Day 6 - Unloaders, Dolphins and Bridge Diving

Leaving Korčula

I’m feeling better today but still not 100%. We couldn’t go to Opuzen as, due to the rain yesterday morning, the boat can’t fit under a bridge! What a difference to the European Gems cruise where we couldn’t get the boat from Amsterdam due to low water levels! However all was not lost, we went to Polce instead.

As we approached Polce what did I see but the lovely view of unloaders, conveyors and stackers! And they were working! The ones at Port Talbot have stopped operating now so it was nice to see some working. I found out later that Polce is the main location where coal is brought ashore. As we entered Polce harbour a pod of Dolphins greeted us.

Entering Polce

Once we arrived in Polce we had lunch before getting on a coach for a trip to Mostar in Bosnia Herzogovina accompanied by our favourite tour guide, Ivana! On the way we went over a new part of the motorway and the highest bridge in Eastern Europe.

Craggily beautiful Bosnia and Hercegovina is home to towering mountains — the site of the 1984 Winter Olympics — forests, historical fortresses, monasteries, and mosques. The name Bosnia comes from the Indo-Germanic word Bosana, which means water. The second part of the name -Herzegovina - derives from Herceg Stjepan, a duke (Herceg) from the Middle Ages. Bosnia is the larger region and occupies the Northern and central parts of the country.  The Herzegovina region occupies the South and Southwest.

We arrived in Mostar around 2pm and, after a toilet stop and then an ice cream, we went on a walking tour.

Mostar is a historic town which was originally developed as a frontier town of the Ottoman Empire in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. It spans a deep valley of the Neretva River and is known for its beautiful arched bridge, Stari Most (simply meaning Old Bridge) which spans the river. The town was expanded further in the 19^th and 20^th centuries when it was part of Austro-Hungary.

The guided walk took us from the Mostar Peace Bell Tower, along the main street to Stari Most. On the way we entered the Old Town – this was marked by a change in the ground surface from tarmac to marble cobblestones. Marble cobblestones are a typical way to decorate the streets in the Orient and can be a nice decoration but are also very slippery. The guide suggested that it was an invention by men to stop women shopping – women wearing high heels have to keep looking down so they don’t slip. This means that they don’t have time to look at the shops!

The Stari Most has a single arch spanning the Neretva River. Its swooping arch was originally built between 1557 and 1566 and, at the time, was the broadest man-made arch in the world! The distinctive hump-backed bridge was designed by Mimar Hayruddin, a student and apprentice of the famous architect, Mimar Sinan, on the orders of Suleiman the Magnificent and it opened in 1556. The city takes its name from the bridge keepers, the Mostari, who guarded it.  

The original bridge was destroyed in the Bosnian War in the 1990s which happened when Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia. After the war, an international coalition was formed to reconstruct both the bridge and the city centre of Mostar. A project, overseen by UNESCO, was undertaken to rebuild the Stari Most using the same materials and techniques used in the original bridge. Construction began in 2001 and was completed in 2004. The Stari Most and the historic centre of Mostar were recognised as a World Heritage site in 2005.

Mostar Bridge

Diving off the bridge is an old tradition and something of a coming-of-age feat for the city’s young men. There is an annual diving contest held here every July and the bridge has become a stop on the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. In fact, there is a diving station on the bridge with divers waiting to dive off. The guide explained that we had three options – pay someone to dive off the bridge, wait for someone else to pay the person to dive off the bridge, or pay to learn how to dive off the bridge ourselves. Surprisingly neither mum nor I were enthusiastic about the last option!

On the other side of the bridge, which was a steep climb up and down, is the Old Bazar Kujundziluk which has been in business since the 16^th century. There are many small shops here selling traditional handicrafts including copperware items, carpets, scarves and shawls. Some were really lovely, and cheap – cashmere shawls from only €7!!

We ended the tour at the top of the Bazar Kujundziluk and, as we had some free time, Mum and I decided to follow a walk we had found that followed some landmarks of the civil wars. After Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s there were two civil wars between the ethnic communities that made up the country. The first involved the Serbs against the Croats and Bosnians which the Serbs lost. Following that, a separate civil war started between the Croats and Bosnians. During this war Mostar was under siege and citizens risked being picked off by snipers if they ventured out to buy food. It was during this war that the Stari Most was destroyed.

The walk took us away from the old town to the Spanish Square. This is the main intersection of the city and is very busy. The strange thing was that the cars stopped for us to cross the road, on a dual carriageway – not what we’re used to!

The Spanish Square

The Spanish Square is named in honour of the 21 Spanish soldiers who died serving in the UN Protection Force. There is a small garden area near to the square which was quite peaceful, and a bit out of place opposite the ruined and bullethole splattered buildings on the other side of the square.

Near to Spanish Square is the infamous Sniper Tower. This building used to be the Ljubijanska Bank but found a new purpose during the civil wars and the two sieges of Mostar. During the second civil war the building was in Croatian held territory and was the nest of many snipers. Any residents of the Bosnian section were completely cut off, without food and necessities. Anyone who ventured out to search for anything became an easy target.

The war ended in 1995 and the Sniper Tower was cleared of debris, rubbish and foliage. After the cleanup the tower was left as it was, a ragged monument to grief and despair. As the stones say, “Don’t Forget”.

Mostar Bridge

We returned through the old town, shopping on the way, before we caught the coach back to the ship, stopping for dinner on the way.