Monday 18th March
We left the little campsite in Orebic and instead of retracing our steps back to Ston, we chose to take the ferry from Trapanj to Ploce. £35 for a Motorhome up to 7m. (Worth it if only to bypass the Neum corridor as we didn’t have insurance). We had an hour to spare so we walked around the little town.
We took the road from Ploce to the Bosnian border at Bijace so we could buy the insurance there, as it’s the only border crossing with a green card office. (We read that you have to wait at the other borders for a person to come from the nearest town to sell you some and the cost that entails). So the lady sold us vehicle insurance, €20 for 7 days.
We were soon on our way to Mostar and the 2 toll roads were only a couple of pounds each and definitely worth it. We drove past huge limestone mountains, small villages, lots of agricultural land including grape vines and almond trees in full blossom, beautiful.
We arrived in Mostar and parked on a free gravel car park. Park4night said it’s the best parking area in town and it certainly was very central and quiet at night.
The banks, ATM and supermarket were all in walking distance as was the town itself. Half a mile away we found a “Wash & Dry” laundry. The ladies were very helpful and we left 2 big bags of washing with them and 3 hours & £14 later, we collected it. The tobacco kiosk in town sold SIM cards for the phones and the lady in the phone accessory shop helped us by getting them to work. She was lovely and so helpful. I think getting our phones unlocked before we set off on our adventure was one of the best things we did. As we walked around the town though, there was still evidence of war torn buildings although most of them had been repaired.
The following day it was my birthday and it never stopped raining. We ventured out once to the supermarket and that was it. The most boring birthday I think I’ve ever had lol, but it still beats working for a living.
The following day we were back to blue skies and sunshine, which always makes exploring that much more enjoyable. We visited the museum of War & Genocide Victims. It was pretty harrowing and is beyond me how human beings can be so evil. I’m sure a prison sentence for the instigators was far to lenient!
We followed the signs to the Stari Grad (Old Town) and the Stari Most (Old Bridge). All the shops and cafes were open and as we followed the little cobbled street through the buildings, we past small workshops where you could hear men beating out copper to make souvenirs.
Women sat on walls selling embroidered table clothes and you could even buy souvenirs made from bullets if you wanted too!!
Artist shops hung paintings on easels and others had Turkish lamps & painted plates on display. In fact it the whole place had a very Turkish feel to it. Not surprising I suppose as the Ottomans has ruled the area for ages.
We walked over the old bridge which was devastated in the civil war and had since been rebuilt using the original stone which is now protected by UNESCO. There was a guy stood on the top in a wet suit ready to dive off, but we don’t think he’d collected enough money from the tourists to carry out the stunt. It’s something the young men have done for years to impress the ladies and is now a tourist attraction in itself.
We visited the little Stari Most (or crooked bridge).
We went inside one of the Mosques where we had a great chat with a lovely old guy who told us about the history of the building. He was a history teacher in his younger days. Couldn’t help but wonder what him and his family had been through. He was full of hope for the future and laughed as we rolled our eyes when he mentioned Brexit lol. He told us we would always be welcome in his country, bless him.
We left Mostar and drove the short distance to Blagaj where we found an absolute diamond of a campsite not far from the Dervish House.
It’s open all year, waste disposal and drinking water on every pitch, clean showers and toilets, free WiFi and a place to sit on the river bank to watch the ducks.
If that wasn’t enough, the lovely owners went above and beyond making us feel welcome. The park4night app took us to the wrong side of the river so they came to find us in their car and showed us the way (they must have spotted us going wrong), gave us a welcome drink each when we arrived, then came with a tray and 2 plates of delicious gateau that tasted like Jaffa cake.
We walked from the campsite to the Dervish Monastery. It’s nearly 600 years old and is situated at the base of a cliff, next to the source of the river Buna. We had to dress appropriately to enter, hence Andy’s skirt lol.
The water was crystal clear and I’m sure the ducks thought they were at Typhoon Lagoon. We sat and ate lunch at the waters edge in the glorious sunshine then walked back along the river bank.
When we got back to Harriet, the owner came to see us and gave us a bottle of red wine. We felt like royalty. The Bosnian people can definitely teach us a thing or two about hospitality.
We were sad to leave camp Blagaj but it was time to move on. We headed for Medugorje driving up one side of a mountain road and down the other. The views of the valley down below were were amazing.
When we arrived in Medugorie, we realised it was more of a Catholic pilgrimage place than a tourist destination, and although we love looking inside religious buildings we’re not believers. So we carried on to the Kravice Waterfalls.
We parked in the huge car park in the shade of the trees as it was a hot day. Paid the entrance fee and walked down the hill to the falls. The noise from the water tumbling over the rocks was deafening but what a sight.
When the wind blew, we got covered in spray but we didn't mind, it was nice to cool off. We walked back up the hill, not a mean feat I can tell you.
Then, no sooner had we left the waterfalls, we were back at the Bosnian/Croatian border. All was well until the Croatian border guard gave us a bit of a hard time because the V5 had holes punched in it. He said it meant the paperwork was no longer valid. After a bit of a discussion I told him I would inform the hire company - jobs worth!! We've driven all over Europe and he was the first person to even say anything - Twonk lol
We did lots of research for Croatia finding campsites that said they were open in the winter. Wild camping is illegal so when we turned up at Camp Jure just outside Makarska and found it closed, we had to park up incognito.
The next morning we carried on driving to Omis where we found a lovely site called Camp Galeb. They charge 22 Euros a night with all facilities or if you stay for 3 or more nights, they charge 12 Euros a night. The receptionist even gave us a key to our own private bathroom and toilet. We parked up over looking the beach.
The next day we went a walk around the town. Omis is famous for pirates. In the 13th and 14th centuries, pirates would use their boats to attack trade ships and once they'd succeeded, they would retreat up the Cetina river, where they couldn't be followed.
The only evidence we could find was a few paintings in a doorway in the old town and a treasure chest in someones garden. Oh and a crows nest and maybe 5 old ladies that may or may not have been pirates in their younger days. That was it. I think the town has missed a tourist trick if I'm honest.
The old town was deserted and even the gates up to the castle were closed.
We had a nice walk in the sunshine though and the ice cream on the way back made up for it.
