MOTORCYCLANE BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA - the essence of the Balkans, or perhaps Little Yugoslavia

A transit day, with quite a few kilometers to drive on highways and local roads. Departure as early in the morning as possible from the hotel/resort chosen in the area (where participants from further places in Poland will be able to get there earlier and spend the night before the trip). In the evening, an organized welcome and integration dinner for Participants, with distribution of welcome packages.

We set off at 8:30, right after breakfast. After about 5 hours of driving on the roads of Hungary and Croatia, we enter BiH. Forgotten settlements from the Ottoman era... A few kilometers from the border town of Velika Kladuš there is a settlement hidden in the forested hills Bužim, with a medieval castle built for protection from the Turks, and paradoxically used by the Turks after its capture for forays to the north. Beneath the castle, a Bosnian rarity - a wooden Muslim mosque most likely from the first half of the 19th century, which miraculously survived all the wartime turmoil that mangled the area.  

We are heading towards the town of Bihać (where we will stop for the night), and on the way there is one more place thematically related to castles and fortresses in this part of Bosnia - Ostrožac. The well-preserved fortress is about 250 meters long. The oldest mention of the fortress dates back to the end of the 13th century. On the territory of the fortress is the palace of the family of one of the fortress' owners - the von Berks, built in the early 20th century.

In the late afternoon we will arrive in Bihać, which, in addition to attracting several interesting sights, is primarily associated with rafting on the Una River. The center of the town stretches on two banks of the rushing, irregular, 30-meter wide river. Small islands on the river add to the picturesqueness of the place, with footbridges leading to some of them. Here we will stop for the night.

We set off 8:30 am after breakfast. We head towards a natural gem - Una National Park, the youngest of BiH's national parks, established in 2008.... Definitely smaller, but also less commercialized than its neighbor in Croatia - Plitvice Lakes Park. Its main attraction is the two pristine wild rivers-Una and Unac, with all their aquatic surroundings-canyons, waterfalls and water rapids. A paradise for anglers and rafting enthusiasts.

We will drive along its edge and within its boundaries, following the R408 road, deviating to a gravel road just outside the village of Orašac (GPS: 44.6247517, 16.068650), heading to a parking lot along the Una River. Here we will leave the vehicles and spend about 2 hours in the park.

After the walk in the park, and if we didn't manage to have a coffee, we will do so going further south, in a bend of the Una River, in one of the local bars, maybe by the Old Town of Ostrovica, where we will stop for an optional and short coffee stop, still absorbing the atmosphere of the surroundings.

We should reach Mostar in the early afternoon, so that we can still enjoy the view of the 16th-century Old Bridge and the city's adjacent Old Town while the sun is still shining and later, after it sets. This world-renowned monument, listed by UNESCO, built during the reign of the Ottoman Empire, was for centuries to come a symbol of the reconciliation of East and West, Christianity and Islam. Destroyed during the Bosnian War in 1993, it was rebuilt immediately after its end.

On the way, time permitting, we will drive through the streets of the town of Livno, whose undoubted advantages are its picturesque location among gentle hills, several well-preserved monuments (mosques, the traditional "sahat kula" clock tower, an Orthodox church and a Catholic church) and Mediterranean climate. 

Not many kilometers to drive, and a very intense day. 

About 10 km from Mostar is located the former Turkish "kasaba" (small provincial town). Next to the remains of the Ottoman Empire - 2 mosques and a bathhouse - a reminder of pre-Turkic times in the form of the ruins of a medieval castle. Bugai, however, is first and foremost an outcrop of the Buna River, over which the Turkish dervish order built a "tekiya" - a monastery. It is for this attraction that the town is haunted by hundreds of tourists in the season, a place from the TOP10 list in BiH, not to be missed by us as well.

From there, we will drive to Medjugorie - a pilgrim village and Roman Catholic parish where the alleged apparitions of Our Lady took place on June 24, 1981, a small one, and more than 600 documented healings since then. The apparitions have not been officially recognized by the Church or the Vatican. Nevertheless, Medjugorie is an important pilgrimage site. We will stop there for a short while to satisfy simple curiosity, and perhaps for some of us it will be something more....

Heading to Medjugorie, we will stop at the 16th-century Žitomislić Monastery, which for centuries was an important place for the spirituality and culture of the area - there was a famous school for transcribing books, later a seminary, as well as a library with valuable collections. In the temple the monks collected many icons of no small artistic importance. Unfortunately, the complex was destroyed and looted during World War II and the Yugoslav war. It is currently being rebuilt.

