Sarajevo City Walk, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

I’m so excited. I’m about to take the train from Mostar to Sarajevo. I’m told the train will whisk me through some beautiful landscapes! The strange thing is, there only seem to be two trains a day, at 6am, or late evening. I’m hoping for enough light to see the terrain, so opt for 6am. I get to the train station and find its made of concrete, and feels, well, almost like something I’d expect in another era of the past. I go to the ticket window and learn no one speaks English. Somehow I manage to combine “Sarajevo” with one finger and get a one-way ticket. My sigh of relief turns to panic as the agent seems to imply I have to go to track 1. But there are no signs.

I ask, “Where is track one?” and point, and hope somebody understands. A couple people point to my left. I say, “Where’s the elevator?” Heads shake. This would be my first lesson that services for the elderly and handicapped are pretty much non-existant. With my torn meniscus in my knee, I’m wearing a brace, and had hoped to avoid as many stairs as possible with my bags. I get to the bottom of the staircase. Correction, it’s three staircases to the track. I sigh in defeat and begin slowly carrying my bags. Once again, the travel fairy appeared, in the form of a nice young man who carried one of my bags up for me! I’m early, and one of only a few people on the track, awaiting the 6am train. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).