Konjic. An old bridge.

[onlyMark]

We decided to go out for lunch.
Then we decided we’d go to a town about an hour away for lunch.
Then we decided we’d take sandwiches as we had been eating too much calorific stuff like Ćevapi/ćevapčići.
The we decided we couldn’t just eat them in a car park in the town.
Then we decided to go to a lake near the town for a picnic.
Then we decided why not have a walk round the town first then go to the lake.

So that’s what we did.

The town was called Konjic and the picnic was at Lake Jablanica.
Sitting on the Neretva River it’s one of the oldest settlements in the country and became prominent in the 14th Century.
As the town eventually had good road/rail links, had a large ammunition factory and housed a large Yugoslav Army barracks, it couldn’t avoid the Bosnian war conflicts.
On 4th May 1992 the first shells from Serbian forces landed in the town and continued daily for three years.

We’ll have a walk round -








Over there, that’s what we are eventually heading for -




We crossed a normal road bridge to get to the older part of town -




Never quite sure with some of these if they are in their original position or been moved. There never seems to be any info about them -










Spot the glaringly obvious carvings - which no, don’t know when they were done but the symbol does originate for religious purposes, though I doubt very much if that is used here -




Carrying on with the random(ish) walk -














Nope, no idea either but does appear to be a spring -




Nice house overlooking the river and one to renovate. Going cheap no doubt -








Getting closer -




Those killed from the town fighting in the Bosnian War -






And this is where they are buried -






Just in case you fancy a bit of exercise -




This is what we aimed for. The bridge. It’ll come up in a few more photos as we walk down the side of the river -






Built in 1682 - 1683 by the Ottomans. Stood the test of time until the German retreated in 1945 where they intended to blow it up, but all they did was destroy the road deck. The piers kept standing though it wasn’t until after WWII that the deck was rebuilt enough for traffic to use. The repair was meant to be temporary with metal beams laid across the still standing piers with a one lane tarmac top.
This lasted until after the Bosnian War when in 2003 it was properly restored




More walking down the riverside -










As often happens, one trip member enjoying the scenery whilst one younger member sits looking at her phone -
















I’ll come back to this in a minute. It’s a normal graveyard -




There’s a bit of a viewpoint I wanted to get to first and then return back past the graveyard -










Right and left from the viewpoint -






A little look in the graveyard but by this time I’m getting hungry -










Making our way back to the car, a last view of the bridge from above and a church. Not many of them here but there are one or two.
This one is the Monastery church of St John the Baptist, built in stages between 1895 and 1919 -






A short drive later we parked up on the shores of Lake Jablanica. In the summer months this is a very popular swimming and boating spot - which is a little strange as we couldn’t find any sort of picnic spots. It’s all a bit rough and ready but you can hire the oil drum raft platforms for your party.
We grabbed out sandwiches (one with local cheese and one with local salami for me, with an apple, a packet of tomato ketchup flavoured crisps and a Milch-Schnitte) and sat down on some convenient rocks.

Plenty of snow still on the mountains -








I am aware there is Tito’s bunker around here as well, but that’ll be for another report some time.

[kerouac2]

I really like cities surrounded by mountains. Wikipedia says that the Neretva River is the coldest in the world, so it is no surprise not to see any swimming spots, although there is a beach area in one of your photos.

The mixture of ruined buildings next to perfectly fine buildings is something that I saw all the time in France when I was growing up, when WW2 had just ended about 15 years earlier. It's been 25 years since the last Balkan war, but it is not surprising to see that some of the buildings have just been abandoned because in these days it is much easier to build a new building somewhere else than to repair a modest one in ruins. That will of course change if Konjic becomes a tourist hotspot.

Looking forward to more reports, which I'm sure will look even more amazing when there are leaves on the trees.

[bjd]

Thanks for this outing, Mark. I hadn't realized Bosnia was so mountainous. I also wonder why the Neretva River is so green. That struck me in Mostar too -- its unusual colour.

If you are interested, there is a book you might like: "Eastern Approaches" by Fitzroy Maclean. He was a British adventurer and soldier in the 1930s and 1940s. Fought with Tito's partisans in Bosnia, although that is just a short part of the book.