The main highlight of today's program, however, seems to be the Kravica Waterfalls on the Trebižat River. We will spend a longer while here, relaxing surrounded by fantastic natural formations.

From there, we'll drive through Popovo Polje (an elongated, sun-scorched basin with a flat bottom) to Neum - a city and seaside resort on a patch of land that forms a narrow strip of Bosnia and Herzegovina's access to the Adriatic Sea. It will be, as in Croatia, and from here, after all, "a stone's throw" to Dalmatia.... 

We are by the sea, so today we start a little later, at 9:00.

The first and very short stop will be the Radimlja Cemetery - a necropolis of 15th and 16th century tombstones and, as the epitaphs on the slabs proclaim, members of the Hraben-Milaradowić family, who at that time ruled the area around Mostar, Stolac and Popovo, were buried in the ground. Sites of this type can also be found in Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, while here their number is unique - as many as 133. All such clusters of tombstones were inscribed on the UNESCO Heritage List in 2016.

Heading to our main point of today's program - Trebinje, located in a part of Republika Srpska - we will pass through Stolac, with one of the most interesting historic complexes in BiH. Situated picturesquely on the Bregava River, on the road connecting Mostar and Trebinje. Making a not very encouraging impression (destroyed during the war in 1993), it hides within its borders the remains of several interesting monuments from the mainly Ottoman times (bathhouse, mosques, interesting bridge, fortress) and you can feel here the atmosphere of a provincial Turkish "kasaba", steeped in Mediterranean influences.

About 5 kilometers before our destination, there is one more interesting-Monastery of the Dormition of the Mother of God in Tvrdoš-and one of the most important for Orthodox believers in BiH. Located on the banks of the Trebišnjica River, surrounded by beautiful vines and orchards, the 16th century monastery, most likely built on the foundations of a previous Christian temple from the 4th to 6th centuries. , impresses with its centuries-old wine-making tradition. The monks here are known for producing their own wine and rakija, which can be purchased at the gift store near the parking lot. In the monastery's vineyard, century-old oak barrels are stored in a 15th-century stone cellar. The Tvrdoš winery and its gold-winning wines produced by the monks have an excellent reputation among sommeliers. It was the "Grand Reserve Vranac" from Tvrdoš Wine Cellars (Twardoszy) that won the gold medal at the most prestigious Decanter World Wine Awards 2018.

In the early afternoon we should reach Trebinje - the town of sun, wine and giant plane trees. The easternmost town of the Popovo Polje basin - surrounded by sun-soaked hills - doesn't impress like the others with its monuments (except for the 16th-century Arslanagić Bridge). It is an atmospheric, quiet town, a wine town where time passes slowly.

Here we will stay for tonight. organizing a dinner with wine at one of the local wineries.

Wasting no time to sleep too long, we set off after breakfast at 8:30.

We have quite a stretch ahead of us, just over 300 kilometers, with two important sites on the way - Sutjeska National Park and Višegrad with the 16th century bridge of Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Both places lie in the Republic of Serbia. We'll end the day in the country's capital Sarajevo, where the eye can't see there are plenty of attractions.

Driving along the road from Trebinje to Višegrad, we will pass through the Sutjeska National Park, the oldest in BiH. It was created in an area encompassing mountain massifs with peaks above 2000 m.a.s.l., surrounding the Sutjeska River valley on all sides. We will stop near the park's showpiece - an extremely expressive concrete monument, designed and built during the Yugoslav era, in 1971 to honor the fallen and commemorate the battle fought against the Germans in 1943 by Tito's partisan troops.

In Višegrad we will see its biggest attraction - a bridge, built in the 1670s. It was designed by one of the most famous architects of the Ottoman Empire - Mimar Koca Sinan, and funded by Grand Vizier Mehmed Pasha Sokolovic. The bridge is about 180 meters long and is supported by 11 arches/arches spanning 11-15 meters. 

From here we set off to Sarajevo, the capital of BiH, where we will spend the next 2 nights, and certainly the next 2 weeks would not be enough.

A full long day in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina without a strict plan! A day of relaxation, rest, or for some a day of freedom and liberation from the ruthless organizational discipline 🙂 . 

