We found a flat and suddle sloping rock area to sleep on and an already made fire pit, (a few rocks angled upwards to block the view of the fire from the sea.) I started a fire and used small rocks as hot coals to lay around the cans of corn to be heated. It worked like a charm. They don’t want us to make fires out here because of the fear a fire will burn down the island. But realistically, we weren’t going to burn down anything so we made a fire anyway. I saw something really cool when I was walking over the sharp, wet rocks to jump onto the front of the boat and get my pocket knife. I saw an Eel hunting in between some rocks wedged below my legs. It was about 3 ft long. It was black and had white spots all over it. It had big, bulging eyes and sharp teeth. I watched it for a while impressed by nature’s creation and the way it lives and hunts to survive.
The moon rising that night was the best I’d ever seen. It was huge!!! An orange-red color. I tried to get some good photos of it but they wouldn’t do it justice. I was gazing up at the stars as we were lying out on the rocks drinking our “ocean-chilled” wine. A thought occurred to me about the many, many nights that I’ve pondered over the sky and our galaxy. All the shooting stars I’ve seen, all the satellites. It really brought me back to my Boy Scout days and all the fun times I had camping and trekking with my best friends. I remember looking up at the moon and thinking that 4 months ago I was staring at the same moon from my own backyard halfway across the world in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Back then I made a mental note that in the near future I would be looking up at this moon in an unknown place, far away from home. Well, now I’m in that once unknown place and it is not as scary as I once thought it would be… things are working out just fine… nothing to be scared of.
Kim, Mike, and I spent the night overlooking the Adriatic Sea, talking and reflecting on who we were in the past. What we were like in High School and College, etc. Kim seemed to get the impression that I was the All-American boy. I was in Boy Scouts, made Eagle, Captain of my High School swim team, etc. It made me feel good to hear that from someone. I’m proud to be American and I’m glad that it shows through. It really is sometimes hard to remember where you’re from when you are in such different places and you meet so many different people unlike you. It is important to have a little reality check every once and a while… that’s how you learn about yourself.
The night was very uncomfortable. Mosquitos were everywhere and all I had was pants, shoes, and my thin windbreaker to keep me warm. But at the same time I was glad to know that it is possible to do things like this without a tent. Don’t ever let yourself be stopped from doing something you want because you perceive it to be impossible… like camping without a tent… you just need to figure out an alternative.
Mike, Kim and I were joking before we went to bed that maybe this island is infested with Honey Badgers… sleep tight.
9.8.06 Adriatic Sea, Croatia, day #2
I am currently writing this on a rock, watching the sun rise up over the island in front of me. It is beautiful. I’m ready for another fun day in the sunshine and ocean blue. I ate some canned peaches for breakfast with my hand. We cruised out to our next location, off the far west coast of the island. Here we found some nice deepwater cliffs to jump. The water was more a dark blue instead of the turquoise near the island. This was deep water. Mike and I had to do a little rock climbing to get up to a good jump spot, swallow my fear of deep water and jump off into the cove. The water was a little colder today because we are on a wide-open sea front. If we were to take a boat off into the horizon, we’d end up in Italy a few days later.
Most of the day we just sunbathed and swam. I had to jump in and dive down 20ft to the anchor a few times and loosen it because it got stuck. We found a nice little rock shelf along the coast flat enough to sleep on for the night and claimed it as our camp spot. The sun was still out and we swam out into the glowing cove. It started shallow and got deeper and deeper. Schools of fish swam under my feet and a few really big colorful fishes deeper down. It was a good thing Mike and I bought goggles to see the ocean life and beauty. I just kept going, poking my head above the water occasionally to make sure I hadn’t drifted out to sea. I ended up all the way on the other side of the cove. Mike took some great photos of Kim and I floating in the sea with our legs crossed and arms folded behind our heads like we were sitting in lawn chairs. The water was so buoyant.
That night wasn’t as uncomfortable as the previous. We shared music and talked the night away, listening to the splish, splash, wish, wash of the lapping sea against our rock beds.
9.9.06 Hvar, Croatia
Our little adventure had to come to an end sooner or later. This morning was windy and cold. The water was not clear and waves were rocking the boat so hard we were worried it would get a hole punctured in the side from the sharp rocks. Lucky me, the anchor got stuck again and the others couldn’t dive down as far as I could, so I had to take my clothes off and jump into the now freezing gloomy water 25 ft to unhook the damn anchor. It was a nice chilly morning swim to wake me up. We motored on around the coast of the islands… it was shaped like a giant splatter blob with many coves and inlets, until we reached the main sea that separated it from the main island of Hvar. The boat was returned with no problems. Mike and I were pro’s at controlling the little boat and we anchored it right off the Old City sea wall to unload our bags. Our renter arrived and took the boat quick and easy. We walked into town a bit and someone asked us if we needed a room for a night. We were led up into the hills to the house and slept for the afternoon.
As I was walking along the sea walls of the old city that night I ran into Pippa, the British girl I changed clothes with in Transylvania. I said hi and talked briefly because it was a little awkward… I mean, we wore each others clothes at a cross dressing party, wouldn’t you be a little wierded out?
9.10.06 Hvar to Split to Ljubliana, Slovanja
Not a good day. I had nightmares last night and woke up feeling nervous and sweaty, like something was wrong but didn’t know what. It was 7am and our ferry left for Split on the mainland at 7:45. Kim, Mike and I packed up and started walking the 7minutes walk to the port. Everything was fine until Kim realized she left her bag and we kept walking while she ran back up into the hills to get it. So here is when one of the things I’ve dreaded not to happen to me…happened. Somewhere between the apartment and the ferry my bag must’ve busted open and my camera fell out. Either that or a pro pickpocket busted my zipper and stole my camera. I didn’t realize it until I was standing on the ferry dock and took off my shoulder bag. I immediately grabbed my stuff and jumped off the ferry. The ferrymen were pissed because the whole ship was waiting for Kim. I told the ferryman to hold on because she’s right around the corner. Kim came sprinting around the corner in the distance to catch the ferry but it had started to take off. Mike had no idea we didn’t make it until I saw him leaning against the rail on the front of the boat giving me the WTF look. I yelled at him “See you in Split?!”
The whole morning I frantically searched my pack and asked every ship owner/restraunt/café if they’d seen my camera and they all replied with a cold “no.” I left my email at the tourist office and police station just in case it would be returned, but I had lost hope. I spent a few hours filling out my insurance claim to get my money back for my stolen camera. I would have lost a lot of photos, but luckily I only lost my photos from Croatia and Medugorje. Which really sucked because I had some pretty extreme and AWESOME photos of Mike and I cliff diving off the coast of Lokrum.
Kim was helpful and gave me her digital photos of Croatia , so I had some. We got on the 1pm ferry to Split and met Mike at the dock. Kim said goodbye and headed off to her own adventures and Mike and I decided to get out of Croatia, it seemed time for a change. We bought a bus ticket to Ljubljiana, Slovanja for that night. It is 11 hours to travel north through the mainland of Croatia from Split.
We chilled for a few hours, walked around Split, ate a massive pizza sitting on the curb of an old smooth pearly cobblestone street, saw the Ancient Roman architecture and got on the bus. The next day is the anniversary of 9/11 so I was feeling very depressed and homesick. I know that will blow over, but it still sucks going through it.
SLOVANJA
9.11.06 Ljubljiana, Slovanja
The bus ride was 11 hours and was of course uncomfortable. We arrived at 4am in Ljublijana with nothing to do. Mike and I walked to our hostel to see if we could crash, but the guy said to come back later. We hung out at the train station café for a few hours and had some coffee and McDonalds. It was freezing cold and foggy. My mood was very down.
Later that day we took a walking tour of the city. I noticed our tour guide (a local Slovanjian) was wearing a USA hat with my flag on it. It made me remember 9/11 and made me very sad. Then again it made me feel good that at least some people in this world still remember. I didn’t say anything to the guy because I didn’t want to talk about it.
This place is actually pretty interesting, but then again, a city is a city and after a while they all start to look the same. While walking around I tried to figure out how many cities I’d been in since leaving the US and it’s about 53 so far. That’s quite a lot and they are all starting to look the same. I think I’m starting to get ready to leave Europe.
The city has a dragon to represent it. This is because the old legend of Jason and the Argonauts leads the hero Jason to this region where he is confronted by a nasty dragon in which he slays. There is a really neat Dragon Bridge that has four massive and fierce looking dragons poised with teeth bearing and wings up as a warning on the four corners of the bridge. I thought my Lions outside the SAE house in Lawrence were cool… These would just about scare anything away. The city seems to be a quiet, relaxing city nestled at the very southern tip of the Alps. It fortunately avoided the war and Fall of Yugoslavia because it kept to itself and played a neutral role. They claimed their independence and nobody had much of a problem with that. There was only ten days of bomb raids that Serbia tossed at Slovania. They basically just took out the radio and television towers in the hills surrounding the city.
That night was pretty uneventful. There was this creepy alley/bar area around the side of our hostel and everyone there was pretty much on drugs. There was this really messed up dude jamming and singing on an electronic keyboard and he sounded horrible, yet he had a massive crowd of zombie like people swaying to the beat in front of him. We got out of there fast.
