So there you have it, a little weary from the crowded coast in Croatia, we decided to head inland and spend two days in Bosnia-Hercegovina. We hoped to get off the main tourist track, we did. As soon as we got off the coastal road in Croatia, everything changed; the roads were quiet, locals outnumbered the tourists on the streets and in the coffee shops and prices dipped. The contrast was even more dramatic once we crossed the border into Bosnia-Hercegovina as the areas we were cycling in were, for the most part, remote and rural.
We cycled from Gabela to Trebinje, before turning south again and heading back to Croatia. The landscape was pretty, dry and mountainous. The only town of real note on our short route was the very lively and pleasant town of Trebinje where we spent a few hours. Though we would have loved to go to Sarajevo, that was way too far for our short detour.
One thing that stood out as we passed through small towns and villages was the scars left behind from the recent war. We were taken aback by the number of bullet riddled buildings we passed. Look carefully at the picture; those are bullet holes in the walls. There is also still an ongoing threat of landmines.
The cycling itself was quite tough because of the gradient and extreme heat we encountered. At one point, I looked down at my cycling computer only to see that the temperature was 42 degrees and the slope of the hill was 12%. Ughh, not a good combination but I can’t complain too much as most of the cars that passed us honked and gave us a thumbs up.
Two days of cycling really isn’t enough to get a good grasp of the country but what we did see and the sense that we got was quite interesting. We’re glad we made the detour.
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