Highlights of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia-Herzegovina

In a not widely known quirk of geography, a tiny sliver of the Dalmatian Coast belongs to Bosnia and Herzegovina, making it impossible to travel by land between Split and Dubrovnik without entering and then quickly exiting Bosnian territory. The border checks are comparatively relaxed on this stretch, never creating holdups of the kind that take place on the Croatian/Montenegrin border (more on which in the future). You can technically avoid them and stay entirely within Croatia by incorporating a ferry crossing into your route - that will likely add several hours to your overall trip, workable only for people with specific interest in spending time on Pelješac Peninsula.

What does that bit of trivia have to do with our next destination? Nothing, really. If not for the infamous flight cancellation that was resolved by flying into Dubrovnik instead of Split - and then immediately driving to Split - at the beginning of our Croatian trip, we would never find ourselves at those coastal crossings. Our planned route from Split to Dubrovnik at the end of the first half of the itinerary always included a significant detour into the Bosnian heartland to visit the town of Mostar.

In a sense, Mostar left the most vivid impression for me from the entire trip. I have not yet been on my travels to a town where mosques and minarets are the most eye-catching features (although I plan to significantly repair that gap before the end of the year), let alone when they are mixed with very recognizable European architectural features. Mostar is inscribed on the World Heritage list specifically as a great example of a multicultural town where proverbially the East meets the West. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).