The flight is less than an hour, but with check in and pick-up of a bag our day will be over.

Here are a few photos of our last days here.

Wendy is in training for some races in Australia starting in October, The local option for transport, our fav charcoal chicken shop (4 times in 21 days),picture postcard and rainy season views of the pool, another temple and sometimes a treat is needed.

Laos here we come!

This one didn’t! Wat Ban Pong known as the white pagoda was spectacular, unusual and very peaceful.

First a picture of us for the insta post and then some background to the reasons for some of the statues etc.

The temple as it now is relatively new about 1843 but it stands on ruins of previous temples that are not clearly dated or even identified. The design is based on ancient monasteries in India and Sri Lanka.

It features multiple ascending spirals representing the layered heavenly planes ascending to Nirvana. In the picture below you will see elephants that seem to be emerging from the building. This symbolizes that the elephants have unshakeable strength, stability and devotion as they hold the building upright. The lion beasts protect the building from negative energies and worlding distractions.

The rear view of a statue represents the earth goddess Phra Mae Thorani. When the Buddha was at the Bodhi tree in India and about to reach enlightenment he was challenged by the demon king Mara. Phra Mae Thorani rose up and wrung a torrent of water from her hair that swept Mara away. You will see her hair in the photo below.

Not sure about the next post!

We took this tour because they have a strict no touch policy and have rescued elephants from awful conditions in Thailand. They have more than 100 elephants roaming freely throughout the park.

Elephants eat 10% of their body weight each day and with more than 100 elephants each weighing about 2000 kg they need to buy lots of food. They don’t get any assistance from the government.

Next post, we visit an amazing hindu temple.

The hats were for us to wear in the rain while we picked our vegetables

We had a choice of 5 dishes one in each of Appetizer, Soup, Curry, Stir fry and Dessert.

Wendy’s:

• Papaya salad

• Tom yum kung

• Green curry

• Stir fried chicken with basil and chilli

• Banana in coconut

For me:

• Spicy chicken salad (Larb)'

• Spicy sour soup with chicken and coconut cream

• Penang curry

• Fried noodles with chicken

• Mango sticky rice

The Markets

where we even tried some Durian

The farm

- because we selected different dishes we harvested different things. The purple/blue flower is called butterfly pea and was used to make the blue color in the sticky rice.

The kitchen

Part of the kitchen, our completed curry pastes. Appetizers, ingredients ready, our final dishes. Happy Brad

Next post our elephant tour.

The sticks kept coming till we said stop. 20 Sticks costs us about $7 AUD. The queue was getting long by the time we left room for others.

We went on a market tour that should have been called an eating tour. Yes more skewers and lots of other tastes.

The timing is out of sequence for the coconut markets. This happened before the food tour. It was recommended by the owner of the coffee stall outside our accommodation. Yep I got a haircut soon after that photo for $7.

More tours and food next time.

Like most of the cities we have visited, Chiang Mai has an old town. This is typically the fortified part of town. Well, it was fortified in the past and plenty of the wall remains. This is us at the main gate into the old town.

We are staying about 2km outside the old town at a building called The Astra Sky River. Its claim to fame is the longest infinity pool in Thailand at 146 meters.

We are at the blue dot in the map.

A Little History

Chiang Mai (part of the Lan Na kingdom) was founded in 1296. The old town walls were needed to protect from

• The Burmese Dynasties (West): As powerful empires expanded out of Burma (Pagan, Ava, and especially the Taungoo and Konbaung dynasties), Lan Na was directly in the path of their eastern expansions.

• The Mongols (North): In the late 13th century, the Yuan Dynasty pushed southward into northern Southeast Asia. Fortifying northern settlements was essential to resist incursions.

• The Siamese Kingdoms (South): First Sukhothai, and later the much more aggressive and centralized Ayutthaya Kingdom, repeatedly sought to extend hegemony northward.

Lan Na grew during a golden age in the 14th and 15th centuries. Internal succession disputes then weakened the Kingdom and this led to Burmese rule for more than 200 years. These were two centuries of warfare between the Burmese and Ayutthaya kingdoms. This resulted in the abandonment of Chiang Mai.

Finally Lan Na joined with its southern neighbors and forced the Burmese out in 1174-5. Chiang Mai was then repopulated and has grown in peace till today.

The first temple visit -Wat Chedi Luang

The temple took over 100 years to be built and was finished in 1481. It stood 82 metres tall, but was partially destroyed by a powerful earthquake in 1545. It was left in a state of disrepair until 1992 when UNESCO and the government. There were no records of the look of the top and so the decision was made to leave the top unfinished and flat, preserving its "ruined" look rather than guessing at the original design.

Photos

Food photos

We left Australia in late February this year and as of today we have been travelling for 174 days, We have visited 11 countries and have plans to visit 2 more before we return home for Christmas.

Where

We had our longest stays in Malaysia (41 days), Spain (64 days), Albania {23 days), Bosnia Herzegovina (28 days). We will stay for multiple weeks in Thailand and Vietnam.

Food

Spain was one of two countries where we spent more on food than accommodation. This makes sense as accommodation was quite cheap during our time on the Camino. We spent less than $85 per day for accommodation. We spent lots before the Camino and also after we finished.

