As I already wrote in this article, as one of the excursions in Montenegro, a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina for 1 day is offered. I didn’t even have a question whether to go or not 🙂
We all know about the events of thirty years ago that took place in the Balkans. I have the impression that the citizens of the former Yugoslavia themselves are still not quite aware that they live in different states.
Hence the strangeness at the border
We crossed the border in a large tourist bus. On the Montenegrin side, a border guard entered the bus and simply checked that everyone had passports and that was it. We drove to the border point of Bosnia and Herzegovina (in part of Herzegovina), gave the accompanying all the passports, in which the border guards put stamps for entry into Bosnia. When leaving Bosnia, no one entered the bus with us, no exit stamps were affixed. When crossing the Montenegrin border, no procedures were carried out either.
That is, now, looking at my passport, you can see the following picture: I entered Montenegro (when I initially flew to Tivat airport), and then, without leaving it, I entered Bosnia and Herzegovina, where I, in fact, to this day and I am (I am writing the post the next day after the trip).
This is fundamentally wrong. If only because Russian citizens can stay on the territory of Montenegro for no more than 30 days, but if you want to stay there for a longer period, you can simply go to a neighboring country and return back. After a trip to Bosnia, 30 days should be counted from this trip, but it is not clear from the stamps in my passport when I returned to Montenegro, and, as I understand it, 30 days will be counted from the day I arrived there. It doesn’t matter to me, since I’m not going to stay here for a long time, but if I wanted to, it would be a shame.
How to get there
There are several ways to get to Bosnia and Herzegovina from Montenegro, but we drove like this: from Budva by bus to Tivat (about 30 minutes), then by ferry across the Bay of Kotor (about 10 minutes), then again by bus to Trebinje – a small town of Herzegovina, located 20 minutes from the border. Actually, this city was our excursion.
Church Hill
First we were taken to Church Hill – a hill that can be seen from anywhere in the city on which it is located Dudich church and a small museum. The buildings are new, beautiful, but I was much more impressed by the view of the city from this hill. Some of my friends said that Trebinje is a typical Italian city (judging by the photos). The city is flowing TrebiÅ¡njica river is the main source of fresh water.
Throughout the city there are pumps with the purest drinking water. And on the river two bridges – one of the 16th century, and the second was erected during the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Wherever the eye looks, vineyards, orchards, fields are everywhere. In general, beauty and nothing more.
Old city
After visiting the hill, we went down (by bus) to Old city, some of whose buildings date back to the years of the Turkish yoke, some from the times of the same Austro-Hungarian Empire. Next to the city park and small bazaar (Historic place, by the way). In this bazaar you can buy fruits, vegetables, herbs (Trebinje is famous for its large number of medicinal herbsgrowing in the vicinity of the city), and cheese!!! Real, homemade, different types. Everything can be tried before you buy. At the same time, sellers do not spare cheese for testing at all.
Few people speak English, they don’t speak Russian either, and when they talk to you in Serbian, they firmly believe that you understand them. The most interesting thing is that you really understand. Around the bazaar there is a lot of caffeine, which you can come with food bought in neighboring bakeries. My dad and I ordered a strawberry cheesecake. If before that my favorite cheesecake was mango cheesecake in boracay, now you can safely add the most delicious strawberry cheesecake in Trebinje to it. And do you know how much it cost? 1 euro!!
Monastery of Tvrdosh
After a short walk through the central part of Trebinje, we went to Monastery of Tvrdoshwhich is famous for its vineyards and, consequently, wine. The monastery was built on the site of an ancient Byzantine monastery, parts of which can be seen under glass inside the cathedral. But I was more impressed wine Vault. You can buy wine in the monastery. They don’t give a sample, but they say that it received the highest awards at international competitions. After visiting the monastery, we went back to Budva by the same road.
Conclusion
I can’t say that I liked the tour. Not much, to be honest. But the trip itself turned out to be very personal. By the way, I almost forgot. We had national dinner. The portions are big, the food is delicious. I only ate half (because it was a really big one) and the waitress, taking my plate away from me, looked so surprised that she asked why I left half. It even made me feel uncomfortable. Therefore, I ate the dessert that was served after the main course 🙂
If you want to order a comprehensive planning of your trip to Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, or, conversely, learn how to organize your own trips, then you are here 🙂