I said my prayers for those whose lives were extinguished on this day 5 years ago and the suffering it has caused to so many of my own countrymen.
9.12.06 Ljubljiana +2
I compiled my notes and journals, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Mike and I hiked up to the castle at the top of one of the Alps hills. It is the center of the city. I could even see some hot air balloons drifting over the peaks in the distance.
That night our hostel put on a Sangria party. There were a lot of bands and people playing at thte hostle. There is definitely an art movement happening in this city. Artsy people, artsy bands and design… interior, graphic, architecture, is everywhere. There was a band playing in an ally was behind the hostel and I could have sworn that the dud was Zach de la Rocca’s twin brother from Rage Against the Machine. He sounded so bad ass. The band was called Moveknowledgment. We listened and walked around for a while talking to people. I ran into another two Brits we met in Belgrade and more Briths from Korcula. I have run into about 12 people I know since leaving home.
9.13.06 Bled, Slovanja
One of the two Brits I met last night had been to this place called Bled up in the Alps before. He said it was really cool, especially the extreme sports scene up there. One of them gave us this guys phone and address to call when we get there to hook us up. The other Brit, Will from England, went with Mike and I as well.
Damian, our contact picked us up at the Bled train station with his wife Mama. He was unbelievably friendly. Apparently we were the only ones staying in his hostel that night, XXL Hostel. It was really his house with a very nice bar in his basement. Damian organized all kinds of extreme sports to do in Slovanja. It surprised me to see such an old guy interested in such extreme new sports. He must have been in his late 70’s! There was rafting, kayaking, sky diving, off roading, caving and canyoning. We decided to go Canyoning since I’ve never heard of this sport before and it looked and sounded very cool. We would leave to go up to the canyon tomorrow morning.
Damian drove us around a bit and showed us his tiny mountain village before taking us back to Bled so we could walk around a bit. He dropped Mike, Will and I off and told us to meet here at 7pm to be picked up. There is a gorgeous lake here in Bled. It has to be one of the most beautiful scenic natural landscapes I’ve seen. There is a large lake out the base of a steep cliff and the large jagged Southern Alps. In the very middle of the lake, there is a very small island with a beautiful castle perched on it, reflecting timelessly in the water around it. The castle is literally just as big as the island. It was so beautiful to see the Church tower rise up in contrast against the greenery of the Alps. We hiked up a Cliffside to a castle on the edge of the lake to take in the view and then walked around the lake until 7pm.
Damian and Mama prepared one of the best meals I’ve had since I left. He was very proud that his food only comes from the farmers of his town. He only goes to the grocery stores for milk. We had a delicious soup, then salad, then a main meal of cooked meats and fries, then ice cream. We also had a nice Merlot local wine, that you could only get in this part of Slovenja.
9.14.06 Canyoning in Bled
Damian called his extreme friend and set up a time around noon to come and pick us up at the bus station for canyoning. We had a morning to burn, so Damian drove us out to the Gorge Vintgar. It is a beautiful Gorge that you follow through the narrow canyon walls on a wooden path walkway. I really can say that this is the clearest water I’ve seen. I swear it. It was so clear that in parts, you could hardly tell there was even water there at all! It just looked like a bunch of rocks in a basin. The walkway led to bridges over waterfalls and was just plain gorgeous. Something out of a National Geographic. We continued out of the gorge and walked up into the hills back toward Bled.
Bori, our extreme sports guy picked us up at the bus station. He seemed like a really cool dude. We drove about 20 minutes deeper into the Alps and stopped at this little cabin to get out. He tossed all of us a wet suit and said…change. We put on our wetsuit pants, shoes and crotch-vest zip ups. He told us it is nice to have such padding because your nuts when you jump from high places into the water. We walked up this dirt path to the start of the gorge. He told us that you should always bend your knees when jumping in because you will hit the bottom on some of these waterfalls. So, with that I began my first ever Canyoning experience. Standing at the top of this busted up damn, on the other side was a rust bar cable latter. I jumped into the water, swam over to the dam edge, hopped over the wall and climbed down the rusty latter about 20 ft. I ended up facing another cliff, this one about 15 ft. We are basically following the stram down a really thin gorge. So we come to the cliff. The walls are only about 6 ft in diameter around the hole I’m about to jump into. Bori tells me to just jump. I’m standing there looking down into what seems to be a tiny puddle at the bottom of this hole. His words of advice were, “Don’t hit a rock.” I jumped off through the narrow walls and down into the ice cold mountain water. The wet suit actually kept most of the water out, but my head and face were beet red from the cold. I came up and was in a tubular hole about 6 ft in diameter as well with a small waterfall drizzling down from above. “Are you OK?” Bori yelled, echoing down the gorge. I gave him the thumbs up. He said, “Good, now float over to the next cliff edge and wait.” I swam to a point where the water level and the cliff edge made a nice smooth surface slide down to the next puddle. I grabbed on and turned around to watch Mike and Will make the jump. The next jump was higher than the first. This time it was only a 4ft diameter hole and looked like we were about to jump into a long narrow pool. We all jumped again and I turn around to see Bori do a front flip into the waterhole! This time he said, “OK, next you will go headfirst!” We approached the next cliff and I saw something that reminded me of that scene in The Goonies when they jumped down that cave waterslide to escape the Fertellies, but this was real. It was a thin, tube tunnel carved into the rock and smoothed by thousands of years of water running down it. I jumped down it. It was so fun, the natural tubeslide made a sharp curve at the end before plunging off and down into another deep waterhole. When I looked up I saw the rising smooth grey rock walls and sunlight creeping down it. I couldn’t see the sky because we were so far deep into the canyon gorge. We did a few more slides and jumps down further into the gorge until we reached a cable that stretched across a deep paralleling gorge. Bori hooked up a zip line to it and the next thing I knew, I was zipping over another waterfall! It was so unbelievably fun! I have a new favorite extreme sport. Canyoning! As we slithered and slip-n-slided down the remainder of the gorge we came out the bottom to see some sunlight. We had to repel off the waterfalls a few times to get out. This was something that I’ve had some experience with, but not off a waterfall! The rock was wet and slick and your getting a facefull of water at the same time. Bori seemed to like us and thought we did alright so he asked us if we wanted to do one more jump. He free climbed back up this dry cliff and hooked up a rope. When I got to the top I looked down into the abyss before me, a waterfall on the opposite side. This hole was about 10 ft in diameter and about 30 ft deep. It was an awesome rush. I counted to three and jumped way out into the hole, seconds later splashing down and washing through a small maze of smooth rocks back to the end point.
We hiked back to the car and Bori offered us some Blueberry Snapps. This was some good local stuff. It actually had real Blueberries floating in it. We all took 2 shots to get warmed back up. Bori had some time to burn and so did we. He said he would take us the long way back to show us the mountains a bit. It was getting a little gloomy and started to drizzle, but that was ok. The clouds capped over the tall peaks and was stunning. He took us to this lake with an outdoor bar and sat down for a drink. I was interested in Bori and how he ended up doing rafting and canyoning and ice climbing. He told me that he used to be a downhill ski racer and was on the Slovanjian National team. He was even friends with Bodi Miller, the American Downhill Skiing Olympian. One day he wiped out and broke his legs and that pretty much ended it for him. He also added that they do heli-skiing in the winter. This is when they jump out of a helicopter onto a mountain peak and ski or snowboard down it. I told him that we both grew up in very similar places and we both learned to love the mountains from a very young age. We talked for an hour or so about skiing before he drove us back to Damians. He hung around with us for a while in the basement and then took off when Mama and Damian brought out some home cooked goulash and bread. It was the perfect thing to have after a day of jumping and swimming in mountain water.
Two British girls joined us that evening, Becca and Harri. We told them all about the Canyoning and convinced them to go the next day. That night we played guitar and talked about our travels.
Next Mike and I will head up into Austria and Germany for the biggest beer festival in the world... OKTOBERFEST!!!
8.28.06, Belgrade, Serbia
My first impression of Belgrade was… damn, this place doesn’t look like much fun. It was raining and gloomy overcast all day. We ran into these two French-Canadian girls on the train, Crystal and Sara, and went to get some food with them. We exchanged our stories and ate kabobs, then split to go find a hostel. This hostel was pretty sweet. It is called Monster Hostel and it’s pretty much a loft flat above the city with a great balcony and chill room that has a great view. We were so tired that Mike and I crashed until dark.
Later that night, we were in the main hangout room on a computer and the French girls walked in! They were supposed to take a train to Budapest, but I guess they missed it and remembered which hostel we were staying at. We got a few beers and sat out on the balcony loft with these three local Belgrade guys. I found it interesting to hear these guys speak in English because their accents were so thick. It struck me that this guy is for real. He sounded like a Russian bad guy out of a James Bond movie. But this wasn’t a movie! They actually sound like that! He was telling me about the war in 1999, which at the time I didn’t really know anything about it. They said that there is a war museum here that contains the wreckage of an American Stealth Bomber that was shot down by a Serbian farmer with an RPG. They called him a National Hero. It sounded a little bogus to me but I figured I would go tomorrow and see for myself. We talked about sports and stuff. They knew the Denver Nuggets and Carmelo Anthony!