Albania was the second country where we spent more on food. This was because the food was so good and so we ate more. Yum

Accommodation

We have already paid for accommodation in Thailand. We have a nice apartment with good kitchen, a living room and a balcony. The building has a huge infinity pool and a reasonable gym. This is by far the cheapest long term room at just over $50 per day.

Montenegro has been the most expensive so far at almost $300 per night. This makes sense as we booked larger places so Kane, Aiden and Brooke could stay with us.

Overall we have paid $650 per week for accommodation. This feels pretty good when compared to rent costs in Australia

Flights

Flights have been a big expense. By the time we get back to Australia, we will have travelled over 40,000 km and spent 14 cents per km. We will have flown 12 times, with 5 in business class, 1 in premium economy and the rest in economy.

Tracking expenses

We budget in the local currency and once accommodation is paid, like it is here in Thailand, we know how many Thai Baht we have left to spend each day. So far, Chiang Mai has been a little more expensive than our daily budget. It is a big city and the sites are often out of town. As an example, I booked a cooking class for tomorrow and it was 80% of our daily budget.

No point staying at the hotel to save money!

Overall for the year we expect to be under budget and have only blown the budget in two countries; France and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We track everything by country with the exception of Flights and Travel Insurance. Our categories are Accommodation, Food, Local Travel, Incidentals. We have entered 1100 expenses so far.

Back to travel words and photos next time.

At first I was the guru! I found an Air India flight from Tirana in Albania to Hyderabad in India for a cheap price. Even better it was premium economy with extra baggage and seats right at the front of the plane.

I was the guru until two days before the flight. We had friends staying with us and they were leaving on the Tuesday and then we were leaving two days later on the Thursday. As I like to do, I checked on an app called flight radar to see if their flight was on time. It was! I then checked on our flight.

I don’t know if I can describe it well, but the pit of my stomach went crazy. There was no flight leaving on Air India on Thursday. There were no flights at all. Air India does not fly out of Tirana.

I had made a rookie error. I booked using the airport code. Of course it was TIR except it wasn’t! TIR was an airport in India (Tirupati) and Tirana is/was TIA.

So this was a problem of pretty gigantic proportions. We had a flight out of Hyderabad that was leaving at 00:25 on August 14th and no flight to get us there.

Cue panicked music. You know the kind, the couple is at home at midnight and on the phone the police say the murderer is in the house.

So the obvious solution was a flight from TIA (Tirana) to TIR (Tirupati). Nope, that would have involved multiple flights and would have landed us there after our booked flight had already landed in Hyderabad.

Did I mention that our flight from Hyderabad was business class to Kuala Lumpur and then a second business class flight to Chiang Mai? Finding other flights to KL or Chiang Mai would mean blowing off these two not so cheap flights.

We couldn’t find any flights that would get us to Hyderabad that made any sense.

An idea came flooding into my head. What if I could change the Air India flight to be from Delhi to Hyderabad? Air India allowed the change and this opened up flight options for us.

Wendy managed to find us two flights on Turkish Airlines that got us to Delhi before the new flight from Delhi to Hyderabad. The result was we had to leave on Wednesday instead of Thursday. This added 24 hours to our journey.

So after the changes we had the following flights.

• Tirana to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines

• Istanbul to Delhi on Turkish Airlines

• Delhi to Hyderabad on Air India

• Hyderabad to Kuala Lumpur on Malaysian Airlines

• Kuala Lumpur to Chiang Mai

Those flights amounted to 16 hours in the air. In total we were travelling for 45 hours so that meant a lot of waiting time. We booked a day room in a hotel in Hyderabad for 6 hours and we both slept like logs.

Brad’s mistake number 2

So flying to India and flying out the same day requires a transit visa. We both applied and Wendy had hers back in a few days. I didn’t! I emailed a few times and each time the message was just wait. Finally with a week to go, I applied for a visa once again. The next day my visa was approved.

At the airport in Istanbul, the visa was checked and my fat fingers had typed the last digit of my passport incorrectly on my first application. Yes the process included uploading my passport page and it recognised the number correctly, but i needed to enter it manually in another page of the application.

I showed the person at check in my other application and that was enough to get me on the flight. Soon after I got an email indicating the application with the right number was cancelled. I spent the entire flight panicking.

On landing there was another email that updated my first application, the one with the wrong password number, to the correct number. It is hard to describe how relieved it felt.

As always here are some food shots and our departure from Tirana. We both had Dosas in Delhi. In Hyderabad Wendy had a chicken curry and I had a biryani. After months, it was nice to have some spicy food.

Our first 24 hours in Chiang Mai have involved a lot of sleep and a long walk to the old town. Next post will be soon.

We all lived in Japan many years ago.

Yoshio wisely opted for a sleep for a couple of hours and the rest of us headed to Skanderberg Square where I ate another traditional breakfast. We had a packed program during the visit. One highlight was a trip into Northern Macedonia. It is one of the newest countries in the world and formed after Yugoslavia broke up. It needs the Northern name as there is an area in Greece called Macedonia. The last photo is us having cheeky beers on the last night while waiting for our food to be cooked.

