Day 119: Jajce

JULY 31 - This small town is really quiet at night, except for a brief burst of gunfire, and the call to prayer.

We arranged with the owner of the house (Dinka) we are staying in help show us a few of the things I wanted to see today, along with her sister Arwa. This is a great opportunity to get transport to some places that would have been difficult/impossible to do by bus or walking.

We head north up the valley, past the town of Donji Vakuf, to a small turnoff along a smaller valley on the west. Up a rough road is a restaurant and farm along a stream with numerous waterfalls. It is a idyllic place to pass some time, drinking homemade apple juice (called ‘chira’).

The place is called Semešnica, and bills itself as an eco-resort. Would be an awesome place to stay if you have a car.

There has been heavy rain here, and the hills are draped in fog. Besides the towns and small farms in the valleys, almost all the hillsides are solid forest. There is a sense that humans have just a foothold and that most of the land is wild.

An on-site trout farm. We see a few of these today.

The menu at our table while we drink the juice has a section in Arabic. I ask about this, and am told that BiH is a popular destination for tourists from the Middle East.

Onward to the town of Jajce. I use this opportunity to talk politics Arwa and Dinka. BiH has three presidents, one representing each major ethnic faction. In practice, it is difficult for people to see any functioning governmental policy, and it is assumed that whatever arguing or agreement exists between the three presidents and parliamentary systems below them, it is about personal gain, and does not translate to governing policy. I should mention that in fact there is one single entity above the presidents, called the Office of the High Representative (OHR), who acts as a sort of arbitrator, and also who is not from BiH, but chosen from another EU country. At the moment this is Christian Schmidt. The OHR is also meant to guarantee that BiH conforms to the terms of the 1995 Dayton Agreement.

Anyway, at the moment the portion of the government that represents the Republika Srpska (the ethnic Serbian part) is making threatening statements with regard to autonomy. In late 2021, Milorad Dodik, president and representative of ethnic Serb interests, announced he was willing to withdraw from any country-wide defense force and set up his own Serbian military arm, as well as create his own Srpska border control points. This immediately opened up many painful memories of the 1992-95 war. Since then, various verbal barbs have been tossed about between the three presidents that do not bode well for future cooperation.

In the end, there is a perception that there is a lot of tough showmanship going on, with little intended action. Hard for me to dissect it any better than that. The only thing I do suspect has changed in the last year is that Putin may be covertly giving incentives to Republika Srpska to agitate for more autonomy, and cause distraction for the EU above what he is already doing.

As far as the overarching theme of self-absorbed presidents who do not govern, I remind them that we have had one of those recently in the US.

Jajce is a really scenic town, with a hilltop castle right in the middle, and plenty of lakes and waterfalls. It is Saturday so there are actually a good number of tourists here. I see a few who look to be from various parts of the EU, along with many who might either be Bosniak or Arab.

A tranquil attraction up a valley on the west side of Jajce is a series of cascades and lakes connected to Lake Pliva (Plivsko Jezero). The water is crystal clear with plenty of fish.

Water clarity provides for some good optical illusion.

Fresh trout from the nearby fish farm.

A few wooden bridges provide river crossings.

A view upstream into the open lake.

Further up the lake is another area of cascades, called Milinčići, with these small huts that were used as watermills in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (late 1800’s). Rather than one big structure, these buildings were positioned on small cascades in an effort harness the water energy of each separately.

None of the watermills is currently operating, only functioning as a tourist attraction.

Back in downtown Jajce, we visit the scenic parks and bridge adjoining Pliva Waterfall.

The river is channeled over a number of concrete steps by the park. The falls themselves descend from a concrete platform.

A bridge connecting the park with downtown.

A view from downtown up to Jajce Castle. This town, at the confluence of two rivers, and very defensible due to the good defensive position of the above castle, was the capital of the Kingdom of Bosnia in the 14th Century. Within the walled city of Jajce was the coronation of the last Bosnian king, Stephen Tomašević, in 1461. The city was captured by the Ottomans twice, in 1463 and 1527.

Ramparts of Jajce Castle.

Jajce from the castle.

One of the entrance gates to the walled city area.

A window in the upper caste walls.

St. Mary’s Church with St. Luke’s Belltower. This was a Romanesque church originally built in the 12th to 13th Century, refurbished in the Gothic style in the 15th Century, and converted to a mosque in 1528, a year after the second capture of the city by the Ottomans. It was torched several times over the next few hundred years, then abandoned in the 19th Century.

There is a small catacombs near the St. Mary’s Church. It was first excavated in the 14th to 15th Century as a mausoleum for Count Hrvoje Vukčić Hrvatinić and his family, during a period when Jajce was becoming an important power center. The count’s surname could hardly sound more Croatian.

An interesting combination of a cross with moon and sun bracketing. This catacombs is only a few rooms and took five minutes to see, but only cost 4 KM in total to enter.

On to the small but interesting Ethnographic Museum. It is really two museums, one showing cultural items from the three major ethnic groups, and a second floor with minerals and rocks from BiH (including a geologic map!).

Examples of rural woman’s clothing: Serbian (left), Croat (center), Bosniak (right).

Showing items from a ‘typical’ Bosnian residence. The colorful carpet is identical to several that adorn the apartment we are staying in.

This mosque has been upgraded, apparently with money from Pakistan, if the flag is any indication.

This was a real gem I almost forgot to go and see. During construction in 1931, a temple to the Persian gold Mithras was unearthed in a residential area. It is simple, just a carved rock face with some pedestals and animal statues. It is encased in glass, hence the strange color. It is difficult to see in a photo, but the carved rock face is incredibly detailed, showing a winged figure wrestling a bull, and around it are the busts of people or gods. It probably dates from the 2nd Century, as the Mithra cult was popular among the Romans. It is the best preserved Mithraeum in Europe.

Today’s Route: (A) Bugojno, (B) Semešnica, (C) Lake Pliva, (D) Jajce.

I also ask today about where the young people go in BiH. Predictably, many leave the country for some part of the EU, in search of better pastures. After the economic collapse of Greece in the last decade, I recall the ‘youth brain drain’ being an issue there. My guess is that in BiH, the effect is even greater, as economic difficulties are only one factor. Another would be fear of another war, and a third might be the sense that one is not really living in a cohesive nation that is worth supporting.

Back to Bugojno in the late afternoon. Eat at a relaxing restaurant that is just tables along the side of a stream. There is a birthday party nearby for a 1 year old girl, with the standard songs like B-I-N-G-O, but with lyrics in Bosnian. One adult invitee shows up in full camouflage pants, shirt, and fanny pack, sitting by the arch of pink balloons and looking perfectly ironic.

We’ve noticed a lot of cemeteries in the last day, notably more than I would normally expect. There are two types: Catholic and Islamic.

Bosnia and Herzegovina