We decided to head into unknown territory and head into Bosnia. We had absolutely no idea what Bosnia was like and honestly, I was scared to go. I have heard nothing but war, war, war and movies like “Behind Enemy Lines” with Owen Wilson don’t portray this country to be a friendly place. Mike and I were trying to get to Dubrovnik, Croatia and the shortest route is through Sarajevo, Bosnia. We were a little hesitant because we thought the boarders would be difficult to get through… but you never know unless you find out for yourself.
8.29.06 Belgrade, Night bus to Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Mike and I found out our bus times, headed to the bus station and checked our bags into some lockers to leave them there for the day. So far Belgrade has been nothing but cold and rainy. Our bus didn’t even leave until 10:30pm, so we had an entire day of exploring the city. I grabbed my camera and we headed off.
We made our way North to find the Citadel Stronghold of the city and made our way through the alleyways and market places to get there. I found some places that look like a war zone, and probably was 6 years ago. There were bullet holes in a few walls and half standing buildings stand here, but most of the city looked new, clean, and friendly. I know from being in Germany and other European cities that when a city looks “new” like that, chances are it was completely destroyed within the last couple of decades. The tough part about navigating through was that the street signs were all in a “serylic” alphabet. Stuff like UTZA and other characters that I can’t type on this computer. They were not phonetics. We pretty much guessed our way up to the citadel.
Here I found old war equiptment, cannons, tanks, large mobile machine guns that were placed about outside. These were remenants of the war in 1999. I still had no idea what this war was about. I didn’t know who was fighting who and why… just that a bad war ended in 1999. It was creepy to see these machines of war all rusted up and camouflaged. I could just picture them roaming around through the forest on the hills. I walked into the Serbian War History Museum. I was hoping to learn more about the recent conflicts of Serbia in this museum and find out why they were at war so much.
Most of the museum contained artifacts all the way back from 1,000 BC. As you walk through, you travel through time to all the major wars fought by Serbia. After the WWI part I noticed that it ended. There was only one room left and it was about the 1999 war. Hmmmm…. What happened to WWII??? It is an interesting fact that Serbia was allied with Hitler and Nazi Germany during that war. What an interesting thing to OMIT from history?! Anyway, I ignored that and headed into the last room, the 1999 exhibit. The first thing I see is a giant plaque map on the wall showing the paths of American and NATO war planes and where they struck… SERBIA. Inside, they had an assortment of US and NATO weapons on display. The thing that disturbed me the most were the two uniforms of American pilots who were shot down, captured and killed, that were hanging up on the wall like it was some kind of damn trophy. Next to it was a piece of wreckage of a Stealth bomber the pilots were in when they were shot down. They also had on display “Uranium Bullet shells,” that NATO forces supposedly used on the Serbs. I don’t know if I can believe that. The reason why I was so pissed about this is because they didn’t mention one thing about what Serbia was doing at the time. They didn’t explain why the Americans and NATO bombed them. Instead they used it as propaganda to show how powerful Serbia is and finger pointed the US as bad guys who the Serbs somehow got the best of… which they didn’t. They lost the war, they lost everything. There was not one reference to the thousands of people they killed heading into Bosnia and the 11,000 people they killed during the Siege of Sarajevo. They didn’t mention that the US and NATO got involved to stop the Serbs mass murder and Genocide that they were committing. And they call this place a “History” Museum. There was an Impressions Book left on a table before the exit that people could write there opinions in. I read some. Not too many Americans, so I felt obligated to represent my country. Some people called the US Terrorists!!! Some people referred to the United States as Nazi’s. To me these people have absolutely no concept of what happened here and are blinded by a hate towards the US and NATO for radical reasons. My impressions of Serbia grew slightly dimmer after visiting their war museum.
We took a walk around the modern town because we had a few more hours left before our bus took off. Belgrade actually seems like a nice city. The sun eventually came out. It had a ton of shops and was a very fashionable, contemporary place. We walked till dark and ended up at a large Muslim-esque Church. It was obviously a Mosque before turned into a church. The fountains outside it were beautifully lit up with blue lights in the water and a fountain show would go off every 15 minutes or so.
With the day coming to an end, Mike and I made our way back to the bus station. While checking out our bags we met Ryan Schultz, a guy who does financial work for Microsoft and X-Box in San Francisco. We became friends right off the bat and we were all going to Sarajevo on the night bus. We even happened to have seats next to each other on the crowded, stuffy, double decker bus.
The movie they played on the bus surprised me a little. First of all, they started the movie at 11pm and they blasted the sound. So there was no chance of going to sleep. The movie was super violent and sex scenes ran rampant! This was on a public bus! I actually thought it was kind of funny, it was some French Cop movie. When we got to the Bosnian border, about 10 guys were forced to get off the bus and they never got back on… hmmmm.
8.30.06, Sarajevo, Bosnia
Where to begin… this city blew my mind away and is probably one of my favorite cities in all of Europe. The bus was winding around in the mountains right around the fog line where you couldn’t see the mountain tops. I woke up on the bus and looked down below me. I saw a beautiful city surrounded completely by green mountains. The houses were sparse up on the hill, but gradually became more dense around the cliffs and into the city center. It was POURING rain. The kind of rain that soaks you completely through within a 20 seconds. We got off, put on our rain gear and tried to gain our bearings. The city was nowhere around us. We must’ve passed the main city and ended up in some side village. We walked about half a mile in the pouring rain with our gear to the local ATM/Bankomat, got our some cash and walked all the way back to the bus drop off. We were soaking wet and so was our gear. We hailed a taxi to take us to Sarajevo.
Now I thought Belgrade looked a little War-torn… my jaw dropped when I saw the destruction of this city. Bullet holes were everywhere, on every building, sign, anywhere my eyes landed. There were shrapnel pockets and grenade blasts that punched holes right through the painted concrete walls of the city. Some buildings looked like swiss cheese. Of course rubble wasn’t on the ground, but most buildings weren’t re-built do to a serious lack of money. Despite the marks of war, the rain, and the cold, I still looked in awe at the city and how scenic and naturally beautiful it is. One thing that surprised me was the heavy Muslim and Arabic influence the city had. There were mosques, synagogues and cathedrals mixed together throughout the town. I still couldn’t see the mountain tops because of the fog. I just saw the houses rise up and out of the city and then just disappear into the heavy fog that blanketed directly over the city. It was so cool looking. The fog was not in the city. It was crystal clear. The fog was hovering thickly above the city. I haven’t seen such a cool weather effect before.
We came to this hostel only to hear from people crashing there that it was infested with bed bugs. We complained to the front desk about it and they brought us down the street to stay with this wonderful old woman named Hana. She didn’t speak a word of English, but welcomed us as if we were her own sons. So Mike, a British fellow named Alfie, and myself had a room together in this genuine Bosnian house. The hostel fortunately organized a tour for that day even though it was raining, foggy and cold.
The tour was incredible. Although it was raining the entire time, I know understand a little more about the horrible history of Sarajevo and its role in the Fall of Yugoslavia during the ‘90’s. The first place we stopped at was the man made underground tunnel entrance that desperately tried to sneak in the food, water, gas, medical supplies and weapons that the city needed to survive. This was a tunnel so small that I had to bend over in and so narrow I couldn’t extend my elbows to the walls. The city was completely surrounded from the hills around them by the Serbian Army, who wanted to take Sarajevo as their new capital city. So this tunnel was necessary because the city was totally cut off from the outside world. Everything was cut off. It was the only lifeline Sarajevo had to support thousands of suffering people. The Serbs couldn’t take the city through force, miraculously enough, so they tried to starve the people of Sarajevo and snipe/bomb/and rocket innocent civilians from their elevated position in the mountains to try to make the city give up. The men who talked to us when we walked into this house covered in camouflage netting showed us a 20 minute film of the destruction and Siege of Sarajevo. It was horrible. Completely horrible. People would be walking down the streets when a mortar smashed into a car or blew out a floor of the Holiday Inn Hotel and they would run for their lives for cover. Old men, women, children getting killed by snipers walking from the grocery store or playing on swing sets. It amazes me that this once wonderful, culture friendly and modern city that held the 1984 Winter Olympic Games fell victim to war. I remember seeing on the news war clips of Yugoslavia (which is now broken down into the countries of Serbia, Bosnia, Slovakia, Slovanja, and Croatia) and its refugees when I was a kid, but to stand here, now, and witness the city was a heavy experience.
I was looking around at the photos, weapons, grenades and other memorabilia in the room and noticed the guy who played the video for us was in many of the photos displayed. He was younger but it was obviously him. This must have been his house and he talked unlike most history tour guides do… He was actually there. This wasn’t something he studied in college or read out of a book. This was him. It happened to him, his friends, his family, his city. I walked down into the tunnel and tried to imagine what it was like to haul enough supplies and equipment through that tiny space for an entire city to survive… for 4 YEARS. As I walked out, I didn’t really know how to say thanks because it is something so personal to him. I just shook his hand and said thanks for sharing this information with us.
