Sarajevo Soujourn

I just spent a most pleasant six-day break in Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina. What a charming city, with many places to see and visit within and around it as well as in other parts of the country. The weather was excellent except for an afternoon rain during my outing in Mostar, which did not dampen my visit to the place, especially the famous bombed bridge now newly rebuilt. The country had had a tragic recent history and is now consolidating itself with a myriad of problems. Let us hope it will succeed in becoming a successful developed nation. There are so many attraction in the country, not least the recent discovery the Bosnian Pyramids of the Sun which is now struggling to get international and UNESCO recognition. The ultimate recognition of these monuments will surely change world archaeological history as they are believed to be even older than the Egyptian and other pyramids in other parts of the world. I had the privilege of being guided personally around some of the pyramid sites by its hard-working and determined founder Dr. Sam Semir Osmanagih who is zealously working towards the excavation and recognition of these enormous moments.

I love the atmosphere of Sarajevo with its street cafes and quaint shops and Ottoman mosques and a very mixed of Islamic and Christian architecture. The Bosnians are an extremely good-looking lot of people, reserved and friendly at the same time. Once identified as Malaysian I often get a barrage of compliments what a great country Malaysia was, our people, our soldiers and of course our very dear Tun Mahathir. They truly acknowledged us as a country that came to their unconditional assistance during the difficult times. During Friday prayer at a mosque near Mostar I heard the imam mentioned 'Malaysia' in his sermon which was in Bosnian. My guide and driver Dennis later told me that the imam was quoting Malaysia's tough, unflinching stand on drugs possession/smuggling to the congregation! I was also glad to visit a mosque we built in Sarajevo.
Art were in abundance in Bosnia and I came home with six paintings including one by Bosnia’s most famous artist Mersad Berber, whose revered paintings I would be very hesitant to buy outside of the country because of their high prices. I also received a Chinese ink-brush painting said to cost USD1500 from a Malaysian businessman based in Sarajevo introduced to me by my host. Alhamdullilah! He must have been impressed by my zest for (and hopefully knowledge of) paintings and art!

My charming and generous host and hostess Zul and Hawa really took good care of me, providing a very wide-raging and interesting programme. I was happy to also catch up with my dear ex-colleague Jasmina with whom I had dinner twice in two charming retaurants

Sarajevo (and Bosnia) is really worth a visit. It took me a while to decide to visit because of the limited flight connection; it is only recently available directly from Zurich. Sadly, there were only 26 passengers out of Zurich in the 64-seat BH carrier, 16 got of at Banja Luka and only 10 including myself flew on to Sarajevo. My flight out of Sarajevo had 18 passengers and it picked up another 13 in Banja Luka making a final total of 31 passengers. No wonder the fare was comparatively high. I was told that in summer there are more visitors and in fact Sarajevo is a fast growing tourist destination and has been listed by Lonely Planet as the 43rd greatest city on Earth.
I really wish the country well.