Day 15: Vinjerac to Cavtat via Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina)

on September 20, 2014 at 5:33 am

The host of Tamarix Residency is a very nice and warm lady, we woke up on time as we did not want to miss her hospitality during breakfast hours 😉

We couldn’t see much of Vinjerac as we got pretty late in arriving here last night. So, after having our breakfast, we got our stuff back in the RR and decided to explore the surroundings. Hotel has a nice view in the back, we spent quite some time enjoying the fresh air and the view.

How can we miss the selfies 😉

Plan was to reach Cavtat and check into Hotel Croatia, and on the way we wanted to check out the oldest bridge in the old city of Mostar (Bosnia & Herzegovina), a UNESCO heritage site. It was a 3+ hour journey till Mostar and we wanted to reach before the sun sets it because it was a must see destination and light plays an important role in bringing the beauty out of anything!

It started raining heavily, so we got a little disappointed and in between also had thoughts of returning, another reason was that we had to go out of Croatia and then come back again! Every entry into any country means 2 stamps on the passport. I had already crossed into Croatia twice, meant 4 stamps already (empty pages can become a privilege when traversing a route through 25 countries)!

When you are doing a cross-country, you need to have car insurance for the country you are entering either prior to entering the country or you can purchase it at a premium at the border. Point that needs to be remembered is that if you are planning to cross a border at night hours then chances of finding an insurance guy at the border are as good as spotting a dinosaur. So, plan accordingly and if possible purchase car insurance beforehand. We could not find a way to buy insurance beforehand and have to shell our dollars at each border crossing. Within Europe, something called “Green Slip” can be purchased and it accepted all throughout.

By the time we reached Mostar, rain had stopped and sky cleared. Old city of Mostar was living up to its name, we found parking on the side of the road thanks to one gentleman who paid our parking as we dint had coins.

One thing that we noticed was, be it any place we visited, whether famous or a remote hidden location! Our friends from China were always there, mostly groups, these guys definitely know how to travel and where to travel 🙂

After enjoying the views from the bridge and wandering through the streets selling stuff which had resemblance with stuff in India as well, we decided to settle down for a meal.

Old Bridge (UNESCO Heritage Site) in the city of Mostar

Scribe mentioning the details on the Old Bridge

Aarti figured out a place called Hotel Sadrvan, it seemed like a good restaurant, there was a lady at the entrance greeting all the guests in a unique outfit (it must be a regional attire). Aarti jumped to the opportunity and got herself clicked with her.

Interesting thing about the restaurant was that there were 10’s of cat sitting, roaming inside. It might be because the restaurant served fish in many varieties and secondly I did not spot even a single dog either on the street or anywhere else! Meal was good, nothing to be proud of and we continued towards Cavtat.