The pyramid of Visoko

Belgrade-Sarajevo

This morning we wake up early and have breakfast with the things bought the day before, around 7:30 we head to the bus station (BAC). We get on the bus (with a seat) and at 8:00 sharp we set off in the direction of Novi Sad. In about 3 hours we're at the border, fortunately there's no one there, the officer on duty gets on the coach to check the documents and takes our passports. Shortly after the bus driver returns with our stamped passports, the same happens 50 meters further on at the Bosnia and Herzegovina border, in short, the crossing at customs is very calm. The thing you notice immediately upon entering BiH is the landscape that changes radically compared to Serbia... here we are in the mountains immersed in thick fir forests. The road, however, starts to be full of curves and for those with a weak stomach it's a problem since the trip is 8 hours long.

The 8 hours are very calm and we make numerous stops (it's only 350 km!!!), we travel through all of Republika Srpska (one of the two entities of BiH) without ever entering BiH. At 4:00 PM we arrive in a small town 18 km from Sarajevo (we're still coming from Serbia, remember), and there are no buses that directly connect the hill station with the real Sarajevo station (or with the center), you just have to take a taxi which for this asks for 10 euros (in BiH the convertible mark is used, KM, 1KM = 0.5 euros). What surprises you upon entering Sarajevo is that: 1) it's in the mountains or rather in a valley 2) there are many minarets. Arrived in the center we wander a bit for accommodation and find a room with a bathroom for 15 euros (per person)... obviously without heating and tonight we'll freeze.

Settled in we take a quick tour and stop to eat at the restaurant Una (practically in the center) where for 24 euros (two people) we eat a lot of meat-based food. The place is run by a nice old man whose son lives in Italy...go there!!!

Sarajevo-Visoko-Sarajevo

Today is my wife Manuelina's birthday and I, instead of going to the Maldives, take her to BiH....what an unnatural husband. As I had a hunch, tonight we froze, the window frames were terrible......brrr, as soon as we come down I immediately latch onto the guy at the "reception" who, in his halting English, says he'll call the boss today; I can't wait to see!!! We go for breakfast in the central little square at a beautiful bar/pasticceria where they make excellent cappuccinos and fantastic cakes (6 KM); it's called Saraj. Afterwards we go to the information center to figure out how to reach today's destination, namely the small town of Visoko. At the information center they tell us that to reach Visoko we need to take the train that leaves at 7:15, 10:41 and 11:42. While we're at it, we also ask about Mostar; we discover there are lots of buses and the whole trip takes 2.5 hours.

From the center of Sarajevo, to reach the bus and train station (they're close to each other) you have to take tram no. 1. Once at the station we buy tickets for Visoko, which cost 8 KM (two people), and head to the platform where our train arrives on time. The train ride is very calm, lasting about 30 minutes; unfortunately the stations aren't marked with any signs, but as often happens, the locals are very kind and tell you when to get off. Visoko is a small village and the station is a little house in the middle of nowhere....but why are we here??? At the beginning of 2006 news appeared that the first European pyramid, dated before Egyptian culture, had supposedly been found in this small village; the BiH tourism website even has a link with all the information.

As soon as we get off, we ask the guys at the station how to return to Sarajevo; they tell us the next train will be at 12:28 (too early) and then at 17:30 (too late), and anyway further on there's the station where frequent buses leave for Sarajevo. We have the stationmaster explain where the pyramid is and he points it out to us; raising our eyes we see this mountain with a really strange shape—I don't want to say anything, but seeing it, it looks like a perfect (geometric) pyramid. Following the pyramid we reach the village (there are also signs indicating the direction), pass through it, and at a certain point we start climbing; the paved road ends (as do the signs—always ask the locals!!!) and you have to climb up steps of earth (or rather mud, since it rained this morning).

After a tremendous effort we reach the first excavations where we can admire these slabs of golden-yellow color; they are clearly man-made artifacts, and the digs appear here and there along the ridge of the mountain. Unfortunately, at a certain point the path becomes difficult and it's hard to continue. While we're standing still admiring the excavations, we meet a guy in camouflage sitting and lighting a fire...he's actually the archaeologist who is carrying out the digs; obviously we chat a bit.

He says that the people currently working there are 13 and that a researcher from the University of Rome (unfortunately I don't remember the name, maybe Neri) took a piece of the pyramid to Italy for radiocarbon dating, but a rough estimate can be made from the layer of humus (about 1m) covering the pyramid, meaning it would date back to after the last glaciation....!!!!!! I don't dare imagine what this place will be like in a few years. All elated by the visit, we go back down to catch the bus to Sarajevo (10 KM for two people). Once in Sarajevo we buy a phone card and try to call Italy; it's not exactly easy. After a few attempts and some asking around, we discover that the button for English is the central one above the alphanumeric keypad of the phone and that once you've dialed the number you have to hear the voice say "please wait" three times, and then the call goes through...wow.

