Jajce and Travnik

A blend of culture and nature!

As advertised by the ‘Meet Bosnia’ tour company…

Sarajevo is a relatively small and compact city and having walked around much of the fascinating Old Town on the afternoon I had arrived, with two more full days, I decided to look for something different for the next day.

After dinner on the first evening I set off on a mission to find something to do and came across a small tour office literally a two minute walk from my accommodation. I had a chat with the friendly sales person, picked up some leaflets and by 10 pm had booked (via Whatsapp) a day trip to Jajce and Travnik to depart at 8 am the following morning.

First thing in the morning I walked for a couple of minutes back to the tour office and 7 of us guests plus Almir who was our driver and also our guide and set off in a people carrier.

We were driven through the historic streets of Sarajevo before heading northwest into the scenic green rolling hills of Bosnia. Almir handed out a paper bag of tasty cheese and tomato sandwiches made with fresh flatbread (which was appreciated by me as I hadn’t had breakfast) and as he drove, he gave us a comprehensive overview of life in Bosnia.

Our first stop was for coffee which, as well as a piece of Turkish delight, was served with a complimentary cigarette and a packet of matches! While this was quite a novelty for me having never received a complimentary cigarette anywhere before, apparently this is quite a common cultural thing in Bosnia.

Over the coffee I sat chatting with my new and temporary friends as we got to know each other. As a non-smoker I gave my cigarette to my new Ukrainian friend!

The coffee shop was in a lovely setting with a gently cascading stream running next to it.

And a series of ponds and mini waterfalls…

Almir drove us for a couple of minutes from the coffee place to Travnik Fortress, a 15th century castle which overlooks the historic former Ottoman town of Travnik.

Today was damp and misty which gave a dramatic atmospheric effect to the hills which surround the fortress.

Almir showed us the sun dial and explained how to read it.

There is a small museum located inside the fortress which contains artefacts and pictures documenting the past.

From Travnik, Almir drove us to the Mlincici mini water mills, a unique feature located on the River Pliva.

This collection of about 20 or so little watermills sit on stilts and were once used by local farmers. We spent about 20 minutes here, walking around the wooden bridges which connect them.

A short drive away is the ‘Bridge of Love’ a wooden walkway which curves around the forest above a small lake.

Almir took us to ‘Omerbeg House’ for lunch which is located next to the Travnik gate. This was built in the 17th century and the restaurant serves local Bosnian dishes.

I had a traditional juice made with aronia berries, a kind of chokeberry which is only found in Bosnia. These are similar to blueberries.

For lunch I had ‘Bosanski Ionac’ or Bosnian pot, a scrumptious hotpot served with warm bread. This was only 10 Bosnian Marks (£4.36). In fact, it was similar to the Patagonian stew I had in El Chaltan, Patagonia about 4-5 months ago which was 5x the cost at £22!

After lunch, next to St Mary’s Church, we visited underground catacombs. By this time, it was pouring with rain!

The underground church, or catacombs are located in a site where former Bosnian kings and the bodies of their family members were kept.

Jajce was once the capital of the Kingdom of Bosnia and is the site where the Pliva river and the Vrbas river converge.

The waterfall is 22 m high and with the now heavy rain and spray from the waterfall we were all soaked and starting to feel cold. But even in the rubbish weather, these tumbling waters were an attractive and pretty sight.

Travnik

The final stop of the day before our 2 hour drive returning to Sarajevo was back in Travnik at the Ornamented Mosque. Dating back to the 16th centure, this colourful building is an impressive example of Islamic architecture.

Summary

Despite the dreary weather this was a brilliant day where I met 7 other fabulous and interesting people from Italy, Brunei, Ukraine and the UK. Almir was a great local guide and having lived through the Bosnian war between 1992-1995 he gave us a wealth of knowledge and history from Bosnia and Sarajevo covering difficult and traumatic experiences.