Mostar

As part of our tour to Kravica Waterfalls, we spent part of the day in Mostar, Bosnia. Although I'm keen to visit more of Bosnia eventually, the main appeal of the tour for us was originally the waterfalls. In the end, however, I actually enjoyed our time in Mostar far more than I expected. The Old Town was incredible and really interesting to walk through. The little streets, markets and distinct change in culture made it feel completely different from anywhere else we'd been on the trip. As part of the tour, we had a local guide show us around, which was a great way to get some insight into the town's history. I had a vague understanding of the conflicts between the countries in the Balkans, but hearing about them directly from someone local gave me a much better appreciation of what the region had been through.

Seeing Mostar Bridge was incredible, too. It was enormous, and there were people paying to watch others jump off the top into the water below. I was shocked to learn that Hairy had actually done the jump himself when he visited Mostar. The jump must be around 25 metres, and I definitely wouldn't have had the balls to do it. Nonetheless, it was awesome just wandering through the town and checking out the markets, which were full of cool traditional Bosnian items. In the end, I bought a Džeko football jersey for €25. It was incredibly cheap and makes for a pretty good souvenir from my time in Mostar. I definitely hope I can come back to Bosnia one day. Now that I've been to Mostar, the only other major city I really have left to visit is Sarajevo. I'm very keen to see it, although it might be a bit out of the way to make my way back through the region just for that. Only time will tell.

Jack and I grabbed a big feed before heading back to the bus for the waterfall portion of the tour. When we arrived at Kravica Waterfalls, we were disappointed to learn that we only had about an hour to see everything. There was essentially one massive waterfall, so I guess it made sense why we weren't given much more time, but it still would have been nice to hang around and enjoy it for longer. Either way, we rushed down and threw ourselves straight into the water. It was an incredibly hot day, and we desperately needed to cool off. The water, however, was absolutely freezing and took the breath out of you when you first jumped in. After a few minutes, though, you got used to it. We walked around, took some photos and then went back in for another extended swim to cool off. Before we knew it, our time was up and it was time to head back to Dubrovnik.

The tour took a different route home, which gave us some incredible views of the Bosnian countryside. Unfortunately, I was sitting on the wrong side of the bus, so getting any decent photos was almost impossible. Still, the scenery made for a great trip back, and it was a perfect way to finish the day.Read more