Afterwards we return to the hotel and discover that nothing has changed; I go down and latch onto them like a (polite) caiman, saying I want my money back to look for a warmer hostel, and as often happens in these situations, they give us the self-heating apartment at the same price (every world is the same). At this point we begin our tour of the small center of Sarajevo, starting from the Sebilj square near our accommodation in the heart of the Turkish quarter. The square is full of pigeons with a fantastic wooden fountain at its center donated by Serbia; from here we tour the fantastic Turkish quarter full of marvelous views. We see the old Orthodox church, the main mosque (Gazi Husrev-bey) with its adjoining madrasa, a few more steps and we're in the Jewish quarter with its old synagogue, and finally the beautiful Catholic cathedral.

What city in the world (besides Jerusalem) can boast all these places of worship within 100m??? We stop near the public garden at the end of the pedestrian street (Ferhadija) to admire the peace sculpture and the new Orthodox church. Walking through the alleys of Sarajevo you notice patches of red wax on the ground; they represent the sites where people who were queuing to buy food or water were killed.

Sarajevo-Mostar-Blagaj-Mostar

After a night spent thinking about the next itinerary we decide not to stay in Sarajevo any longer but to go to Mostar. After the usual breakfast at the Saraj café, we take tram no. 1 which will take us to the train station (1.80 KM); from the train station it's two steps and we arrive at the bus station. We take one of the many buses heading to Mostar, in our case the 9:00 one, costing 29KM (two people). The journey lasts two and a half hours, very pleasant because Herzegovina is full of fantastic woods and lakes; in fact for about half the journey we drive alongside enchanting emerald-green rivers with mountains sheer above the sea—the amount of forest in BiH is surprising.

The road to Mostar is all downhill (in every sense—two hours of a 9% gradient); this translates into a considerable climatic difference; as soon as we arrive at our destination, we get off the coach and are "stopped" by a local girl who (recognising us as tourists) offers us accommodation nearby (her house, basically, the Lena and Rada guesthouse). The rooms are spotless and cost only 20KM per person, perhaps a bit small but the en-suite bathroom is a mirror. Just time to drop our backpacks and we immediately take the yellow city bus donated by the Japanese government, no. 11 (or 12, you catch it at stops along Mostar, not at the station, and it costs 1.80 KM). The bus arrives in about 20 minutes; oh, I forgot, our destination is the small village of Balgaj.

The driver drops us off just before the one-way section and from there it's about 600m to reach the riverbank where you can admire the beautiful mill after crossing the little wooden bridge. Actually the view is blocked so you have to take a small path (3 minutes) located behind the restaurant; from there the view improves. The old white mill stands against a mountain with a cave from which a small stream flows out (to get an idea of the place, look at the photo in the exceptional Bradt guide—enough with the Lonely Planets!!!—). Since by now it's time, we stop here to eat; we choose the Nordfish restaurant where we eat fish for 18 euros. After lunch we return to the junction where we discover that the next bus comes at 16:00 and it's now 14:20 (ask beforehand, we hadn't had time); no big deal, we rest a bit.

We return to Mostar and get off on one of the many bridges of the city; from this one (the one before the exit) you can see very clearly the famous old bridge, recently rebuilt (thanks to us Italians). A few steps and we're in the wonderful Turkish quarter...exceptional, the cobblestone streets full of little shops (and tourists!!!). I must say that climbing onto the old bridge is truly a great emotion, considering what it represented in past years; the river flowing below is an incredible emerald green!!!. We continue our walk through the old quarter, discovering enchanting corners, until we go down to the riverbank.

The right-hand part of the city (where the cathedral is, to be clear) is markedly different; the signs of the war are still evident despite it having ended more than ten years ago; on the hill above you can see a large cross placed (ironically) at the exact point where the artillery struck the city. It's 18:30 and we decide to go to the bus station to ask about the next day's timetables, but everything is already closed (how come??); we find at a small window an old man (obviously he doesn't speak English) who gives us information about the timetables. Tomorrow we have to go to Montenegro and since we have to transit through the Republika Srpska things are more difficult than expected: either we take the Mostar-Nevesinje bus at 8:00 and then Nevesinje-Podgorica at 12:30, or Mostar-Trebinje at 6:15 and Trebinje-Podgorica at 14:00; obviously we choose the first.

Mostar-Nevesinje-Podgorica

As planned we go down early so we can buy the bus tickets; the ticket costs only 4.5 KM; unfortunately we don't have much money in our pockets (only 40 KM) and we don't know how much the next leg costs. At 8:00 the bus leaves; the road is extremely winding, full of curves, my goodness!!! After about 1h we're in Nevesinje where we buy two tickets to Podgorica (Montenegro) for 18 KM each; with the change we have breakfast in the centre and buy some provisions for the journey.

Finally it's 14:20 but the bus is nowhere to be seen; strange, they're always punctual; at a certain point an old lady comes up saying something to us in Serbian (incomprehensible); she takes us to the ticket office where together they try to tell us something (still in Serbian)...after a while we understand the bad news: the bus, due to a breakdown, won't be coming....a blow....another one leaves at 15:00...ugh!!!! the classic wasted day. Fortunately panta rei and 15:00 comes; our bus is actually a small, brand-new Mercedes minivan (you can tell we're about to go to Montenegro), on which more people get on than there are seats....but surely they won't reach Podgorica??? We arrive "compressed" at the BiH border where the officer on duty opens the minivan's tailgate, says something and closes it again...I deduce we won't get an exit stamp.

A few metres further on and we're at the Montenegro border.