Next we drove to the Jewish Graveyard one of the hills in the “bowl” like geographical location of the city, facing to the large city towers and the Holiday Inn Hotel. This is where Serb snipers sat day after day sniping citizens of Sarajevo. Nobody was safe. Like I said before, old Men and Women walking down the street to get some bread, shot. For nothing. From this point, the snipers could hide behind the gravestones and still have a view of the city, especially “Snipers Alley.” This was considered the large cross section area between two major streets, the Holiday Inn and the two Twin Towers. Many people were shot dead in the street here, blind to their own killer. Children were even sniped on their swing sets here. So, the Bosnians would drape a massive curtain between the buildings to blind the snipers. Of course it was torn full of bullet holes, but it seemed to be temporarily effective. Sunny, our tour guide was 13 years old when The Siege happened. He said his favorite curtain was a massive pink one that had Pink Floyd written on it.
From here, Sunny explained to us the history of Sarajevo in great detail. It is a very open and accepting place. There are only a few cities in the World where Jews, Muslims, and Christians live peacefully with each other. There is a large Muslim influence here. During WWII, the Nazi’s couldn’t find a very sought out Jewish book which they knew was somewhere in the city. They looked searched the city for it but never found it because the Muslims of the city had hid it in a Mosque to protect the Jews! He also explained his intense dislike for the U.N. They were supposed to help Sarajevo and other cities in Yugoslavia, but did an incredibly poor job of it. They would fly over and drop “food” crates, which turned out to be stale 1973 cookies in large metal boxes. He said they loved the boxes, but hated the cookies. There is a book called “The Siege of Sarajevo Cookbook,” which tells the many ways the civilians used the stale cookies for ingredients to make meals. He said the cookies took a long time to get used to. They also dropped useless things like condoms and needles! At least the people of Sarajevo are practicing safe sex while being slaughtered. Every once and a while, they would leave tanks in the city and they were even fired upon from the Serbs in the hills, yet they never returned fire. The U.N. was worthless.
The most amazing thing about The Siege of Sarajevo is that they survived! The stories of how the citizens went about their daily business despite being constantly shelled and sot at is what kept hope for Sarajevo. The Serbs could not break them. One story was about an old man who was walking across Sniper Alley bringing a plastic jug of water back to his home. Snipers shot at him, but intentionally punctured holes in his jug so he water drained out. The old man turned and looked right up to the cemetery and flipped them the bird then ran off. He survived to tell the tale. Another example is that the first Sarajevo Annual Film Festival was organized and put on during The Siege. Students would go out to the hills and fight in the morning, then return later in the day, turn in their guns and go to school and study every day. That shows the spirit and will to survive that the Sarajevans displayed in which the Serbs could not break.
The last part of the tour was driving around the city from the hill tops. Just to give us a view of Sarajevo and how beautiful it was before the war and still is in my opinion. I felt so bad for Sunny, our guide. He was my age. As a matter of fact, most of the people I talked to lived through this hell. Even the our lovely Hana who’s guest we were in her house. I could see the sorrow and sometime anger in Sunny’s face when he talked. He told me that occasionally he would get someone who was pro-Serb in his groups and they would call him a liar and a propagandist. He responded that he spoke only the truth because it happened to him.
Well, after the tour Mike, Ryan Schultz and I headed to a restaurant with a girl we met on the tour named Jacolyn Munro but we called her Low Jack. We went to this really nice Bosnian restaurant next to the flooded, roaring, dark red river tearing through the city. It was of course delicious. Next we walked by the bridge where the Duke Ferdinand was assassinated, sparking WWI.
Later, Mike, Ryan and I partied at the hostel with 2 Liter Beers in plastic jugs and headed to a local bar. I talked to some locals, which most of them were due to the lack of tourism in this country. I met a girl named Slavica who grew up somewhere South of Bosnia. To this day, I can’t imagine what it was like for her growing up in the 90’s. I just can’t imagine.
8.31.06, Trip to Mostar
Woke up nice and early to meet up with Ryan and Kate, a girl we met in the hostel, to take a bus to Mostar which is located in the Southwest of Bosnia. I am sad to leave Sarajevo but I know that we’ll find places just as cool on our trip. On the way to the bus station I saw a disturbing image and had another reality check as to what Sarajevo was like before the war and how that all changed overnight. There was a large billboard sign from 12 years ago that had a little wolf mascot on it and is said, “Welcome to the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic Winter Games!” It was a piece of the branding campaign left from the Olympics, directing people where to go who got off the trains. The disturbing thing was that it was completely torn and slashed up from shrapnel blasts and bullets. It is ironic really when you think about what the Olympic Games stand for vs. the chaos and havoc that war brings. The Olympics symbol stands for peace and unity but what does it say when it is full of bullet holes…
A lady at the train station saw us and asked us where we were going and told us that she has a friend in Mostar who would give us a room. The bus ride between Sarajevo and Mostar was one of the most beautiful rides I’ve ever seen. The bus winded through the tall, sharp, and very green mountains and cliffs. We passed through small villages and vibrant turquoise and teal blue lakes. I wish I could show you all what it looked like, but a photograph just wouldn’t do it justice. The village farmers made these weird looking dead hay stacks. They look like little huts, twisted and full of sticks poking out of them. They sit out in the fields by the hundreds. The stone here is very white which makes it very stark against the deep forest green pine trees. I can compare the beauty with that of Yosimite National Park and parts of Canada. Bosnia has such amazing scenic and natural beauty, but you’ll drive by small villages that are just blown apart and scarred with bullet holes and grenade shrapnel.
Mike had a wonderful time when he found out that there was no bathroom on the bus. He had to go sooo bad. I could just see it by the look on his face; Pale, sweaty, bloodshot eyes full of the panic… ya, he had to go bad. So he walked up to the driver and asked him to pull over. Surprisingly he did and Mike jumped out and ran behind some bombed out building. I was thinking to myself, “that was the last time I ever saw Mike Flappan. He jumped off a bus in Bosnia to take a dump and the bus driver just took off.” He got back on the bus, mission accomplished.
Mostar is a little out of the tall green mountains and more into the bold, tall white rocky mountains. You don’t ever want to wander off trails and up into them because there are hidden land mines scattered everywhere. Right as we got off the Bus, a lady was asking everyone if there name was Ryan. I said yes and she said her friend called and invited us to stay at her home. She was so friendly. As we were walking to the house I asked why there was some Muslim writing created in stone up on the mountain on the left and a cross is up on the mountain to the right. She said that one side of the river is Muslim and the other is Christian and they hate each other. So, the Christians put up a cross to piss off the Mulsims on the other side of the river, and vice versa. The Muslims view Jesus Christ as a prophet. In Islam, Jesus is the number 2 man and of course the Prophet Mohommad is the number 1 man. They still believe in Jesus to be a prophet from God, but they see it as blasphemy to Allah when Christains worship Jesus. They should be worshiping Mohommad and Allah. The Christians believe Jesus was the son of God. So there is a minor conflict there.
In her home I noticed photos of her with her children. On arrival there were two old ladies, probably family members, and some kids running around. There were no males. I guess that most of the Grandfathers, Fathers, and Sons were killed during the war.
Kate, Mike, Ryan and I walked into town to take some photos. It was unbelievably beautiful. I know I keep saying that, but each new place seems better than the last. Mostar was scarred with bulletholes and destroyed buildings as well, but it was really bad. Some had gaping holes in the sides from grenades. But they did rebuild, considering the city was completely destroyed in the war. The old city was really something. It was made of white sand colored stone, with Mosque towers standing out against the bright blue sky. The old bridge was the coolest thing though. It is very tall and 120 feet below is the deep but crystal clear river that divides the city. Mostar is not only known for the bridge, but for the Divers of Mostar. These are a group of young local guys who dive off the bridge and do flips, spins off the 120 foot bridge! It is VERY cool to see. But unfortunately they are ass holes as well. I found out from some lady that they are a bunch of ex-soldiers who have nothing better to do since the war than dive and pick fights with tourists. Ryan and I were talking at one end of the stone bridge and we had our cameras out to take a photo when they jumped off. One of the divers with a crew cut and full of tattoos walked by and must have miss heard us. He obviously didn’t speak English very well. All of a sudden this bucket of water gets poured right over Ryan’s head. We turned around and that tattood asshole in a speedo started swearing at us. Ryan just went off in a cussing storm at the guy. He was holding a $1,400 camera and that dude almost ruined it. The diver thought we were laughing and making fun of him. He thought we were planning on stealing his money or something ridiculous like that. We said absolutely nothing like that and didn’t even know who that diver was! I didn’t even see him until he dumped the bucket. This guy did look like he could kill someone, and probably has killed a lot of people, so we didn’t want to fight. We got the hell out of there and told a cop who said he would take care of it. He said that they actually punched out a tourist the other day. Not a friendly dude.
