Safe Return Doubtful

Bosnia and Herzegovina remain an unpopular choice for visitors from the rest of Europe. I have watched a steady stream of traffic slowly wobble past on their way for weekend lunch in nearby Lukomir, 99% of them are Bosnian, and I’ve seen only one other campervan, and yet a couple of hundred kilometres west on the Croatian coast it’s almost still high tourist season. This is a perfect time to visit here, pleasantly warm days, and the autumn colours about to arrive. There isn’t even a Cicerone book about these mountains, though there is about all the surrounding countries. I have offered..

Bosnia suffered more than most countries in the Balkan War. Many of its beautiful hills and valleys had mines laid and it is common still to see warning signs not to wander off paths. That certainly doesn’t encourage outdoor tourists, though it is less of a problem than when I was here 5 years ago. There is no problem in the National Parks, and areas like where I am now. The country is on its last step to join NATO, projected now for 2025, and is a potential candidate country for EU accession.

Formerly part of the Ottoman Empire it has a rich culture and history. It is also religiously diverse, with a 50% Muslim population, 30% Orthodox Christians, and 15% Catholic Christians.

Sarajevo was ranked in the top ten best cities in the world by Lonely Planet in 2009, and though international tourism has grown in the last ten years, it is still way below most of its neighbours.

Today, this little part of the country was at its very best. The sort of day that inspires you to write about it.

Roja and I sauntered, as one does on a Sunday after a late Saturday, up the other side of the valley. Here there are as many old stone walls as we have back in the Lake District. And again here, most of them seem pointless. We found an old track, clearly something more than that, as it was walled, so perhaps an old road. Once we gained some height we stumbled on old corrals bordered by the stone walls.

Shepherds clearly took their flocks higher in the summer months, and the risk of wolves and bears was greater when their populations were so much higher. This is about 1750 metres, and almost a different world to the one below. There is so much for an outdoor enthusiast here, with the relatively gentle gradients of the slopes, pretty much everywhere can be accessed on foot or by mountain bike, and the views are superb. The snow would provide a whole load of new opportunities.

We came to the top of the hill we were aiming for, and perched exactly on the summit was a magnificent and greatly resilient, tree.

This area, and the local villages of Umoljani and Lukomir, are amongst the oldest villages in Bosnia. Umoljani was destroyed in the war, but was soon rebuilt, along with a new ecological ski complex at Babin Do, just 30 kilometres from Sarajevo.

It’s tourism that has breathed new life into these villages, particularly Lukomir. Its ragged road, 15 slow kilometres from Umoljani, is part of the attraction.

There aren’t many areas of Europe left like this, still wild after all these years. Many rural areas are becoming wild for a different reason, that of depopulation. But this is a superb example of the a relatively undiscovered gem.

The last day of the World Cup Pools, and the last game, just in case I needed to justify to myself the time that watching sport occupies, Portugal provided the answer. I coached at one of their clubs, in Porto, in 2012 where three of this squad are from, most notably Pedro Bettencourt, who was in the Senior Colts (under 18s) then. I coached the level below, the 16s.

The reality is that the vast majority of the Portuguese population won’t be aware of what happened, it is a country dominated by football like few others, to its detriment. My next visit has been shoved up the agenda so as I can spread the word a bit more. Now the ball is passed to World Rugby, who, unlike on previous such occasions, must act to give more exposure, more games, to these teams that have entertained us so much in the last five weeks. I’m not confident they will sadly, but, let’s at least enjoy this moment.

And a word too for something that the Portugal have done better than anyone else in the tournament, and that’s their shorts. Whoever it was said, ‘Shorts, they’re not important, it’s what’s inside them that counts..’ was wrong here. Those shorts were special.

(and, the quote is of course from Barnstoneworth United’s coach, in Golden Gordon).