Report from Croatia, distributed by email 19 September 2000

Hello Ellen,

A new and different keyboard to learn...again. The y & z have changed places, some keys have three letters or symbols on them, such as the "@" which is on the "v" key and the quotes are where the "@" should be. Then there are some interesting different keys which will be interesting to see what they do on your computer screen: never know when you may need one of these, and now you can just cut and paste them. [Note from Ellen: I finally deleted the various unusual characters, since one of them, and I don't know which, was apparently responsible for sending my text editor into a tailspin every time I tried to edit the file!]

We have of course met some interesting people along the way across Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia, Croatia, Bosnia and again in Croatia, and all these border crossings with only showing our passport while remaining seated on our bus. In conversations we pick up some discussion of the war, but most of what we see looks very normal with up-beat folks living a normal life.

Pecs was having a festival, which seems to go on for weeks, and while the town was fine, and decided to move on after one night and caught an early afternoon bus to Osiek (Osijek) in Croatia where we spent the night in a nice hotel for what we think might have been $50. It is strange to go to an ATM and take out money in the local currency without knowing the exchange rate. By looking at the various amounts I could take out I was guessing that 800 was around $100. They seemed to be related to the German duechmark. With our new currency we did find an excellent Chinese restaurant and had a wonderful meal.

The next day we had to get up early to catch a 6:30 bus to Tuzla, Bosnia-Hercegovina, where we had to wait a couple of hours for the next bus to Sarajevo.

Ned started talking to a taxi-cab driver and before I knew it he had talked the guy into taking us for a tour of the city. Based on my experiences in many parts of the world, I always avoid taxi drivers and their cars because of too many hassles. But following Ned's lead, it was a very good experience, Ned found a bank and changed some money, and all the time had this wonderful running conversation with H. Nermin about the war, the city, the people, and how he had his own business and worked for himself. So...if you are ever in Tuyla and have a few minutes, just call up Nermin on his mobile phone 066-169-240 or at his home 035-230-240. I will re-evaluate my guidelines for taxis at bus and train stations, and now recall how Ellen's friend in Poland had a boy friend who drove a cab, and took us several places.

The driver of the bus and his son, who was his assistant, were very helpful. The driver explained how one son was killed in the war and his son helping him had been shot in the ear. In Sarajevo the young boy helped us with directions and then went with us to help us with the tickets for the tram to the downtown area.

Sarajevo was a fine lively town, and the normal Saturday evening on the main walking street was crowded with thousands of people walking up and down the main street which was like a mall without cars or trucks. The old town was full of restaurants and small stores with attractive wood fronts. We found a couple of ATMs but when I tried to take out money the machine returned my card with the message that my issurer declined my request. However, Ned's card worked fine. My guess is that in Bosnia the Visa card works but the MasterCard does not. I was lucky to have Ned along, but I was also carring some greenbacks for the occassion if needed. People first sent us to the "cheap hotel" which turned out to be $125 or more, a bit out of my league, but there they directed us to a smaller cheaper Cobanija Pansion, which was more like $30 each. We couldn't tell that there had been a war in Sarajevo, but one building was pointed out that must have been the Serb headquarters and had not been repaired. It was hard to reconcile the high prices to a poor country where people are unemployed and the industry has not been rebuilt, but the people on the streets were well dressed, and appeared to be happy and prosperious. All in all we decided we liked the Croatia and Bosnia people who were friendly and more interested in us than the Hungarians.

On the train to Pecs we met a retired couple who had immigrated to the US in 1956 and lived now in Florida, and they suggested we take the bus from Sarajevo to Mostar because while it didn't compare to some of the spectacular places in the US, it was still one of their more memorable experiences. So we went the long way to Dubrovnik and took the bus to Mostar and then the coast where we caught another bus to Dubrovnik. The route through the mountains and along the river was beautiful, and perhaps could be their "grand canyon". Outside of Mostar we saw the most destruction of homes, with many of them just sitting there deserted showing the signs of fire, bombs, shots, and other results of war. With many other new homes built in the area.

In Bosnia and Croatia we saw lots of bicycles and I think I would like to bike here, but not in Dubrovnik, where everything is like a up and down labyrinth, with lots of steps connecting the different levels. It is a beautiful coastal resort city build along the bays at the bottom of mountains. I was told the main street in the walled old town was hit 36 times in the war, but today I could see no sign of damage. Cruise ships arrive here frequently and the town is booming from tourism, which also has turned the old town into a tourist kind of place with lots of medie-oker restaurants and lots of small tourist shops. But today walking from our hotel down to the beautiful coast we can see from our patio, I decided I really liked this place. Last night we talked into the late hours with a group of folks from Belgium. They were wonderful company and we had met Tim and Ann on the bus and they showed us the way to the Grand Hotel Park where we got a room for about $30 each. Upscale!

The Internet Cafe is now closing (midnight) and I must sign off, so let me just outline our plans from here. The next Ferry up the coast is Wednesday and we will take it to Split and work our way to Rab.

So long for now.

Ron

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