We walked through the tourist markets along the river cliffs and I saw a bunch of pens sitting on the table. They were made out of bullet shells and I’m sure they have more than enough in stock. I bought one to remember my trip here. It is disturbing that this is what they do make money, make things out of spent bullets they found in their city.
Ryan and I climbed up one of the Mosque3 towers for a good view of the city. We took a couple nice photos to send home to Mom. On the way back to our house to freshen up for the night, a guy approached us in a very friendly way. We decided to be friendly and talk to him. I noticed that he really just wanted money, but I let him talk anyway. When we told him that we don’t need a tour guide and we didn’t have any money to give him, he went into a plee mode. He told me that he was homeless and he had no family. I don’t enjoy writing about this, but the experience was shocking and I feel the need to record it. He said that his brother and father were killed in the war. He said he was 13 years old when he watched as his little sister ran through the streets to get to him and she was shot in the head by a sniper. I don’t know about his mother but she must have been killed as well. I hope that he wasn’t making that up. It would seem too shallow for a man to make something like that up. I gave him some change and said I’m sorry. What pissed me off though was that he wanted more. Usually they just say thank you and go away, but he continued his horror story. Ryan and I eventually got away from him. It is so sad of a thing to see people resort to begging.
That night we all went out for dinner along the river cliffs at a restaurant with a great view of the old bridge. After dinner we walked down along the narrow cobblestone streets by the bridge and heard music coming out of this cave entrance behind an old watchtower/Mosque structure. It turned out to be this really cool club inside. Of course we went in and checked it out. We sat up on a cave shelf with a table and bean bags because you sit on the floor. We ordered a hooka and chilled. At one point, all the lights went out and this girl started fire dancing on the floor of the cave. She was swinging balls of fire around her body on chains wrapped around her hands all over her body to the music. The bartender also lit two liquor bottles on fire and was juggling them, occasionally blowing fire out of his mouth when one passed in front of his face.
9.1.06 Medugorje and Dubrovnik, Croatia
Kate, Mike, Ryan and I rented a private driver to take us to Medugorje and into Croatia so we could take our time and stop to see some small villages and take photos. The drivers name is Adas and he is from Mostar. The ride to Medugorje was about 30 minutes away. We drove up the windy, steep cliffs surrounding Mostar to get to there. Medugorje is one of the most pilgrimaged places on the planet. Millions of people come here to pray, or possibly witness a miracle. Blind people, def, mute, handicapped walk the jagged stoney path from the tiny village to a place on the side of a mountain where a miracle occurred in the early 1990’s. Six teenagers were walking along the mountain hillside when an apparition of the Virgin Mary appeared to them floating just above the ground in front of them. She has appeared every day to the six teens since that day of the first appearance. The teens, no matter where they are or what they are doing will go into a trance-like state and will speak in a language as if they are praying. This could even happen in mid-conversation and all of a sudden they would go into trance. There have been claims that people who journey here have been healed of sickness, disease and disabilities.
Driving up and into the mountain village didn’t seem very different than any other. The most famouse landmark is the town Church. It has two large clocktowers and is very modern and contemporary. We parked and Asad said he would wait for us. We headed towards the church. There were groups of worshipers everywhere. There were private places to pray all around the church grounds. There wasn’t much time for us to spend here so we decided to head straight to the pilgrimage path up to the Apparition site. The path winded through grape vineyards and farmers backyards. I plucked a grape off the vine and ate it. Doesn’t get much fresher than that. There were people selling jars of honey and religious things like rosaries along the path. Everyone here was so genuine and friendly. They greeted me with a smiling and joyful expression on their face and they were always helpful to point us in the right direction. Once we reached the base of the mountain, the path turned to stones. They were white, rocky, and worn smooth from the millions of feet that have treaded over them. I was so surprised to see little old ladies walking up the difficult terrain. I was even more amazed to see that they were doing it barefoot! I guess it is a tradition or part of the ritual to hike the path barefoot. Halfway up there is a large cross that you can stop and enjoy the valley view below. It impressed me how quiet it was for the amount of people up there. I could hear the crickets chirp with a hundred people standing about. At the top there is a white marble statue of Mary. People kneel before it on the rocks and pray. It truly does have a powerful resonance to it. The aura is there. I kneeled and said a prayer of my own, took my time, and then walked about a bit noticing the faces and tears of the people around me. There were grave remembrance stones about and a cruxifition display a little ways up the slope from the statue.
On my way back down, I stopped to buy some rosaries for my family. They are made of chips off the path stones and contain dirt from the site. I was impressed by how inexpensive they were. I admire that because many people can’t afford some of these souveneers. They can spread the word and the story of Medugorje with these rosaries. As we walked back to the town I thought about how this site is truly a modern day miracle. It will be remembered and pilgrimaged for hundreds of years to come.
I poked my head inside the church where hyms were playing and walked up to the large statue of Mary to say a prayer before heading out. The church also had a massive outdoor canopy that is necessary to accommodate for the large crowds that come here. They even had an entire row of confessionals in different languages so everyone can use them.
We asked Asad if he knew any local restaraunts to eat at before we reached the Croatian border. We stopped in a small town called Pocitelj for lunch. This was another Muslim mountain town. White stone, castle roads, tall Mosques and to top it all off, a clear turquoise river gently running alongside it. Ryan and I decided to climb the ruins to get some photos while our food was being made. It was a tough climb up through the city and there was such a gorgeous view from the top. After lunch, we continued our journey to Croatia. Once we hit the ocean, I understood why people say Croatian coast is an unspoiled gem. The ocean was deep blue, crystal clear, turquoise green waters and gently met the rocky beaches along the islands. The tiny villages had white stone facades and rust red colored roof tiles. The colors complemented each other so well. Winding down the rad towards Dubrovnik was so nice. We would come across an inlet and see a person swimming in the clear water… I just wanted to jump in right then and there.
Adas dropped us off and we said farewell. He dropped us off right at the edge of the old city wall. Dubrovnik reminded me of Italy a bit. The whole city is made out of marble. It had the red roof tiles and was right on the coast. The thin alley we walked into descended way down into the large main city street. We headed down to find the tourist office because we neede a place to sleep. They called these two old ladies down to show us a room. These women were so damn funny! They didn’t speak any English but were so excited that we were going to see their house. Their place was right inside the old city walls… a perfect place to stay and an excellent find being in peak tourist season. Ryan, Mike and I walked out to explore the city. There was an occasional bullethole in the walls because even this Dalmatian Gem didn’t escape the horrors of war. Ryan and I bought football jerseys to bring back to the US. I didn’t really like the Italia jerseys, which would’ve been my team, but I got the French jersey instead because it looked better. I chose Zidane’s #10 because he was the guy who head butted the Italian because he was called a terrorist.
That night we hit the town. We went walking around just outside the city walls and down across the bay on some rocks. There was an amazing view of the old port and the sea wall of the city. The moon was setting and it was almost a full red color. It was so clear, probably due to the lack of pollution. There was a nice club there called East West, so the music was bumping in the distance. We hit up another club across town and Ryan bought our cover for us. We met three Irish girls there. I only remember two of their names… Aisling and Aifa. We all went walking the city later and ended up watching the sun come up on the rocks.
9.2.06 Lopad Beach, Crotia
Today Mike and I took a ferry to Lopad, an island one hour from Dubrovnik. Ryan couldn’t go because he got new that his Grandfather is dying and he needed to figure out how to get home. This was a very small island with a few beaches scattered around it. We walked across up and over the mountain to a small beach on the other side of the tiny port. It was amazing how clear the water was. So far, I think the Greek beaches are a little better than they are here. The island was full of pine trees and smelled like it too.
I was out swimming in the cove and this girl approached me. She said, “Hey! Didn’t I ride with you on bus to Auschwitz?” First traveler contact! Jill introduced me to her other two friends Gina, a teacher from Lebanon, and Emma, a fashion designer from Australia. We talked and Gina gave me some great info about traveling the Mid East.
We said we’d meet up with them later in Dubrovnik that night. Tonight was our farewell to Ryan because he had to leave in the morning to see his Grandfather. We bought some wine and drinks for the girls and walked to meet them at the “standing stone.” This is a small stone that juts out of one of the building walls on the main town street. It is folk lore that if you can stand on the stone flat against the wall, take your shirt off, and put it back on without falling, you’ll be a good lover. I am a horrible lover. I was pretty intimate with my face smashed against the stone wall though. We ordered pizza and carried it out to our place out on the rocky terrace overlooking the city and cove. Those girls had some pretty amazing stories. Emma told me to go to a place called Fethiya in Turkey where you can sleep in tree houses! I might have to check that out.
After the ladies said goodnight, we started walking through the old city and made one last stop at a “people watching” café off of the main street out in front of this cathedral. They only have couches sitting out on the cobblestone with tiny little coffee tables to put your drinks on. Ryan told us to save him a chair and ran off. We’re all pretty much half asleep and out of nowhere the waitress comes by with three Dirty Martini’s! Ryan said it is just to put a little cap on the night. We all said our cheers and Ryan said he was so glad that he met us and was hangin with us the last week. Now I have a friend in San Fran and he said next time he fly’s to Denver on business, he’ll give me a ring. One thing he said which was really funny was “Hot chicks carry grenades…” He said he would be happy to jump on a grenade for us. Or basically be a wingman. He also told me about a game called Snaps. You tell someone to whisper a celebrity name into your ear. You then look at your partner in crime and they try to guess it. It seems like your friend has mad telephathy skills and reads my mind just by looking at me. I won’t tell how to do it though. You have to figure it out for yourself.