As always food is a highlight. We had planned to visit a fish place and after walking there, we found it was closed. We happened on an amazing place.

They have an emphasis on local and where possible foraged food. Don’t worry, my Aussie readers, there were no death cap mushrooms. We had 11 dishes and plenty of drinks and the bill was less than $50 AUD per person.

We are also hoping to catch up again next year. Who knows where and who knows when.

Here are some pics of our adventures in Albania and as usual some food shots. Albania has more of a mediterranean vibe than other parts of the Balkans.

From arrival to departure was over too quickly. The view from the bar at the Sky Club was spectacular. The Orthodox church was amazing. You can see from all the smiles that we had lots of fun.

Food

The last photo is a traditional breakfast at a restaurant on the main square. I had that breakfast 4 times during our stay. The pomegranates were so good with the anchovies.

We are hoping for another catch-up somewhere else in the world next year.

Here are some details about the faith from its beginnings in the 13th century.

The Bektashi Order (Bektashism) is a highly distinct, mystic Sufi order within Islam that has evolved over hundreds of years into an incredibly liberal, inclusive, and tolerant faith. Founded in the 13th century by the Persian saint Haji Bektash Veli in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey), it later found its historical and spiritual heartland in the Balkans, particularly in Albania.

I find the mystic sufism concept explains the difference as this becomes about internal / inner spirituality over external rituals.

Core Beliefs & Philosophy

Bektashis believe that the literal, outer interpretations of religious texts (Zahir) are secondary to the deeper, esoteric spiritual truth (Batin). The focus is entirely on personal spiritual evolution, love for humanity, and self-knowledge.

Their theology includes a profound reverence for Allah, the Prophet Muhammad, and Imam Ali (Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law). They also deeply venerate Fatima (Muhammad’s daughter) and the Twelve Imams of Shia tradition.

Humanism is core to the faith. Bektashis view all religions as valid paths to the divine. A central ethical pillar is the phrase:
“Be master of your hands, your tongue, and your loins”
—meaning do not steal, do not speak falsely or gossip, and do not commit adultery.

Distinct Practices (and How They Differ from Orthodox Islam)

No Strict Lifestyle Mandates: The consumption of alcohol in moderation is permitted, and there are no rigid dietary restrictions regarding food prep beyond basic moderation.

Gender Equality: Women participate equally alongside men in spiritual gatherings, prayers, and traditional ceremonies (Cems). Women are not required to wear veils or headscarves.

Prayer Formats: Bektashis do not typically perform the five standard daily prostrations facing Mecca. Instead, prayer is done through regular gatherings, meditation, and devotional poetry and music (Sama).

The Tekke and Babas: Rather than a mosque, the spiritual center is a Tekke (Teqe in Albanian), led by a spiritual father called a Baba. The global leader of the order holds the title of Dedebaba.

History and the Shift to Albania

The Ottoman Elite: In the Ottoman Empire, Bektashism became the official spiritual order of the Janissaries—the Sultan’s elite infantry. This gave the order massive political and social clout across the empire’s territories, especially in the Balkans where its flexible nature made it easy for local Christian populations to adopt.

Exile from Turkey (1925): Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk banned all Sufi and dervish orders in Turkey as part of his secularization reforms.

The Move to Tirana: In 1931, the global headquarters of the order officially relocated to Tirana, Albania, where the faith had already deeply aligned itself with the Albanian National Awakening movement.

Communist Suppressions: In 1967, Albania’s communist dictator Enver Hoxha declared the country the world’s first atheist state, banning all religion. Bektashi Tekkes were destroyed or repurposed, and leaders were persecuted. Mainstream practice returned fully only after the fall of communism in 1991.

Current Status

Today, the Bektashi community makes up a significant part of Albania’s unique multi-religious tapestry with about 5% of the population. They are widely recognized as a major pillar of the country’s celebrated culture of interfaith harmony, coexisting seamlessly with Sunni Muslims, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox Christians.

Photos of our visit. Images of Bektashi leaders were common, the Tekken pointed to Mecca but the building was filled with chairs so no prostration to the ground.

We are visiting Northern Macedonia tomorrow.

We took a tour to Berat known as the city of a thousand windows. Along the was we visited a castle with a church that was converted during communism to become a museum.

I was quite taken by the 16th century Byzantine art by Master Onufri. Here is an example

Note the small mouths.

Restraint and Purity: A small, delicate, and firmly closed mouth symbolizes self-control, ascetic discipline, and the guarding of one’s speech. It reflects the virtue of avoiding earthly gossip, slander, or idle talk.

Subduing Physical Desires: The mouth is the entry point for food and drink (associated with gluttony) and the exit for worldly complaints. Minimizing its size visually de-emphasizes physical, bodily appetites in favor of spiritual nourishment.

Inner Prayer and Stillness (Hesychasm): In Eastern Christian mysticism, deep prayer happens silently in the heart rather than aloud. A small, closed mouth signifies hesychia—inner quietness, peace, and silent contemplation of God.

Elongated, thin noses.