There is something for everyone here. Sarajevo itself will provide a plethora of attractions, among which you should consider exploring with the use of place hints:

• Žuta tabija (Yellow Bastion) and one of the best panoramas of the city
• Bijela Tabija - an old fort located at an altitude of 667 m
• Inat Kuća - Perverse House moved twice (brick by brick) to opposite sides of the river
• Sebilj-a well and the last part of a water supply system built in the 16th century.
• Baščaršija - Turkish bazaar with traditional craftsmen's workshops in narrow streets, cloth shops and restaurants
• Olympic Museum
• Ilidža Thermal Riviera - a complex with thermal pools
• The queue for Trebević
• The War Childhood Museum
• Spas Tunnel
• Vrelo Bosne
• Rimsky bridge

For those who would like to go out of town two proposals and two opposite directions (in both cases we need to prepare reservations in advance, so Interested Participants should submit their trip declarations before the event):

• The town of Konjic, some 70km to the south, with the Old Bridge on the Neretva, considered the link between Bosnia and Herzegovina, is where tours leave from, to Tito's super-secret bunker - hidden a few kilometers south of the town and 280 meters underground, a huge anti-atomic complex capable of protecting 350 people for 6 months, built by Tito in complete secrecy for more than 26 years 
• Srebrenica Memorial Center - Potočari, about 125 km to the north  

At the Participants' disposal is a pilot who will help organize the day according to individual preferences. The day's itinerary includes a guided walking tour of Sarajevo.

Heading north, yes... It's already a return direction, with a lot of Bosnia and Herzegovina still on the way.

We are moving towards Jajce, which advertises itself as an "open-air museum," and the slogan seems to have coverage - more than 22 valuable monuments have been preserved here. The buildings of the old town picturesquely adorn the western slope of the hill, undercut by the steep bank of the Vrbas River, into which the Pliva falls with a bang in a 23-meter waterfall, creating an unusual natural attraction.

We have about 200-330 kilometers to cover (depending on which places we visit and which we skip). We will drive along scenic roads, passing more towns, castles, mosques, bridges and living museums on the way. And on the list of interesting places "on the way" we have:

• Konjic and Marshal Tito's Bunker
• Madgaj - located on the Bosna River - a town with a 15th-century castle perched on a steep rock above the river, a few dozen meters below the castle the mosque of Yusuf-pasha from 1560.
• Travnik - with its Painted Mosque, museum/home of writer Ivo Andrić, fortress, brisk stream, called "Little Sarajevo." The town has everything one might associate with Bosnia and Herzegovina, a picture of the country in a nutshell
• Vranduk - a small town picturesquely located on a hill in a bend of the Bosna River, which turns almost 180 degrees here, and on top of the hill - a castle

In Jajce we say goodbye for a while to federated Bosnia - one of the two republics that are part of the same state. The plan is to take an afternoon tour of Jajce and its surroundings. Jajce is an important tourist center in northern BiH-it is here that we find the remains of the ancient temple of Mithras, the ruins of a fortress and the remains of medieval fortifications, a Romanesque bell tower and catacombs with a royal crypt from the 15th century. The city's most famous tourist attraction is a 23-meter waterfall connecting the Vrbas and Pliva rivers. The town contains the ruins of the Romanesque church of St. Mary and the bell tower of St. Luke, erected next to it - the site of the coronation of the last Bosnian king Stjepan Tomasevic. After the Turks captured Jajce, the church was turned into a mosque, which burned down in 1832 never to be rebuilt. At an altitude of almost 500 meters above sea level, with walls 1,300 meters long, stands a defensive fortress, extended by the Turks.

From here, in the early afternoon, we unhurriedly set off towards the last point of our adventure - this is where it all began and where it ends - we bid farewell to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Bihać. An organized farewell dinner surrounded by recent, and infamous for civilized humanity, history....

Return day in transit, to drive a lot of kilometers on highways and local roads. It is possible that some participants will decide to disconnect and head to Croatia for an extended vacation. CIs who return set off in a group under the supervision of a pilot in the direction of the north. Departure as early in the morning as possible. In the evening chatting over beer.

Last day and transit ride. We take off individually and in sub-groups, depending on the destinations to which the participants are heading. We said our goodbyes at last night's dinner, today only heartfelt hugs at points of separation and friendly waves at road junctions.

See you somewhere on the road, maybe on your next organized motorcycle vacation. LWG