Arriving to Bosnia & van troubles part 3

We crossed the border from Serbia to Bosnia at a seemingly forgotten crossing. The Bosnia passport officer was using the top of a half wall to manage documents and had no booth to stand in. The road after crossing was overgrown and totally unpopulated for kilometers. After a while, mosques, churches, and farms started to appear, occasionally side by side.

We were committed to stopping the engine only in a place where we could get a boost if needed, which is how we ended up sleeping under a streetlight in a small town. After a quick test start after parking, we went for pizza made with ketchup (not our family's favourite we now know). Then, battery didn't start. So, we slept in this spot.

In the morning, a police officer got a man with a battery charger over to our car. That helped us get started so we could drive to a mechanic. The mechanic couldn't find anything wrong with the starter, tried to charge us for more than we felt like his time was worth, and then went on our merry way.

Unfortunately, we stopped to eat breakfast in the van. And then, once again, the car wouldn't start. Aaron rode his bike back to the initial mechanic, but he pretended to be too busy to help us. Probably not the kind of help we wanted anyway. Another mechanic came and gave us a boost, then said we'd likely need a new alternator and battery... and the alternator would take over a week to get there!! In the meantime, the boys and I hung out in a smoky hunting-fishing themed restaurant, did school work and ended up eating one of our best meals in a traditional Balkan restaurant so far. All of this was done with broken English and Google translate!

With that third boost, we drove to Sarajevo, where there was an American-Bosnian mechanic who sorted out a new battery that's working well so far.Read more