Represent smelling the “fragrance of the Holy Spirit” while ignoring worldly scents.

And part of the thousand windows!

It was really hot during the trip and so I stopped for a cheeky beer. Throughout all of Spain there was a constant supply of Estrella beer. Suddenly in the middle of Albania there was a man selling Estrella. He asked where I was from and then played Down Under by Men at Work. A short video in honour of this surreal event.

We also visited Duross the nearest beach to Tirana. The food was amazing and about $65 AUD including coffee. Seafood soup, Anchovies, Grilled Octopus with Potatoes, Salad, Bread and Fruit.

Albania! We are loving it even though it is too hot right now.

Like Bosnia and Herzegovina, and then Montenegro, Albania was at the centre point of conflicts between great powers over the millennia.

Antiquity: Illyrians, Greeks & Romans

Like the rest of the Balkans, the Illyrians, an ancient Indo-European controlled much of what is today Albania. Modern Albanians are widely considered their direct linguistic and cultural descendants.

By the 4th century BC, ancient Greeks had established major coastal trade hubs such as Apollonia (about 40 minutes north of Modern day Vlore) and Butrint ()directly opposite the northern tip of the Greek island of Corfu).

In 168 BC Rome annexed the area, naming it part of Illyricum. It became a vital strategic corridor for the empire; the famous Via Egnatia trade road began at Dyrrachium (modern-day Durrës) and connected Rome directly to Byzantium (Constantinople).

The Middle Ages & National Resistance

Following the split of the Roman Empire in 395 AD, Albania fell under the Byzantine sphere, introducing Orthodox Christianity. Over the next several centuries, the region faced waves of Slavic, Bulgarian, Norman, and Venetian influences.

The Legend of Skanderbeg (1443–1468): As the Ottoman Empire expanded into the Balkans, an Albanian noble and military commander named Gjergj Kastrioti “Skanderbeg” united the local feudal lords. He successfully repelled the massive Ottoman armies for over 25 years. Skanderbeg remains Albania’s ultimate national hero, and his flag—a red field with a double-headed black eagle—is the national flag used today.

The Ottoman Era (1479–1912)

After Skanderbeg’s death, Albania was fully incorporated into the Ottoman Empire for over 400 years. During this era, a majority of the population converted to Islam (both Sunni and the mystical Bektashi order), often to gain economic and political advantages within the empire. (more on the Bektashi in my next post)

In the late 19th century, a cultural rebirth swept the country. Scholars standardized the Latin-based Albanian alphabet and pushed for political autonomy, culminating in a declaration of independence on November 28, 1912.

The 20th Century: Monarchy, War & Communism

King Zog I: After a turbulent decade following World War I, Ahmed Zogu seized power, eventually declaring himself King Zog I in 1928 and ruling until the onset of World War II.

World War II: Fascist Italy invaded Albania in 1939, followed by Nazi German occupation in 1943. Local partisan movements resisted the occupation fiercely.

The Hoxha Regime (1944–1991): Following the war, communist leader Enver Hoxha took power, ushering in nearly five decades of extreme totalitarian isolation.

Hoxha broke ties successively with the West, the Soviet Union, and finally China, viewing almost the entire outside world as a threat.

In 1967, the regime declared Albania the world’s first state-atheist nation, banning all religious practices.

Fearing foreign invasion, Hoxha ordered the construction of over 170,000 concrete military bunkers across the countryside and cities.

Modern Albania: Democracy & Beyond

The Transition (1991–1997): The communist regime collapsed in 1991, leading to democratic elections and a mass migration of citizens seeking economic opportunity abroad. A severe financial crisis in 1997 caused widespread civil unrest, but law and order were restored with UN assistance. It is said that some 10 million Albanians live abroad.

Modern Albania has undergone a remarkable metamorphosis. It joined NATO in 2009 and is actively pursuing European Union membership. Today, it is recognized for its vibrant urban culture, rich culinary heritage, and booming tourism along the Albanian Riviera and mountain trails.

Photo time

This set is before the end of Montenegro. the gang, sans me, went on a boat tour with some snorkeling. I have been feeling the heat and sun and decided to stick to the shade. We had a final dinner in Budva. The next morning Aiden and Brooke headed off to do a hike and took a bus ride to Albania. I was happy to be able to get seafood! Octopus, Mussels and Fish.

Albania has been a surprise. It is a liveable city with contrasts between, history, nature and modernity. The photo of us is saying bye to Kane. There are about 20 coffee shops near our accommodation. I have stuck to one.

Next post is about a couple of trips out of town,

Getting to Montenegro

Our bus trip from Mostar to Kotor was supposed to take about 5 hours. There were two accidents that slowed us down. The first involved a delivery truck that hit an animal and went off the road. The second was a motorcycle that hit another vehicle and tumbled along the road for quite a distance. Our bus was at the front of the queue and we waited about 90 minutes.

Kotor

Kotor was quite spectacular, but to be honest it wasn’t my favourite place. It was hot and felt really crowded. Our two nights there were enough for me. There were tall very rocky mountains just behind the houses and it made me feel nervous. There were cruise ships in both days so that meant lots of extra people walking around the old town.

