The war tunnel of Sarajevo and some other stuff.
Trip Start
Apr 13, 2010
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5
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Trip End
May 04, 2010
Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Our tour guide, Elle, was eight years old when the war took place. She talked about what daily life was like and that everyone pretty much lived in their basements. Basement Bosnians she said they called themselves. Being shelled by the Serbs became so common she knew what kind of bomb was coming in just by the sound it made. Hearing her describe the war and how her people were massacred was extremely chilling. Such an eye opening experience to learn about the Balkan wars by someone who lived through it.
We also got to walk through a portion of the tunnel. Imagine walking a mile in a tunnel completely hunched over with 132lbs of provisions strapped to your back and the only source of fresh air was at the opening at either end. She had a bag with just 45lbs of stuff in it for us to carry and it was heavy. I couldn't imagine doing a mile bent over with full pack. Ugh. Everyone in the city worked to protect it. Basically if you were male and had hair on your balls, you were given a gun or a knife or even a pick and told to defend. Crazy stuff.
War history aside, the town is really beautiful. It's in a valley surrounded by a series of mountain ranges. Red tiled roofs climb up the sides maximizing the cities size. It actually reminded us of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Only thing missing were the cows. Sarajevo definitely topped Belgrade by a mile.
After the tour we pretty much had our fill of war. We ended the day at a cafe people watching. Really we were just making up stories about every single person that walked by. We'd definitely visit again and recommend you do too.