9.3.06, Lokrum Island, Cliff Diving
Mike and I took a ferry to the island just off the coast of Dubrovnik, called Lokrum. The beaches here were phenomenal.We hiked all around the island looking for a place to cliff dive and found some beautiful coves and cliffs. Once again, the water here was so clear. We found a nice cove that had a rope swing and was totally closed off from the ocean view. It had a giant underwater tunnel that let out into the deep ocean blue.
We finally found an area with sharp, jagged, massive cliffs and headed out along them to try and find an area that was jumpable. Occasionally we would come across some naked bronzing German guy, or a naked tanning girl but it is impolite to stare… so we just took a few quick glanses instead. This place we found was so cool. There was nobody around. It was just Mike and I. As we are climbing over the sharp rocks, I come across this cliff that falls down into this little cove. It “looks” jumpable, but I was scared I’d hit something if I was to jump blind. I hiked down to the base of the water to get in and see how deep it was. It was very deep. It actually kind of creeped me out. The rocks were razor sharp, I would get cut if I touched them so I stayed away from the walls. If a swell slammed me up against it… well it would hurt very bad. I eased my way into the water and floated out into the cove. It was about 25 feet wide and was surrounded by stark white cliffs that liked like giant knives thrusting up out of the deep blue water. The white rock made the water look so blue it was just flat out gorgeous. I could see all the way to the bottom which was probably about 70 or 80 feet down. I was a little scared because I didn’t know much about the tides and such and I didn’t know if there were sharks or any other dangers. And it is scary when you are the only one out there. You didn’t see someone else out there doing it and you joined them… no, we were away from anyone… nobody knew we were out here. Well I decided to suck it up and jump off once I climbed back up and around from the opposite side of the cove. That was the only way to get back up was to try and climb up the sharp rocks and walk along the cliff back to the jump point. I even had to jump over a gap that dropped 60 feet to the water. I don’t know what it is, but I love that feeling of knowing that you’re about to do something unsafe, but something inside compels you to do it anyway. I’m standing on the edge, looking down into the turquoise blue, crystal clear water and I see a school of hundreds of tiny fish shimmering in the light out in the cove below me. That would be my target. I counted out loud so Mike could take a photo of me. 3…2…1… I lept out as far as I could, hearing the rush of the air getting louder in my ears as I fell faster and faster. I wore sandals to break the water. CLACK! SPLOOOOSH…..silence. I was about 10 feet under the surface lokking at all the white foamy bubbles I had caused rushing to the surface. I emerged and yelled out “whoooo hooo!” What an adrenaline rush. My splash was still falling on my head from when I entered the water. That was a new adventure for me. I was jumping into the unknown, pioneering a cliff dive. So Mike was next… “Cannonball!” We spent the entire day jumping here. I loved to show off to the occasional Kayak excursion that would float around the deserted part of the island where we were and pass by. Someone would say… “look! That guys going to jump!” and they’d all pull out their cameras as I did a cool dive into the ocean. Loved every second of it.
It was a little awkward though because our climbing route to get back to the top went right by this naked fat dude tanning by a rock encloseure. It is so strange when you think you’re completely alone and then, WHOOOA, you almost step on a fat naked guy hiding somewhere in the jagged rocks. Creepy. I never said anything to him, just walked by about 30 times. He was named “Sand Bag,” “Sayo’s” evil cousin… inside joke. We took the ferry back feeling very satisfied by quenching my adrenaline thirst.
9.4.06 Dubrovnik to Korcula (pronounced Korchula)
Today is our last day in Dubrovnik, so we thought we would walk out along the city wall and swim there on the rocks. The salt density must be higher because it was so easy to float. You could just cross your legs, put your arms on your head and hold your breath! I didn’t even need a floaty! The one thing to watch out for is sea urchins. They are everywhere on and in between the rocks. Stepping on one means a lot of pain. We spent half a day swimming, then had to catch a bus to the next island up the coast to Korcula Town. Mike and I had to run to the bus station in order to catch it, but when we arrived at the ticket office they were sold out. We put our heads together and thought we could possibly bribe the bus driver to let us stand in the aisle with no ticket… and it worked!
I spent the 3 hour trip standing but riding through thte coves and cliffs and mountains was worth the view. On the bus I ran into another couple I met at Auschwitz! The British couple from Exeter, England, Andy and Carolyne. They told us to stay at this hostel, One Love Backpackers Hostle, and we’d find a crazy guy holding a sign at the bus station. He was the owner, a guy from South Afrika named Zee. I guess he was on some kind of reality TV show like the Real World, but in South Afrika… Big Brother. We found him and followed him back to the hostle. It had a chill bar in the basement and very nice rooms. I recommend this place in a heartbeat to anyone traveling here.
Mike and I walked into our rooms and ran into Kim the couchsurfer from San Sabastian and Pamplona! I also ran into two people I met in Sarajevo and Sighisoara. The place was pretty active already so we just started to have a good time right off the bat. That night I met a lot of cool people. One guy was from Austalia and he told me that Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter was killed by a sting ray. We all had a drink for Steve. This guy I was talking to was an X-Aussie Army soldier and fought in Iraq and Afganistan. I talked to him a little about it and he sounded as if he was an American soldier. He didn’t like terrorists, we’ll just put it that way. I also met this teacher from Bulgeria named Aylin. She told me something worth remembering. There are two types of jobs one can get. One is a job that you enjoy doing, and you do it all the time. The other job is one that you have to pay for what you enjoy doing. She enjoys biking around the world and it is convenient for her because she is a teacher and has three months to travel every summer.
9.5.06 Korcula Beach
Spent the whole day on da-beach-mon… It was rocky but still nice. There was a buoy about 75m out and I would occasionally jump in and swim to it. Mike and I bought goggles so we could see the seabed. Nothing too exciting except rocks and sea urchins. I have to not this because I know some of you are wondering… yes, it is a topless beach… and I like it very much. For lunch we went to this awesome place called Fresh. It was a little shack near an alley buy the old city that had some really good cheap wraps and smoothies.
That night was the celebration Moarco Polo. Korcula claims to be the home of this famous global explorer. There was a sea battle re-enactment which was honestly kind of lame. Except when the guards ignited the gunpowder cannons that I happened to be standing right next to. BOOM…(ringing.) I lost hearing for a good ten minutes.
I went back to the hostle and watched Anchor Man with Will Ferrell. Outside was a big dance party that the town set up with free burgers, hot dogs, and wine. They lit off some firewords too. Eventually we were all out there dancing and everyone wanted me to breakdance, so I did. Mike says everyone goes crazy when I do that. Good times, nasty wine, good burgers, fireworks, singing, dancing = a very good night.
9.6.06 Korcula
We went to a beach a little further down the coast from the old city this time. It was right off the rocks and was of course a beautiful view of the Croatian mountainous coastline. We ran into Kim and hung out with her the rest of the day. “Sandbag” had thankfully not shown up that day. Kim said she would like to go on our little boat adventure Mike and I had been planning since that French guy talked to us on that train in Romania.
Walking back to One Love, I ran into Zee sitting on the curb with his cowboy hat waiting for the next fresh batch of tourist to come out of the bus station. Kim and I sat with him for a while. He asked me if I knew what the most feared animal in all of Afrika is. It is a small, cute and cuddly little fellow known as the Honey Badger, but you should not be fooled by it. It attacks with lightning speed. It runs up to it’s prey and bites the balls right off any animal. That’s right, it will bite your balls off. Even Lions will see a Honey Badger and be like… “Fuck that! I’m outta here.” So now I truly know who is the King of the jungle.
The next morning had a ferry to catch. We were heading to the coast of Hvar and we have a new shipmate, Kim of San Francisco.
9.7.06 Hvar, Adriatic Sea, Croatia
Woke up around 5am and headed out. It was only about a 2hr ferry ride to get to Hvar because we were on a hydrofoil. As soon as we got there, we sat down to have some coffee and figure out what to do at Hvar. Mike, Kim and I decided to go rent a small motorboat and live on it for 2 days. We had some shopping to do so the grocery store was the next stop. I told them to buy canned foods so we could cook on the fire… which is illegal to have fires in this country, but whatever. Mike and I also bought green foam pads to sleep on the rocks with. We also brought two bottles of wine and some vodka for those clear cloudless nights.