[onlyMark]

bjd, got it bookmarked for when I get round to it.

[tod2]

Mar 1, 2021 10:33:36 GMT onlyMark said:

and a Milch-Schnitte

Very interesting picnic Mark - I have to know what the above is,,,,a German item no doubt.

[onlyMark]

[bixaorellana]

First of all -- those views! The mountains, the river, the way all the older construction, graveyards, etc. are tucked here and there wherever there's some flattish ground. I can't help but think that every day you all are growing fonder of this surprising and quite beautiful country. And your photographs are gorgeous!

Mar 1, 2021 10:33:36 GMT onlyMark said:

On 4th May 1992 the first shells from Serbian forces landed in the town and continued daily for three years.

This is almost unimaginable.

Mar 1, 2021 10:33:36 GMT onlyMark said:

Those killed from the town fighting in the Bosnian War -

Do you know why the second (middle?) names are in parentheses?

Mar 1, 2021 10:33:36 GMT onlyMark said:

a packet of tomato ketchup flavoured crisps

This is why I like anyport -- I always learn about new things, things I never even imagined before!

[onlyMark]

Mar 1, 2021 19:29:27 GMT bixaorellana said:

Do you know why the second (middle?) names are in parentheses?

The naming convention does not use a middle name as such. It is called "patrilineal". Which is normally the name of person followed by name of person’s father, followed by name of person’s grandfather and then often a family name.
So, "Mohammed Hussein Abbas Al Fayed" - The person is Mohammed, his father is Hussein, his grandfather is Abbas and his family is Fayed.
When used for Western purposes he'd be Mohammed Hussein Fayed and I would expect in this case, the brackets are just for convenience so that the full names needn't be written, maybe just because they were too long and to indicate the name is shortened.

I may be complicating it and the answer is different, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

[mossie]

Quite a place, you do manage to get to some exotic locations, not at all for a scaredy-cat like me. Actually I was swearing about you when I woke up this morning, I had had the weirdest dream about being in a very odd place in an odd situation and realised it was reading about your adventures that had caused it. As always with my dreams the details have totally escaped me now.

[onlyMark]

And I hope one bit you can't remember is where I got you out of it.

After my mother died and my father was about your age now I was living in Egypt. I brought him out there, flew with him there and back two different years, door to door and he was quite amenable to being shown around and 'protected' from the situation by having me with him and who knew the ins and outs. Like you, he'd served there in the RAF and is was good for him to go back to some of the places/flown over and where the experience was completely different to how it was when he was there.

Where shall we go? Any country, anywhere you want.

[mossie]

Thanks for the offer Mark, but the world has changed since those days. The first place which springs to mind is Nicosia in Cyprus, but I expect that is a dead hole now it is divided. There used to be night clubs, the one i remember was called the Chanticleer where one found entertainment and taxi dancers, and the singers would come and mix with the audience. They and the dancers would expect to be bought expensive drinks for which the barman would slip them a token which they could cash in at the end of the night. One would chat to these girls in the fond hope that one could escort them home later. However at about 2am an older woman would appear behind the bar and clap her hands and all the girls would disappointingly slide off out of sight behind the bar. Soon after the bar staff would start sweeping the floor which was the sign that the night was over.

Another place is Valletta, capital of Malta. There also I expect the 'Gut" has been totally emasculated to avoid offending the masses of tourists the island attracts, such 'entertainment' as was offered there by ladies like the 'Sparrow' cannot be described in a respectable place such as this.

[lugg]

Stunning place Mark - thank you for taking us on this journey. The scenery is just stunning. I was also struck by how turquoise green the river is and had a look at the few very old, crappy photos I have of it. Although taken in the height of summer it still has that green appearance but not the turquoise tones. That is quite understandable as the appearance of water will change for many reasons. I don't remember it being particularly cold then and I did get dunked a couple of times when the raft I was on overturned. I imagine those beaches will be more expansive and very popular in the summer. A great place to spend a hot day maybe if not too crowded?

[onlyMark]

I get the impression it will be crowded close to the town but maybe a little walk further up or down would be the thing.