The pictures make it look great and so maybe there was a big black cloud over my head in Kotor.

Budva

I love Budva. Finally we are away from Balkan food and back to Mediterranean food with seafood, salads and vegetables. Wendy, Aiden, Brooke and Kane did a boat trip this morning. As always ice Americanos (long blacks in Aussie) are standard for us everyday.

We leave tomorrow for Albania. It is about 7 hours by bus.

Hamish and Andy jumped off the bridge in Mostar and ever since both the boys wanted to do the same. 24 metres up and scary for parents that were watching nearby. Big thanks to Brooke for her video. I was too nervous to try recording.

Aiden

Kane

The Siege of Sarajevo (April 5, 1992 – February 29, 1996) is a defining event of modern European history. Lasting for 1,425 days, it is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare—three times longer than the Battle of Stalingrad and over a year longer than the Siege of Leningrad.

Here is a breakdown of how the siege came to be, how it was endured and resolved, and the deep-seated issues that still echo from it today.

1. The Lead-Up: The Collapse of Yugoslavia

The path to the siege was paved by the rapid unraveling of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia after the death of its long-time leader, Josip Broz Tito, in 1980. As indicated in my last post, he was the glue that held the diversity that was Yugoslavia together

The Rise of Nationalism: Throughout the 1980s, economic stagnation fueled public dissatisfaction. Opportunistic politicians—most notably Slobodan Milošević in Serbia—harnessed ethnic and nationalist sentiments to consolidate power.

Declarations of Independence: By 1991, Slovenia and Croatia declared independence, sparking immediate armed conflicts.

Slovenia achieved independence after a 10-day conflict with fewer than 100 casualties. Essentially, the Serbs let them go.

Croatia, with a 12% Serb minority was a different story. After Croatia declared independence in June 1991, The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) openly sided with the Serb rebels, providing heavy artillery, air support, and armor.

There were sieges of Vukovar, with a massacre where injured soldiers were pulled from hospital and executed and Dubrovnik where world opinion turned against keeping a unified Yugoslavia.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH)—the most ethnically diverse of the republics, composed of Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats—faced an existential choice: stay in a Serb-dominated rump Yugoslavia or seek independence.

The Referendum Split: On February 29 and March 1, 1992, BiH held an independence referendum. While the vast majority of Bosniaks and Croats voted for independence, Bosnian Serbs (led by Radovan Karadžić and backed by Belgrade) boycotted the vote. Independence was officially declared on March 3, 1992, but Karadžić’s party had already begun preparing for war, establishing a separate entity called Republika Srpska and stockpiling heavy weaponry around major cities.

2. The Siege: 1,425 Days of Terror

As international recognition of Bosnia’s independence came in early April 1992, Bosnian Serb paramilitaries and the JNA completely surrounded Sarajevo.

Strategy and Encirclement

The forces surrounding the city numbered around 13,000, positioned on the hills overlooking the valley in which Sarajevo sits. They had a massive advantage in heavy artillery, tanks, and mortars. Inside, a hastily assembled, lightly armed coalition of citizens and Bosnian government forces (the ARBiH, numbering about 70,000) defended the urban center.

Because the Serb forces lacked the manpower to successfully storm and occupy the dense city center, they settled into a campaign of attrition designed to starve and terrorize the population into submission.

Daily Life in the “Valley of Death”

Constant Shelling: On average, 329 shells hit the city daily, peaking at a horrifying 3,777 shells on a single day (July 22, 1993). Standard targets included hospitals, schools, mosques, churches, residential blocks, and cultural landmarks like the National Library (Vijećnica), which was incinerated along with millions of irreplaceable historic manuscripts.

“Sniper Alley”: Major thoroughfares, particularly Zmaja od Bosne street, became known as Sniper Alley. Serb snipers positioned in high-rises in occupied suburbs like Grbavica targeted anything that moved, including children, forcing citizens to run behind makeshift barricades of shipping containers and ruined cars.

No Basic Utilities: For months at a time, Sarajevo’s citizens lived completely without electricity, running water, or gas. They gathered water from local springs under sniper fire and burned plastic, car tires, and books to survive the brutal Balkan winters.

The Tunnel of Hope (Tunel Spasa): Cut off from the world, the citizens dug a 2,600-foot (800-meter) manual foot tunnel underneath the UN-controlled airport runway. Completed in mid-1993, this secret lifeline allowed food, weapons, and medicine to bypass the blockade and keep the city’s defense alive.

The Cost: An estimated 13,952 people were killed during the siege, including 5,434 civilians—among them more than 1,500 children.

3. Resolution: The Washington Agreement, Massacres, NATO, and the Dayton Accords

For over three years, the international community’s response was widely criticized as sluggish and ineffective, largely limited to providing humanitarian aid via UN airlifts.

Initially, Bosniaks and Bosnia Croats fought together, but there was a split. By mid-1993, a bitter, localized war broke out in other parts of Bosnia (specifically Central Bosnia and Mostar).