The guy we rented our boat from was a little sketchy. We knocked the price down from 400 Kuna to 300 Kuna per day. He told us to meet him at the edge cliff of the port. He arrived with a larger boat than I expected! It had a canopy and room for 6 people with a motor on it. When he said, “I suppose you’ve all had experience with a boat before,” we all said, “of course!” (haha, ya right). He explained to me how the motor worked, how to ancor, and then we took off. We threw our grocery bags, backpacks, and sleeping pads into the boat and I was the first skipper. It was kind of scarey navigating through the main port where these huge shipping boats cruised in next to us in our tiny boat but I just kept heading out and out and out towards the islands off in the distance. It was such an amazing feeling of freedom to do whatever you wish and to go wherever you want. I steered the boat out about 3 miles until we hit the first cluster of islands and followed those coastlines for a while. The water was so clear and blue, you could constantly see the seabed… and this wasn’t shallow water. It had to be at least 100ft deep. Clear, crystal clear.
Most of the day was made up of anchoring off a coast here and there, diving in, swimming to shore, snorkeling, avoiding sea urchins and just floating around. It was a blast. Kim studied to be a Marine Biologist in college, so she was telling me all about the weird looking aneamies and urchins we found.
I pulled into this bay/cove that had a few boats here and there, but we were looking for a covered place to build a small fire. We found a flat and suddle sloping rock area to sleep on and an already made fire pit, (a few rocks angled upwards to block the view of the fire from the sea.) I started a fire and used small rocks as hot coals to lay around the cans of corn to be heated. It worked like a charm. They don’t want us to make fires out here because of the fear a fire will burn down the island. But realistically, we weren’t going to burn down anything so we made a fire anyway. I saw something really cool when I was walking over the sharp, wet rocks to jump onto the front of the boat and get my pocket knife. I saw an Eel hunting in between some rocks wedged below my legs. It was about 3 ft long. It was black and had white spots all over it. It had big, bulging eyes and sharp teeth. I watched it for a while impressed by nature’s creation and the way it lives and hunts to survive.
The moon rising that night was the best I’d ever seen. It was huge!!! An orange-red color. I tried to get some good photos of it but they wouldn’t do it justice. I was gazing up at the stars as we were lying out on the rocks drinking our “ocean-chilled” wine. A thought occurred to me about the many, many nights that I’ve pondered over the sky and our galaxy. All the shooting stars I’ve seen, all the satellites. It really brought me back to my Boy Scout days and all the fun times I had camping and trekking with my best friends. I remember looking up at the moon and thinking that 4 months ago I was staring at the same moon from my own backyard halfway across the world in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. Back then I made a mental note that in the near future I would be looking up at this moon in an unknown place, far away from home. Well, now I’m in that once unknown place and it is not as scary as I once thought it would be… things are working out just fine… nothing to be scared of.
Kim, Mike, and I spent the night overlooking the Adriatic Sea, talking and reflecting on who we were in the past. What we were like in High School and College, etc. Kim seemed to get the impression that I was the All-American boy. I was in Boy Scouts, made Eagle, Captain of my High School swim team, etc. It made me feel good to hear that from someone. I’m proud to be American and I’m glad that it shows through. It really is sometimes hard to remember where you’re from when you are in such different places and you meet so many different people unlike you. It is important to have a little reality check every once and a while… that’s how you learn about yourself.
The night was very uncomfortable. Mosquitos were everywhere and all I had was pants, shoes, and my thin windbreaker to keep me warm. But at the same time I was glad to know that it is possible to do things like this without a tent. Don’t ever let yourself be stopped from doing something you want because you perceive it to be impossible… like camping without a tent… you just need to figure out an alternative.
Mike, Kim and I were joking before we went to bed that maybe this island is infested with Honey Badgers… sleep tight.
9.8.06 Adriatic Sea, Croatia, day #2
I am currently writing this on a rock, watching the sun rise up over the island in front of me. It is beautiful. I’m ready for another fun day in the sunshine and ocean blue. I ate some canned peaches for breakfast with my hand. We cruised out to our next location, off the far west coast of the island. Here we found some nice deepwater cliffs to jump. The water was more a dark blue instead of the turquoise near the island. This was deep water. Mike and I had to do a little rock climbing to get up to a good jump spot, swallow my fear of deep water and jump off into the cove. The water was a little colder today because we are on a wide-open sea front. If we were to take a boat off into the horizon, we’d end up in Italy a few days later.
Most of the day we just sunbathed and swam. I had to jump in and dive down 20ft to the anchor a few times and loosen it because it got stuck. We found a nice little rock shelf along the coast flat enough to sleep on for the night and claimed it as our camp spot. The sun was still out and we swam out into the glowing cove. It started shallow and got deeper and deeper. Schools of fish swam under my feet and a few really big colorful fishes deeper down. It was a good thing Mike and I bought goggles to see the ocean life and beauty. I just kept going, poking my head above the water occasionally to make sure I hadn’t drifted out to sea. I ended up all the way on the other side of the cove. Mike took some great photos of Kim and I floating in the sea with our legs crossed and arms folded behind our heads like we were sitting in lawn chairs. The water was so buoyant.
That night wasn’t as uncomfortable as the previous. We shared music and talked the night away, listening to the splish, splash, wish, wash of the lapping sea against our rock beds.
9.9.06 Hvar, Croatia
Our little adventure had to come to an end sooner or later. This morning was windy and cold. The water was not clear and waves were rocking the boat so hard we were worried it would get a hole punctured in the side from the sharp rocks. Lucky me, the anchor got stuck again and the others couldn’t dive down as far as I could, so I had to take my clothes off and jump into the now freezing gloomy water 25 ft to unhook the damn anchor. It was a nice chilly morning swim to wake me up. We motored on around the coast of the islands… it was shaped like a giant splatter blob with many coves and inlets, until we reached the main sea that separated it from the main island of Hvar. The boat was returned with no problems. Mike and I were pro’s at controlling the little boat and we anchored it right off the Old City sea wall to unload our bags. Our renter arrived and took the boat quick and easy. We walked into town a bit and someone asked us if we needed a room for a night. We were led up into the hills to the house and slept for the afternoon.
As I was walking along the sea walls of the old city that night I ran into Pippa, the British girl I changed clothes with in Transylvania. I said hi and talked briefly because it was a little awkward… I mean, we wore each others clothes at a cross dressing party, wouldn’t you be a little wierded out?
9.10.06 Hvar to Split to Ljubliana, Slovanja
Not a good day. I had nightmares last night and woke up feeling nervous and sweaty, like something was wrong but didn’t know what. It was 7am and our ferry left for Split on the mainland at 7:45. Kim, Mike and I packed up and started walking the 7minutes walk to the port. Everything was fine until Kim realized she left her bag and we kept walking while she ran back up into the hills to get it. So here is when one of the things I’ve dreaded not to happen to me…happened. Somewhere between the apartment and the ferry my bag must’ve busted open and my camera fell out. Either that or a pro pickpocket busted my zipper and stole my camera. I didn’t realize it until I was standing on the ferry dock and took off my shoulder bag. I immediately grabbed my stuff and jumped off the ferry. The ferrymen were pissed because the whole ship was waiting for Kim. I told the ferryman to hold on because she’s right around the corner. Kim came sprinting around the corner in the distance to catch the ferry but it had started to take off. Mike had no idea we didn’t make it until I saw him leaning against the rail on the front of the boat giving me the WTF look. I yelled at him “See you in Split?!”
The whole morning I frantically searched my pack and asked every ship owner/restraunt/café if they’d seen my camera and they all replied with a cold “no.” I left my email at the tourist office and police station just in case it would be returned, but I had lost hope. I spent a few hours filling out my insurance claim to get my money back for my stolen camera. I would have lost a lot of photos, but luckily I only lost my photos from Croatia and Medugorje. Which really sucked because I had some pretty extreme and AWESOME photos of Mike and I cliff diving off the coast of Lokrum.
Kim was helpful and gave me her digital photos of Croatia , so I had some. We got on the 1pm ferry to Split and met Mike at the dock. Kim said goodbye and headed off to her own adventures and Mike and I decided to get out of Croatia, it seemed time for a change. We bought a bus ticket to Ljubljiana, Slovanja for that night. It is 11 hours to travel north through the mainland of Croatia from Split.
We chilled for a few hours, walked around Split, ate a massive pizza sitting on the curb of an old smooth pearly cobblestone street, saw the Ancient Roman architecture and got on the bus. The next day is the anniversary of 9/11 so I was feeling very depressed and homesick. I know that will blow over, but it still sucks going through it.
SLOVANJA
9.11.06 Ljubljiana, Slovanja
The bus ride was 11 hours and was of course uncomfortable. We arrived at 4am in Ljublijana with nothing to do. Mike and I walked to our hostel to see if we could crash, but the guy said to come back later. We hung out at the train station café for a few hours and had some coffee and McDonalds. It was freezing cold and foggy. My mood was very down.
Later that day we took a walking tour of the city. I noticed our tour guide (a local Slovanjian) was wearing a USA hat with my flag on it. It made me remember 9/11 and made me very sad. Then again it made me feel good that at least some people in this world still remember. I didn’t say anything to the guy because I didn’t want to talk about it.
This place is actually pretty interesting, but then again, a city is a city and after a while they all start to look the same. While walking around I tried to figure out how many cities I’d been in since leaving the US and it’s about 53 so far. That’s quite a lot and they are all starting to look the same. I think I’m starting to get ready to leave Europe.
