Kravice Falls
Today I went on a tour to Kravice Waterfalls. I arrived early at the pickup spot, a grand orange building that I was confused to learn was a gymnasium as I saw lots of children walking in to it (it was later explained to me that ‘gymnasium’ means ‘school’ in Bosnian). I was 15 minutes early so went for a wander and found an interesting piece of modern art next to a main road. Dangling from one of the floors of a bombed out four-storey building was a child on a swing. Poignant.
The journey to Kravice took an hour. It was interesting as the guide (another Emir) told us a lot of interesting facts and I enjoyed chatting to Nick and Amanda, an American couple, and Molly, a Marine Biologist student from London. We drove under a tall bridge and Emir told us that the politician who was instrumental in it being built was giving his speech at its official opening when two cracks suddenly appeared in the bridge. ‘Don’t worry, it’s normal’ he said, fooling no-one.
We arrived at Kravice Falls and I could hear the roar of the water long before I saw the falls. It was an exciting moment, descending down the steps and seeing the dramatic sight reveal itself. Kravice comprises of 20 falls, roughly 25 metres tall, falling in to an emerald green lake which sparkled in the glorious sunshine. My camera trigger finger was kept busy.
Kravice is one of the few waterfalls you actually can swim in front of and as it was another hot, sunny day, I couldn’t resist. I got in to my swimming shorts and stepped gingerly in to the water. To say it was cold is an understatement. I decided not to prolong the agony so dived in and it literally took my breath away. I’ve never swam in water so cold, even in England. Once I got my blood pumping though, it was a special way to spend 30 minutes, swimming back and forth in front of the cascading water. Aside from a few people wading, I pretty much had the lake to myself.
Later Emir told us that although Mostar is the warmest city in Bosnia due to its location in a basin in the Dinaric Alps (temperatures regularly exceed 40°C in the summer) the water is the coldest due to the freshwater springs. I could confirm this as I dried myself off with a towel, shivering.
Today’s tour included one more destination, Pocitelj, located 20 kilometers away from Kravice Falls. It’s a picturesque medieval village on the side of a steep hill, which has a fort, a clock tower, a Turkish bath and a mosque, reflecting the town’s multicultural past. Emir told us that the town, once a strategically important trading post during the Middle Ages, has a population of just 12 today. We were given 40 minutes to explore, so climbed the cobbled streets up to an elevated viewpoint overlooking the river, framed by blue mountains. At the bottom of the hill I bought myself a bottle of pomegranate juice, the local speciality, from a toothless old lady. It was very tasty - sour but refreshing.
The tour cost €25 but entrance to Kravice Falls was a further €10. It’s good value as Kravice Falls is hard to reach due to sporadic public transport. Our guide Emir spoke almost constantly, telling us interesting information about Bosnia’s history, the language and the places we visited. He was very proud of his country and enjoyed our company enough to invite us all to go wine-tasting at his place that night.
We got back to Mostar at 3pm and after spending a while mooching around the Old Town, I got myself a Ferrero Roche and salted caramel ice-cream, and ate it at the shore of the river, looking up towards the bridge. There was a bar, so I bought myself a beer and sat back in one of the deckchairs facing the bridge, waiting to see another person jumping off. I was there for an hour and didn’t see anyone else jumping - I’m starting to think I got lucky seeing the men jump on my first day. Despite this I enjoyed putting my feet up and dropping down a few gears. It’s possible to go on motorboat rides along the river from underneath the bridge, €10 for a ten minute trip.
Earlier I asked Emir about Bosnian food and he reeled off a long list of recommendations, including the national dish cevapi. I ordered it at a small restaurant but was underwhelmed. It was just grilled beef mince rolled in to sausage shapes. It tastes exactly like beefburger, just a different shape. It was served with chips, a flat-bread, onions and a red pepper sauce, the tastiest thing on the plate. I asked the stern-faced waitress, cigarette dangling from her bottom lip, to recommend me a Bosnian dessert. She suggested smokvara, a dense, treacly fig pudding, similar to sticky toffee pudding.
The journey to Kravice took an hour. It was interesting as the guide (another Emir) told us a lot of interesting facts and I enjoyed chatting to Nick and Amanda, an American couple, and Molly, a Marine Biologist student from London. We drove under a tall bridge and Emir told us that the politician who was instrumental in it being built was giving his speech at its official opening when two cracks suddenly appeared in the bridge. ‘Don’t worry, it’s normal’ he said, fooling no-one.
We arrived at Kravice Falls and I could hear the roar of the water long before I saw the falls. It was an exciting moment, descending down the steps and seeing the dramatic sight reveal itself. Kravice comprises of 20 falls, roughly 25 metres tall, falling in to an emerald green lake which sparkled in the glorious sunshine. My camera trigger finger was kept busy.
Kravice is one of the few waterfalls you actually can swim in front of and as it was another hot, sunny day, I couldn’t resist. I got in to my swimming shorts and stepped gingerly in to the water. To say it was cold is an understatement. I decided not to prolong the agony so dived in and it literally took my breath away. I’ve never swam in water so cold, even in England. Once I got my blood pumping though, it was a special way to spend 30 minutes, swimming back and forth in front of the cascading water. Aside from a few people wading, I pretty much had the lake to myself.
Later Emir told us that although Mostar is the warmest city in Bosnia due to its location in a basin in the Dinaric Alps (temperatures regularly exceed 40°C in the summer) the water is the coldest due to the freshwater springs. I could confirm this as I dried myself off with a towel, shivering.
Today’s tour included one more destination, Pocitelj, located 20 kilometers away from Kravice Falls. It’s a picturesque medieval village on the side of a steep hill, which has a fort, a clock tower, a Turkish bath and a mosque, reflecting the town’s multicultural past. Emir told us that the town, once a strategically important trading post during the Middle Ages, has a population of just 12 today. We were given 40 minutes to explore, so climbed the cobbled streets up to an elevated viewpoint overlooking the river, framed by blue mountains. At the bottom of the hill I bought myself a bottle of pomegranate juice, the local speciality, from a toothless old lady. It was very tasty - sour but refreshing.
The tour cost €25 but entrance to Kravice Falls was a further €10. It’s good value as Kravice Falls is hard to reach due to sporadic public transport. Our guide Emir spoke almost constantly, telling us interesting information about Bosnia’s history, the language and the places we visited. He was very proud of his country and enjoyed our company enough to invite us all to go wine-tasting at his place that night.
We got back to Mostar at 3pm and after spending a while mooching around the Old Town, I got myself a Ferrero Roche and salted caramel ice-cream, and ate it at the shore of the river, looking up towards the bridge. There was a bar, so I bought myself a beer and sat back in one of the deckchairs facing the bridge, waiting to see another person jumping off. I was there for an hour and didn’t see anyone else jumping - I’m starting to think I got lucky seeing the men jump on my first day. Despite this I enjoyed putting my feet up and dropping down a few gears. It’s possible to go on motorboat rides along the river from underneath the bridge, €10 for a ten minute trip.
Earlier I asked Emir about Bosnian food and he reeled off a long list of recommendations, including the national dish cevapi. I ordered it at a small restaurant but was underwhelmed. It was just grilled beef mince rolled in to sausage shapes. It tastes exactly like beefburger, just a different shape. It was served with chips, a flat-bread, onions and a red pepper sauce, the tastiest thing on the plate. I asked the stern-faced waitress, cigarette dangling from her bottom lip, to recommend me a Bosnian dessert. She suggested smokvara, a dense, treacly fig pudding, similar to sticky toffee pudding.