The Washington Agreement: In March 1994, under intense diplomatic pressure from the United States, the two sides signed the Washington Agreement. This ended the Croat-Bosniak hostilities and created the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Crucially, it allowed the Bosniaks and Bosnia Croats and the regular Croatian Army (HV) to realign as allies against the VRS.

The Markale Massacres: Public opinion shifted drastically following two devastating mortar attacks on the crowded Markale open-market in Sarajevo. The first, in February 1994, killed 68 people; the second, in August 1995, killed 43.

NATO Intervention: Following the second Markale attack and the horrific Srebrenica Genocide in July 1995, NATO launched Operation Deliberate Force. This was a sustained, two-week air campaign targeting Bosnian Serb heavy weapons, command centers, and ammunition depots around Sarajevo and other areas.

The Dayton Peace Agreement: The NATO airstrikes, coupled with joint ground offensives by Bosnian and Croat forces, forced the Bosnian Serb leadership to the negotiating table. In November 1995, the Dayton Accords were negotiated in Ohio (officially signed in Paris in December 1995).

Official End: On February 29, 1996, the Bosnian government formally declared the Siege of Sarajevo over, as Serb forces finally abandoned their positions in the surrounding hills and suburbs.

4. Current Day Issues: The Legacy of Dayton

While Sarajevo has physically rebuilt and is today a vibrant, culturally rich tourist destination—widely celebrated for its resilience, food, film, and historical depth—the structural and psychological scars of the siege remain incredibly prominent.

The Bureaucratic Trap of Dayton

The Dayton Agreement succeeded in stopping the bloodshed, but it created an incredibly complex, highly inefficient political system. It split Bosnia and Herzegovina into two semi-autonomous “entities”: the Bosniak-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH) and the Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (RS).

Sarajevo itself is physically split. The historical and cultural city center belongs to the Federation, while the edge of the urban sprawl constitutes East Sarajevo (Istočno Sarajevo), which lies within Republika Srpska.

This structure features a tripartite presidency (one Bosniak, one Croat, one Serb) and ethnic vetoes on almost all state decisions, leading to chronic political gridlock.

Threat of Secession and Institutional Crisis

Decades later, nationalist rhetoric continues to threaten stability. Milorad Dodik, the pro-Russian leader of Republika Srpska, regularly challenges state-level authority, threatens to pull RS out of shared state-level institutions (like the judiciary and joint military forces), and openly floats the idea of secession.

Social and Demographic Shifts

A Changed City: Before the war, Sarajevo was a famously integrated, multicultural “melting pot” (often called the Jerusalem of the Balkans). While it retains historic places of worship side-by-side, its actual demographics have shifted heavily. A vast majority of the city’s pre-war Serb population moved to East Sarajevo or left the country entirely, making the city proper far more ethnically homogeneous today.

Brain Drain: Due to corruption, the rigid political patronage systems created by ethnic power-sharing, and economic stagnation, Bosnia has one of the highest rates of youth emigration in the world. The generation born after the war is leaving in massive numbers for Western Europe.

Physical and Mental Scars: While the city’s historic center has been beautifully restored, you do not have to look far to see bullet-scarred facades, shrapnel marks in the concrete (some filled with red resin, known as “Sarajevo Roses”), and sprawling hillside cemeteries that serve as a constant, quiet reminder of the 1,425 days the city stood alone.

Together again (the 5 of us on the Latin Bridge), We visited the Bosna Springs that feed the river and give Bosnia its name, Kane was still a little jet-lagged and was soon asleep by the water’s edge, We went to the football (soccer) match featuring SK Sarajevo. Lots of street art for the team, Kane tried traditional Bosnian coffee. You place a sugar cube in your mouth and drink the coffee through the cube. The pink objects are known as Sarajevo Roses and are found all over. The show where 3 or more people died from a mortar round. Finally, the bike was an art installation created and raised during the siege.

We took the cable car up the mountain and walked down via the bobsled track. It was very, very steep walking all the way down the mountain.

Reminds me of the supporters at Leichhardt during a match.

History

In 1878, the Congress of Berlin assigned the administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, ending nearly four centuries of Ottoman rule.

The Habsburgs viewed Sarajevo as a showcase for imperial modernization. They rapidly industrialized the city, introducing cutting-edge infrastructure that often beat Vienna to the punch—including Europe’s first full-time electric tram network in 1895.

While the architecture went European, the city retained its multi-faith character, earning the moniker “the Jerusalem of Europe” as churches, synagogues, and mosques stood side by side.

On June 28, 1914, Sarajevo became the epicenter of global history.

Gavrilo Princip, a member of the revolutionary movement Young Bosnia, assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand (heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne) and his wife Sophie near the Latin Bridge.

The car is a replica, Aiden and Brooke are standing where the Archduke and his wife were assassinated.

The event triggered the July Crisis, which rapidly escalated into World War I, altering the course of human history forever and bringing an end to the Austro-Hungarian Empire (the Habsburgs).

Following WWI, Sarajevo became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later the Kingdom of Yugoslavia).

Sarajevo experienced a period of economic and architectural neglect during this time, as political power and development shifted toward Belgrade and Zagreb.

