/trv/ - trv » Thread #1043599

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Anonymous Mon 19 Oct 2015 23:29:49 No.1043599 View Reply Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1043603 >>1043761 >>1044015 >>1044186 >>1044311 >>1044809

What does /trv/ think of Sarajevo and BiH in general? I'm thinking of a March or April solo trip. Are the people as friendly as I've heard? Is it safe for a solo female? I know landmines are still a major issue and thus backwoods hiking is completely out of the question, but are guided hiking or snowshoeing tours a safe bet?

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 00:10:49 No.1043603 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1044186 >>1044477

>>1043599

>What does /trv/ think of Sarajevo and BiH in general?

I see Bosnia like i see Ukraine.

Interesting country with an interesting history, but thee are just so many better countries surrounding it that it seems pointless to go unless you have a historical interest in the country, or have already been to the ones surrounding it,

Maybe if you have a set of things you want to do in Bosnia it would be good, the place still has loads of attractions, but if your just going there for no particular reason and no specific things in mind, i think there maybe be better countries to choose from in the area.

Now im going to get shat on for saying that, but that was just my view, i found Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Serbia more interesting than i found Bosnia. One thing i did like was the Muslim culture, its very different from elsewhere and has a bunch of interesting historic Islamic things to see.

>Are the people as friendly as I've heard?

It depends really on what your comparing it too, but overall yes people are friendly and happy to help foreigners.

>Is it safe for a solo female?

Same as most places, just take normal precautions as you would as a tourist in any unfamiliar country

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 00:18:36 No.1043604 Report Delete

Quoted By:

I liked Bosnia and Herzegovina quite a lot. However, I spent most of my time there in Sarajevo, as I hadn't even planned on traveling there in the first place.

Unlike the above poster, I would recommend going. It's a very interesting country with a tragic modern history. There aren't many places in Europe you can go with so many urban ruins. I found that Sarajevo offered a good learning experience and a lesson in perspective. For instance, I stayed at a hostel in the city center. I was the only guest, and the young woman at reception started quite a few conversations with me. One night, after I went out dancing and got drunk, I came back and we started to talk for several hours. She started spilling her memories of the war. Don't think I'm ever going to forget the stuff she told me.

Definitely lots of cool stuff to see, too! I'm not sure how big of a problem landmines remain. From what I've read online, it seems that most of the "problem spots" have been identified. If you stick on trails and watch out for the "skull and crossbones" signs, you'll be good. Statistics from BiH show that landmine-related deaths and injuries have plunged in the last few years.

People there were nice but I wouldn't consider them exceptionally friendly compared to other countries I've been.

Fucking beautiful little place, though. I'd love to go back.

Anonymous

Anonymous Tue 20 Oct 2015 14:23:51 No.1043761 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1043599
I really like Bosnia, I'm definitely going to back. Only saw Sarajevo, Mostar, and some of the mountains around Sarajevo, but thoroughly enjoyed every part of it.

Not sure how it is now, but there were a lot of buildings with marks from shells, buildings falling apart, others unfinished, that sort of stuff all over the country. That and the history is about the only negative things I have to say about Bosnia. The food, the scenery, the water, the people, they're all nice. In March and April they should have good weather, too.
We couchsurfed a bit out of the center of Sarajevo, our hosts told me and my friend never to walk during the night, but to take a taxi instead... Well, this scared us only that much that we stopped chatting whenever it was dark and group of men were passing by (= in order not not reveal we were foreigners).
Do get a guide I guess? Idk I never had a guide anywhere, but if you want to go off the map, cause of the landmines you might need one.
They did have maps of safe routes around Sarajevo/Bjelasnica (sp?), so there are hiking routes cleaned and pronounced as safe.
The food... God, the food was good.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 21 Oct 2015 10:03:55 No.1044015 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1044019 >>1044184

>>1043599
Bosnian here, if you have any specific questions i could answer them.

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 21 Oct 2015 10:08:29 No.1044019 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1044015
I have no specific questios, but it has been too many years since I could post "Cheer up, Bosnian kid" on 4chan. So:

Cheer up, Bosnian kid!

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 21 Oct 2015 23:41:49 No.1044184 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1044252

>>1044015

How bad is the landmine problem? Do freak accidents still occur in areas thought to be clean, or is it something that really only happens when people ignore clear warning signs? And how has the flooding from last year impacted the problem?
Is it an easy place for someone with zero familiarity with native languages to navigate?

Anonymous

Anonymous Wed 21 Oct 2015 23:54:24 No.1044186 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1044254

>>1043599
>>1043603
Bosnia, Albania and Kosovo are really secular. The Muslims are really irreligious.