The city has a dragon to represent it. This is because the old legend of Jason and the Argonauts leads the hero Jason to this region where he is confronted by a nasty dragon in which he slays. There is a really neat Dragon Bridge that has four massive and fierce looking dragons poised with teeth bearing and wings up as a warning on the four corners of the bridge. I thought my Lions outside the SAE house in Lawrence were cool… These would just about scare anything away. The city seems to be a quiet, relaxing city nestled at the very southern tip of the Alps. It fortunately avoided the war and Fall of Yugoslavia because it kept to itself and played a neutral role. They claimed their independence and nobody had much of a problem with that. There was only ten days of bomb raids that Serbia tossed at Slovania. They basically just took out the radio and television towers in the hills surrounding the city.
That night was pretty uneventful. There was this creepy alley/bar area around the side of our hostel and everyone there was pretty much on drugs. There was this really messed up dude jamming and singing on an electronic keyboard and he sounded horrible, yet he had a massive crowd of zombie like people swaying to the beat in front of him. We got out of there fast.
I said my prayers for those whose lives were extinguished on this day 5 years ago and the suffering it has caused to so many of my own countrymen.
9.12.06 Ljubljiana +2
I compiled my notes and journals, something I’ve been meaning to do for a while. Mike and I hiked up to the castle at the top of one of the Alps hills. It is the center of the city. I could even see some hot air balloons drifting over the peaks in the distance.
That night our hostel put on a Sangria party. There were a lot of bands and people playing at thte hostle. There is definitely an art movement happening in this city. Artsy people, artsy bands and design… interior, graphic, architecture, is everywhere. There was a band playing in an ally was behind the hostel and I could have sworn that the dud was Zach de la Rocca’s twin brother from Rage Against the Machine. He sounded so bad ass. The band was called Moveknowledgment. We listened and walked around for a while talking to people. I ran into another two Brits we met in Belgrade and more Briths from Korcula. I have run into about 12 people I know since leaving home.
9.13.06 Bled, Slovanja
One of the two Brits I met last night had been to this place called Bled up in the Alps before. He said it was really cool, especially the extreme sports scene up there. One of them gave us this guys phone and address to call when we get there to hook us up. The other Brit, Will from England, went with Mike and I as well.
Damian, our contact picked us up at the Bled train station with his wife Mama. He was unbelievably friendly. Apparently we were the only ones staying in his hostel that night, XXL Hostel. It was really his house with a very nice bar in his basement. Damian organized all kinds of extreme sports to do in Slovanja. It surprised me to see such an old guy interested in such extreme new sports. He must have been in his late 70’s! There was rafting, kayaking, sky diving, off roading, caving and canyoning. We decided to go Canyoning since I’ve never heard of this sport before and it looked and sounded very cool. We would leave to go up to the canyon tomorrow morning.
Damian drove us around a bit and showed us his tiny mountain village before taking us back to Bled so we could walk around a bit. He dropped Mike, Will and I off and told us to meet here at 7pm to be picked up. There is a gorgeous lake here in Bled. It has to be one of the most beautiful scenic natural landscapes I’ve seen. There is a large lake out the base of a steep cliff and the large jagged Southern Alps. In the very middle of the lake, there is a very small island with a beautiful castle perched on it, reflecting timelessly in the water around it. The castle is literally just as big as the island. It was so beautiful to see the Church tower rise up in contrast against the greenery of the Alps. We hiked up a Cliffside to a castle on the edge of the lake to take in the view and then walked around the lake until 7pm.
Damian and Mama prepared one of the best meals I’ve had since I left. He was very proud that his food only comes from the farmers of his town. He only goes to the grocery stores for milk. We had a delicious soup, then salad, then a main meal of cooked meats and fries, then ice cream. We also had a nice Merlot local wine, that you could only get in this part of Slovenja.
9.14.06 Canyoning in Bled
Damian called his extreme friend and set up a time around noon to come and pick us up at the bus station for canyoning. We had a morning to burn, so Damian drove us out to the Gorge Vintgar. It is a beautiful Gorge that you follow through the narrow canyon walls on a wooden path walkway. I really can say that this is the clearest water I’ve seen. I swear it. It was so clear that in parts, you could hardly tell there was even water there at all! It just looked like a bunch of rocks in a basin. The walkway led to bridges over waterfalls and was just plain gorgeous. Something out of a National Geographic. We continued out of the gorge and walked up into the hills back toward Bled.
Bori, our extreme sports guy picked us up at the bus station. He seemed like a really cool dude. We drove about 20 minutes deeper into the Alps and stopped at this little cabin to get out. He tossed all of us a wet suit and said…change. We put on our wetsuit pants, shoes and crotch-vest zip ups. He told us it is nice to have such padding because your nuts when you jump from high places into the water. We walked up this dirt path to the start of the gorge. He told us that you should always bend your knees when jumping in because you will hit the bottom on some of these waterfalls. So, with that I began my first ever Canyoning experience. Standing at the top of this busted up damn, on the other side was a rust bar cable latter. I jumped into the water, swam over to the dam edge, hopped over the wall and climbed down the rusty latter about 20 ft. I ended up facing another cliff, this one about 15 ft. We are basically following the stram down a really thin gorge. So we come to the cliff. The walls are only about 6 ft in diameter around the hole I’m about to jump into. Bori tells me to just jump. I’m standing there looking down into what seems to be a tiny puddle at the bottom of this hole. His words of advice were, “Don’t hit a rock.” I jumped off through the narrow walls and down into the ice cold mountain water. The wet suit actually kept most of the water out, but my head and face were beet red from the cold. I came up and was in a tubular hole about 6 ft in diameter as well with a small waterfall drizzling down from above. “Are you OK?” Bori yelled, echoing down the gorge. I gave him the thumbs up. He said, “Good, now float over to the next cliff edge and wait.” I swam to a point where the water level and the cliff edge made a nice smooth surface slide down to the next puddle. I grabbed on and turned around to watch Mike and Will make the jump. The next jump was higher than the first. This time it was only a 4ft diameter hole and looked like we were about to jump into a long narrow pool. We all jumped again and I turn around to see Bori do a front flip into the waterhole! This time he said, “OK, next you will go headfirst!” We approached the next cliff and I saw something that reminded me of that scene in The Goonies when they jumped down that cave waterslide to escape the Fertellies, but this was real. It was a thin, tube tunnel carved into the rock and smoothed by thousands of years of water running down it. I jumped down it. It was so fun, the natural tubeslide made a sharp curve at the end before plunging off and down into another deep waterhole. When I looked up I saw the rising smooth grey rock walls and sunlight creeping down it. I couldn’t see the sky because we were so far deep into the canyon gorge. We did a few more slides and jumps down further into the gorge until we reached a cable that stretched across a deep paralleling gorge. Bori hooked up a zip line to it and the next thing I knew, I was zipping over another waterfall! It was so unbelievably fun! I have a new favorite extreme sport. Canyoning! As we slithered and slip-n-slided down the remainder of the gorge we came out the bottom to see some sunlight. We had to repel off the waterfalls a few times to get out. This was something that I’ve had some experience with, but not off a waterfall! The rock was wet and slick and your getting a facefull of water at the same time. Bori seemed to like us and thought we did alright so he asked us if we wanted to do one more jump. He free climbed back up this dry cliff and hooked up a rope. When I got to the top I looked down into the abyss before me, a waterfall on the opposite side. This hole was about 10 ft in diameter and about 30 ft deep. It was an awesome rush. I counted to three and jumped way out into the hole, seconds later splashing down and washing through a small maze of smooth rocks back to the end point.
We hiked back to the car and Bori offered us some Blueberry Snapps. This was some good local stuff. It actually had real Blueberries floating in it. We all took 2 shots to get warmed back up. Bori had some time to burn and so did we. He said he would take us the long way back to show us the mountains a bit. It was getting a little gloomy and started to drizzle, but that was ok. The clouds capped over the tall peaks and was stunning. He took us to this lake with an outdoor bar and sat down for a drink. I was interested in Bori and how he ended up doing rafting and canyoning and ice climbing. He told me that he used to be a downhill ski racer and was on the Slovanjian National team. He was even friends with Bodi Miller, the American Downhill Skiing Olympian. One day he wiped out and broke his legs and that pretty much ended it for him. He also added that they do heli-skiing in the winter. This is when they jump out of a helicopter onto a mountain peak and ski or snowboard down it. I told him that we both grew up in very similar places and we both learned to love the mountains from a very young age. We talked for an hour or so about skiing before he drove us back to Damians. He hung around with us for a while in the basement and then took off when Mama and Damian brought out some home cooked goulash and bread. It was the perfect thing to have after a day of jumping and swimming in mountain water.
Two British girls joined us that evening, Becca and Harri. We told them all about the Canyoning and convinced them to go the next day. That night we played guitar and talked about our travels.
Next Mike and I will head up into Austria and Germany for the biggest beer festival in the world... OKTOBERFEST!!!
posted by Brandle at 3:13 AM
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