Bosnia Today - How much do you really know?

BenEastEurope · Joined: 03 Apr 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Eastern Europe

Not many people realise the beauty and culture in this forgotten country! Now living here having moved from Australia I am really trying hard to re-educate the world...many still believe danger still exists or the war is ongoing!
A great place to visit, cheap and incredibly hospitable. Such a shame global opinion is wrong...

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

I know that in 1984 the winter Olympic games were held in Sarajevo. I know the movie "Welcome to Sarajevo" was an eye-opener for me.
I also know that in '98, 10 people were being hurt or killed a month by anti-personnel mines(better than the 100 per month in '97!) and that there are still plenty of mines in Bosnia. Author/journalist Robert Young Pelton writes that around Sarajevo alone there are 1200 mine fields comprising a total of 30,000 in the country.

I have never known anyone to visit that area, although I personally am interested in it, so please feel free to write up interesting sites and things to see and do there!

BenEastEurope · Joined: 03 Apr 2005 Posts: 5 Location: Eastern Europe

There is a wealth of information on Sarajevo, and it was recently featured in UK Newsweek International Edition!!! Essentially, if you want to be in Vienna and Istanbul at the same time, come to Sarajevo!

Despite the visible scars of war, Sarajevo is today a town that bursts with energy. It is the capital and largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and was founded by the Ottomans in 1461. The city gained historical notoriety in 1914 as the place where Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated, sparking the First World War.

Seventy years later, Sarajevo was in a more favorable historical spotlight as the host city for the 1984 Winter Olympics. From 1992-1995, Sarajevo endured over three years of siege during the Balkan conflict. Sarajevo is now well on its way to recovery as a modern European capital, and seeking membership of the European Union.

Ever since the 1984 Olympics, Sarajevo has been a popular tourist attraction (save for the war years in the early 1990s). Indeed, even long before that Sarajevo was a popular stop for travellers in the Ottoman and Austria-Hungarian empires, and is mentioned in travelling books from all sides of Europe and the Middle East.

Various categories of tourism are popular in Sarajevo. War tourism focuses on the war years, and the famous sites relating to the siege of Sarajevo. Others are interested specifically in the historical aspects of the city, while thousands come for the spectacular nature to be found in the area.

The people of Sarajevo are known as "Sarayliyas", who are famous in Eastern Europe for being both proud and patriotic towards their city. The song by popular local singer Kemal Monteno, "Sarajevo Ljubavi Moja" (Sarajevo Love of Mine) has come to somewhat epitomize this feeling among the people, and to this day remains something of an unofficial anthem for the city. If one were to describe the Sarayliyas in one word, it would be cosmopolitan. Sarayliyas are known for being hospitable and friendly and modern cultured city dwellers.

Shattered but proud, tragic yet vibrant, here is a destination worthy of any tourist...whatever their inclinations may be.

cocodrilo · Joined: 12 Apr 2004 Posts: 494 Location: Western Japan

Thanks for giving us the history! Can you write up some sights, things to do, good stuff to eat, etc, if we decide to go there? :D

Jonathan · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 185

cocodrilo wrote: Thanks for giving us the history!
Ditto!