Nothing like Afghans or Iraqi Muslims.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 22 Oct 2015 07:35:17 No.1044252 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1044253

>>1044184
Well, huge swathes of area remain mined. But all of them are marked with clear red skull and bones markers.A good part of a minefield around Sarajevo got demined this year. Accidents happen every year a couple of people get killed but they are all locals, mostly people on the lower end of the social scale who go scavenging for mushrooms and such. As far as I know there never was a case where a tourist died due to minefields. Floods did move some minefields but they marked most of them, but those are in the areas you most certainly wont visit. But always check with your guide or hotel management if the are you plan to visit is mined or not.
>Is it an easy place for someone with zero familiarity with native languages to navigate?
Signs come in cyrillic and latin but all of them are mostly in native language, but tourist oriented ones come in english also, so a lot of signs that are not traffic oriented will come in english. If you are visiting Sarajevo i can say you will probably have no problem with communication workers in shops, caffe and malls know their english as well as of lot of young people.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 22 Oct 2015 07:36:31 No.1044253 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1044252
And also people that get killed knowingly enter minefields, because poverty makes you do all sorts of things.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 22 Oct 2015 07:44:11 No.1044254 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1044186
i can confirm this

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 22 Oct 2015 08:56:21 No.1044258 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1044853

I played big-size chess (pieces of up to a meter) with a couple of elderly locals in front of the orthodox cathedral of Sarajevo. I don't speak anything Slavic, the only foreign language they spoke was very rudimentary German. Incredibly nice guys, they play a very aggressive game. Got my ass handed to me twice, then we went for tea.
10/10 would play again.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 22 Oct 2015 13:12:56 No.1044304 Report Delete

Quoted By:

Sarajevo surprised me by being much more than 'grief tourism'. That part of its history was very interesting, but that wasn't all of it. There's a pretty cool 'east meets west' culture, and a lively nightlife scene (although every bar I went into was so smoky I could barely breathe - I think they have the second highest percentage of smokers in BiH or something).

I also went to Mostar, which was cool but can be seen in a day. I can't really offer much advice about backcountry stuff I'm afraid, as I stated fairly touristy.

Anonymous

Anonymous Thu 22 Oct 2015 13:36:14 No.1044311 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1043599

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51DMGjup6h4

Anonymous

Anonymous Fri 23 Oct 2015 00:25:40 No.1044477 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1043603
>I see Bosnia like i see Ukraine.

Please, bro, do not insult Bosnia.

Anonymous

Anonymous Sat 24 Oct 2015 05:06:07 No.1044809 Report Delete

Quoted By: >>1044811

>>1043599
Bosnia is safe. Theres a joke, for a country full of war criminals, they have the crime rate of switzerland.

Stray dogs can throw you off if you've never visited a pace where they're common. Just don't make eye contact and they won't bother you.

The muslims there are super secular. extremist types exist but the general populace has very little patience or tolerance for them.

Mines shouldn't ever really be an issue, especially if a tour is guided. You'll see a sign if there is danger.

The locals will all have opinions about everything they need to tell you if they have a captive audience. So avoid captive audiences unless you want to artfully dodge loaded questions about NATO and the former Yugoslavia.

The people are generally very friendly, albeit a bit cold and stand off-ish towards the international community at times. Their sense of humor is really dark and full of fun expletives.

Don't be afraid to ask for extra kajmac. Actually just do it. All the time.

Eat at Kibe in Sarajevo. You may need to call ahead. The view is amazing. So is the roast lamb.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO Višegrad,_Bosnia,_Austro- (...).jpg, 2MiB, 3658x2720

Anonymous Sat 24 Oct 2015 05:14:04 No.1044811 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1044809 continued

Go in April or May. March will still be grey and miserable.

Of course you'll try stuff like cevapi and burek. but go out of your way to find stuff like travnik cheese, or any of the traditional soups and stews.

Sarajevo has some cool bars. Be prepared for second hand smoke. Kino Bosna is really popular, but only on mondays (seriously, only go on mondays). It's an old movie theater converted to a huge bar.

I also recommend:

Balkan Express - my favorite, a really chill bar tucked in an alley next to McDonalds
Zlatna ribica - means the Goldfish, has a cool antique ambience
Barhana - to try rakijas
Monument - jazz club. ask the sax player about sushi
Art Kino Kriterion - cool place for a concert or a beer
Bertija - the room upstairs is cool
Bar under Iranian Embassy - features local art and some good wine, bit hard to find
Unnamed bar above Agarthi Comics - right on marshall tito boulevard a bit past pigeon square is this bar, which has cheap ass pitchers of rakija and live music

Any of the bars along the river are also really worthwhile.

Pink Houdini - one of the few places in the city open 24/7, and its a sleazy neon bar

Boring but busy bars include celtic pub, cheers (ask the waiter about, uh, not cocaine), underground, and city pub.

The black hole around which sarajevo night life swirls is Pussy Galore. Recommended only if its past 2 AM and you've ingested several mind altering chemicals.

Anonymous

View Same Google ImgOps iqdb SauceNAO 9d69f5392efa84448f0fcc7fade5989d.jpg, 113KiB, 347x504

Anonymous Sat 24 Oct 2015 10:16:23 No.1044853 Report Delete

Quoted By:

>>1044258

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