Where the East Actually Meets the West

The term, "East meets West" seems to get thrown around a lot these days.  I hear it everywhere I go.  I heard it when I was in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia and I heard it used to describe Budapest, Hungary.  The term was even used as far West as Morocco in describing French architecture in Fes, and its certainly been used to explain Slovenia's location on the fringes of central Europe.  I've heard it used so many times that its tough to discern where the West actually ends and where the East might begin.  But in Sarajevo, the Bosnian capital and my most recent destination, not only does East meet West but North meets South, old meets new, and worlds collide.

Our rental car was slightly better than this.

Getting there proved to be a bit of a challenge.  Five of us left Friday afternoon in our rented Opel Corsa and in no time we had driven through most of Slovenia and across Croatia and were waiting in line at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Distance wise, it was the halfway point between Ljubljana and Sarajevo but as it would turn out, only a fraction of the total driving time.  Once we got into Bosnia the network of new, well laid out highways that span across Croatia and Slovenia felt as though they were a world away.  Virtually from here on out it was twisty two lane mountain roads with an average speed limit of 60km/hr with road signs that point you off in one direction only to leave you hanging at the next intersection.  On top of all this, I was following the Google maps directions on my phone which had me driving through increasingly remote villages on ever quieter side roads.  I finally lost all confidence in the directions when they instructed me to make a sharp turn up what looked more like a dry river bed than an actual road.  After consulting an actual printed map we managed to get on the right track, only it wasn't the end of our worries.

Driving through a town about 150km out of Sarajevo I had about a quarter of a tank of gas left which, according to the "Range Calculator" on the dashboard would be good for 250km so I wasn't worried.  But just as we left the city the terrible mountain road finally gave way to a brand new highway complete with a 130km/hr speed limit and since it was almost midnight at this point we had it all to ourselves.  As we made our way through the night the gas gage began to move at an alarming rate and soon the low fuel light came on, then it began to blink, then a warning came on the LCD screen "Refuel Now".  While everyone else in the car was sleeping I was quietly panicking as we went further and further without seeing a gas station and the thought of being stuck on the highway in the middle of the night became an ever more realistic possibility.  Finally, I saw a gas station up ahead but as I pulled in it was obvious that it was closed.  With the gas gage as low as it could possibly go, I began to coast my way down the highway, just waiting for the engine to die at any second.  Thankfully, like a light at the end of the tunnel, the outskirts of Sarajevo came into view and we soon limped into an open gas station, relieved and white knuckled.

Luckily, it didn't take long for Sarajevo to prove it was worth the stress of getting there.  Unlike anywhere else I've ever been and probably unique in the world, the city truly does embody the ubiquitous meeting of East and West.  One minute you're walking past mosques and through Middle Eastern bazaars and the next you're surrounded by European style cafes and buildings which look as though they've been transplanted from Vienna or Paris.  In a narrow valley along the Miljacka river, the city sprawls up the hillsides in all directions, the tightly packed houses broken only by the fields of white headstones.

Cemeteries like this are all over the city.
They are the most visible reminder of Sarajevo's dark history.

The cemeteries can be found all over the city and are the most glaring reminder of Sarajevo's recent history.  Less than 20 years ago the capital was the epicentre of Bosnia's violent civil war and underwent the longest siege in modern history.  From 1992 to 1995 the city was almost entirely cut off from the outside world as opposing forces vied for control of differing neighbourhoods.  In total, upwards of 10,000 people were killed in Sarajevo alone, most of them civilians.  Before any of this, Sarajevo was widely regarded as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  It held the Winter Olympics in 1984, just four years before they'd be in Calgary, and was praised as being a model of religious and ethnic diversity, an example others should follow.  Unfortunately, it was this very diversity which made the war so bitter.   But despite the many buildings that are peppered with bullet holes and the red rose plaques commemorating particularly deadly attacks, the city does have a vibrant feel to it and is well on its way to returning to that former stature, but still doesn't have running water between midnight and six am.

On our last afternoon in the city we climbed through the narrow switch back streets to the top of a hill on the extreme eastern end of the city.  Standing at the vantage point near a ruined Ottoman fortress we could look down nearly the entire length of the valley.  As the last of the sunlight glinted off the river like a streak of gold through the city, the call to prayer rang out from dozens of mosques in every direction.  A unique experience befitting this unique city.