WWII: From 1941 to 1945, Sarajevo was occupied by the Nazi-backed Independent State of Croatia (NDH). The city’s vibrant Jewish community was tragically decimated. Sarajevo also became a hub of fierce anti-fascist resistance, famously led by the partisan commander Vladimir Perić “Valter,” who was killed just hours before the city’s liberation on April 6, 1945.

The Socialist Yugoslav Boom (1945–1980s)

Under Josip Broz Tito’s socialist Yugoslavia, Sarajevo experienced a massive renaissance. The city was rapidly rebuilt and expanded under the banner of Bratstvo i jedinstvo (Brotherhood and Unity).

To accommodate a surging population, the city expanded further west into the Sarajevo field, creating vast socialist-modernist residential districts like Grbavica and Alipašino Polje.

By the 1960s and 70s, Sarajevo became the cultural, musical, and artistic heart of Yugoslavia. The “Sarajevo pop-rock school” produced iconic bands like Bijelo Dugme and Indexi, making the city the coolest cultural destination in the Balkans.

The ultimate culmination of Sarajevo’s century-long journey occurred in February 1984, when it hosted the XIV Olympic Winter Games. It was the first time the Winter Olympics were held in a socialist state.

For Sarajevo, the Olympics were a glorious celebration that firmly cemented its status as a cosmopolitan, vibrant, and united global city.

Next post the siege and our time in Mostar.

History 1600-1878 conflict between the great powers

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s history was defined during this time by its position as a high-stakes frontier. Sitting on the fault line between the Islamic Ottoman Empire and the Catholic Habsburg Monarchy, the region experienced centuries of intense military conflict, social transformation, and shifting geopolitical boundaries.

The Great Turkish War (1683–1699): Following the failed Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683, the Holy League (led by the Habsburgs) pushed the Ottomans back. In 1697, Prince Eugene of Savoy led a daring Habsburg raid deep into Bosnia, capturing and burning most of Sarajevo.

The treaty at the end of the war ceded Hungary and Croatia to the Habsburgs meaning that Bosnia was the Ottoman’s northernmost frontier. The Habsburgs invaded again in 1737 and were defeated by Bosnian forces known as the Beys. Beys soup is available at most restaurants here. This defeat led to border stability for the next century.

As the Ottoman empire declined, it attempted to change and modernize. This was opposed by Bosnian elites and by 1851 Field Marshal Omer Pasha Latas brutally crushed the local resistance, executed or exiled hundreds of the traditional Muslim aristocracy (Beys), and centralized power under Istanbul's direct control.

A severe drought, heavy taxation, and state corruption pushed the Christian agrarian peasantry to their breaking point. They revolted in 1875 against their local landowners and Ottoman tax collectors. The conflict rapidly spread across Bosnia and sparked broader wars involving Serbia, Montenegro, and ultimately the Russian Empire against the Ottomans (the Russo-Turkish War).

The wider war devastated the region and resulted in a decisive defeat for the Ottoman Empire, forcing European superpowers to step in to prevent Russia from gaining total control of the Balkans.

Habsburgs and the Ottomans - a background

The Habsburg originated in the 10th century from a modest castle (Habsburg Castle) in modern-day Switzerland. However, they quickly shifted their power base to Austria, which became the historic heart of their empire.

​From 1438 until 1806, a Habsburg was elected as the Holy Roman Emperor almost continuously.

​The Global Empire: In the 16th century, the family split into two main branches:

​The Spanish Habsburgs: Ruled Spain, the Netherlands, parts of Italy, and vast territories in the Americas (the Spanish Empire).

​The Austrian Habsburgs: Ruled Austria, Hungary, Bohemia (the Czech Republic), and parts of the Balkans. Maria Theresa (1717–1780): She was a fierce, modernizing reformer who strengthened Austria’s economy, military, and education system while mothering 16 children (including Marie Antoinette).

​Franz Joseph I (1848–1916): One of Europe’s longest-reigning monarchs. He navigated the decline of the empire. His nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914, which triggered World War I. More on this next post

The Ottoman Empire was one of the largest, longest-lasting, and most influential empires in world history. At its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries, it spanned three continents, controlling much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa.

The empire began as a small Turkish principality in northwestern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) founded by Osman I around 1299.

• The Fall of Constantinople (1453): The turning point in world history occurred when Sultan Mehmed II (the Conqueror) breached the legendary walls of Constantinople, bringing a definitive end to the Byzantine Empire. The city was renamed Istanbul and became the glittering new Ottoman capital, straddling Europe and Asia.

• The Apex under Suleiman the Magnificent (r. 1520–1566): Under Suleiman, the empire reached its geographic and cultural zenith. Ottoman armies pushed deep into Europe, conquering Belgrade and Hungary, and besieging Vienna in 1529.

The Ottoman state was highly centralized, meritocratic for its time, and built around absolute loyalty to the Sultan.

The empire’s elite military force, the Janissaries, recruited Christian boys from conquered Balkan territories who were taken, converted to Islam, heavily educated, and trained. They became the backbone of both the military and the imperial bureaucracy, answering directly to the Sultan.

