'I found myself sitting at a table on the terrace of a restaurant overlooking the river on a warm July evening. There I sat, enjoying a nice cold beer with the three companions I made this journey with earlier in the day. It sounds like the typical backpacker scenario. River, outdoor restaurant, beer, travel companions, they all seem quite synonymous with the excursions of a backpacker. Well this particular excursion was a bit different for me as the river was the Neretva, the beer was Sarajevsko Pivo and that morning’s journey was through the war-ravaged Hercegovinian countryside. This was Mostar, Bosnia-Hercegovina, a city blown to bits during the Muslim-Croat fighting in the mid-90s and with an outer image giving one the impression that the war in fact had only ended the day before. Here, I was amongst the mangled beams and twisted steel that was once a library. There, I sat down to eat where the rocket holes are more numerous than the tourists and the old Turkish bridge now resides at the bottom of the river it once so eloquently spanned. But in the midst of this destruction I found myself in one of the most serene and beautiful settings that I have ever encountered. It was a setting that when thought of still produces chills that run up and down my spine.
On this particular warm July evening the moon was out in full and hovering above the Kujundziluk (Old Turkish Quarter). Directly in front of me was the Neretva with its pristine waters rushing past from left to right and the reflection of the moon staying forever in its middle. Behind this most graceful river sat the damaged and partially razed buildings on ul. Marsala Tita, mysteriously silhouetted by the moonlight. To my right were the remnants of the old Stari Most, lit up by the moon and resembling a pair of bookends with nothing in between.
So there I was gazing out across this quiet and melancholic setting created by the wonders of nature and the horrors of war when the Muslim call to prayer came on from the mosque across the river. A feeling of peace and contentment filled my body as I sat there mesmerised by the beauty entering my ears. Each word carried not only a harmonious note and a holy message but also the sound of hundreds of years of history and the assertion that despite being in the midst of so much destruction, not even war can crush the spirit of a proud people. As the beautiful prayer echoed throughout the town I could almost feel the rejuvenation occurring in front of my eyes.
The spirit of these words and the tragic beauty of the scenery left an impression on my heart and mind that I will never forget. I’m just happy I was there to experience it, sitting on that restaurant terrace overlooking the river and enjoying a beer with my travel companions in the typical backpacker scenario.'
I wrote that not long after coming back from Bosnia. If only I knew what a profound effect that trip would have on me in the long run. I can trace most of my current mindset back to Bosnia. I enjoyed travelling years before visiting the Balkans but being here completely changed the reasons I travelled and my outlook on the world and what I hope to accomplish in it. An old psychology teacher of mine would define it as a 'peak experience,' one of a small number of events that really stand out in one's life. Mostar taught me many things. First, and most obvious, it showed what war really is. It's not just some newscast from a faraway place, it involves real people. War kills. It is not some video game. I also learned to never trust the mainstream media who would have one believe that six years after the end of the war you would still risk getting fire-bombed by visiting. I learned that diplomats and international organizations are just as bad as politicians with their empty promises and inactivity that led to hundreds of thousands of unecessary deaths. Most importantly, I learned about people's resilience and their ability to always find the positive in a situation no matter how dire the conditions.
When in 2004 Stari Most was rebuilt I was watching the ceremony on BBC World with tears in my eyes. Maybe that sounds a bit strange to get emotional over the reconstruction of a bridge but to me it was more than just that. It was seeing the city of Mostar rebuild and progress towards the future that all its citizens are striving for. And for me personally it was like reliving my visit here and experiencing all the emotions and life lessons for a second time. The more we learn about the world and its the people, the less likely tragedies like this are to happen again in the future...'
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