The Ottomans managed their incredibly diverse population through a unique religious framework known as the Millet System. Non-Muslim communities (such as Orthodox Christians, Catholics, and Jews) were granted the status of dhimmis. They were allowed to govern their own internal affairs, use their own languages, and practice their religion in exchange for paying a tax (jizya).

The Ottomans fused Byzantine, Persian, Arabic, and Balkan traditions into a distinct imperial identity.

Following Suleiman’s reign, the empire entered a long period of gradual decline relative to its rapidly industrializing European neighbors.

Military Defeats: The failed second Siege of Vienna (1683) and the subsequent Treaty of Karlowitz (1699) marked the end of major Ottoman expansion in Europe. The empire found itself on the defensive, losing territories to the Habsburgs and the Russian Empire.

The Tanzimat Reforms (1839–1876): In the 19th century, the state launched massive modernization efforts. These reforms attempted to westernize the military, secularize the legal system, and grant equal citizenship to all subjects regardless of religion. However, these changes faced heavy resistance from traditional elites and failed to stop rising nationalist movements in the Balkans (such as Greece, Serbia, and Bulgaria) from breaking away.

The latest from Sarajevo

After the pedestrian friendly and car unfriendly countries of Spain and France, it has been a shock here with cars and noise everywhere.

Everybody smokes! Well not everybody, but lots. Coffee shops don’t serve food just coffee and a cigarette should you want one.

Here are some photos and yes we are learning where to get food more suited to our palates.

We moved to an apartment with a second bedroom for Kane when he arrives, part of a morning walk, the hedgehog in front of our balcony having a drink, we walked into the Republika Srpska the flag and the names using Cyrillic characters rather than Roman ones, the flags on display during the world cup and 3 shots of food including lamb chops.

The Roman time in Bosnia was highly integrated into the imperial economy. The Romans exploited the region's rich silver, iron, and gold mines.

After Roman power fractured the economy collapsed, the society de-urbanised and people survived by retreating into the mountains as herders.

After a brief time when Germanic Goths (Ostro and Visi) and Huns and Gepids brutally plundered the area wiping much of the remaining Roman infrastructure.

As a side note after Atilla the Hun died the Gepids wiped out the Huns and killed his sons.

Next the Slavs arrived in massive numbers to settle permanently. They bypassed or destroyed the remaining Byzantine fortresses, completely overwhelming the depleted Romanized population. Over the centuries, the incoming Slavic tribes blended with the remnants of the indigenous, Romanized Illyrian populations.

Cut off from the immediate control of both Rome (the Papacy) and Constantinople (the Byzantines), The society developed its own highly distinct identity.

It emerged by the 12th century, complete with its own unique, autonomous Christian church (the Bosnian Church) that rejected both Catholic and Orthodox hegemony.

More of Sarajevo

More than a week here now. We have done some sightseeing including trying out some restaurants, gone to the gym a few times and caught up with people from a Facebook group called GoWithLess. We first met up to watch the Bosnia and Herzegovina football match and then yesterday at a pub to escape from the heat.

We also took a guided tour to some sites out of Sarajevo.

The crowds on the day of the Bosnia match contrast with the few watching Portugal match, the car is a replica of the one that Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, time for chess, the last hoto is a market where we bought meat and cheese for dinner.

A video of the Pliva waterfall. It is a bit noisy!

More to come.

History

I thought I would give a snippet of history for each of my posts during our time in Sarajevo. I will then add some info about our time here.

Prehistory and Antiquity

Long before it was a city, the area around Sarajevo was home to the Butmir Culture, a major Neolithic civilization known for its unique pottery and ceramics dating back to 2600 BC.

Later, Illyrian tribes inhabited the region, they were independent groups that were fierce warriors. The tribe is this area was the Delmatae They gave their name to the region of Dalmatia and fiercely resisted Roman expansion during the Dalmatian Wars.

The wars lasted for centuries until the Romans finally conquered it, establishing a significant administrative center and thermal baths in the modern-day suburb of Ilidža. Over time the Illyrians became Romanized.

After the fall of Rome, Slavic tribes settled the valley during the 7th century. The Slavic migration was a gradual expansion, rather than war, to the Balkan Peninsula in the 6th and 7th centuries. It transformed the region, replacing or absorbing the remnants of the Romanized Paleo-Balkan populations (like the Illyrians).

Our time in Sarajevo

We arrived on Thursday night to see the sight of people watching the world cup on big screens throughout the city.

We had chores to do on Friday! Wendy went for a run, I found a shop selling Burek and together we did some food shopping. That night I cooked for the first time in many weeks. Burek is a meat filled pastry.

Wendy found a gym that allowed a one-month membership so we signed up on Saturday morning. They had a set of scales and I lost 7 kg since I left home in February. Wow!

I wanted to do some charity work during the stay and reached out to pomoziba.org and Saturday afternoon I assisted their volunteer team leader along with other volunteers to clean up a new building that they will use as a base for volunteers.

After the gym in the morning and the work in the afternoon, I was very tired today.

Wendy out on her run, The end of our clean-up, pigeon square, fruit and veg amazing especially cherries, view, the white markers each represent a person lost during the siege.

More soon