Good morning good morning.
Good morning guys.
Today is a day trip day.
Yeah.
We are going to Blagaj which is basically like a monastery in a cave by a river.
Something like that.
It looks beautiful.
Basically and it is so close to where we are staying in Mostar.
Yeah.
So we can actually catch local transportation to get there.
Mmmhmm.
So that is exactly what we're going to do right now.
Okay, so let's say bye to our cat friend and then we're on our way.
Look he is here.
Hi kitty.
Bye cat.
We stopped at a bakery along the way to pick up a snack for the road, and then we crossed
the bridge to the west side of Mostar to catch the bus to Blagaj.
Okay so we picked up a little snack along the way.
This is post-breakfast.
I got myself the mixed cheese burek which is really good.
It is almost gone.
Um, yeah but now we wanted to show you guys where to catch the bus to visit Blagaj.
So basically it is in front of this giant yellow building.
It is called the United World College.
There is a little like bus hut.
What would you call it?
A bus hut.
A little bus stop.
Bus stop I would say.
A bus stop.
There you go.
So yeah, we're just going to check the schedule but I think it leaves every hour almost.
So yeah, let's go on.
So the bus doesn't go every hour.
I'm not sure if I said that by mistake.
But there is a schedule posted right here at the bus stop.
You can take the 10, 11 or 12 and yeah there is just too many times for me to read them
all out.
So just check it once you're here.
So guys this has been a bit of a pain.
The bus schedule we found online was pretty dated I guess.
Not up to date so we've actually been waiting for our bus for almost an hour or over an
hour now.
Um but we are hopeful that it should be arriving soon in the next time slot.
So fingers crossed we are still here.
Still determined to make it to Blagaj.
Alright guys we made it to the town of Blagaj.
Right now it is lunchtime.
It is noon.
We are hungry so I think we are going to try and find some food first then go sightseeing.
But it is a bit of a struggle so far we are only seeing little coffee shops but we need
something more than coffee and pastries.
So yeah, we're just kind of pacing up and down through the town.
Um and yeah hopefully we find something soon.
Update.
None of the restaurants in the town were serving food.
What a missed business opportunity there.
Nobody wanted to feed us.
Anyways, apparently as we get closer to the attraction we want to go to yeah there is
supposed to be five restaurants.
I think a local guy just let us know that.
So fingers crossed.
Fingers crossed.
Alright guys so we finally found a restaurant.
I was actually checking the reviews on the few restaurants that are in this area.
None of the reviews are very high.
Everyone says the food is quite mediocre.
Um, so we've ordered.
I've got some polenta with cheese.
Sam got some hummus.
Um I will say everything very overpriced.
And I've already tried my food and it has not been amazing.
Huh.
It is just a few scoops of polenta with melted cheese on top and it is a little bland to
be honest.
But it is a super touristy spot so yeah you can get away with it.
So our advice is in Mostar there is great food.
Great food, wonderful food in Mostar.
Wonderful restaurants.
Eat there.
Eat there before you come.
Maybe bring a snack and or self cater and bring your own uh food.
We also noticed there was a grocery store in town.
Mmmhmm.
And in hindsight that would have been our best bet.
Yeah.
Sam over here is a bit of a hummus snob so I can't wait for your reaction.
Yeah, this is the main dish and it is priced like a main dish and it is served about the
size of an appetizer.
Um, three little or 4 little pieces of bread.
Mmmhmm.
What do you think?
It's awful.
Hahaha.
I thought you were savoring it.
No.
And you were going to be like wow.
Sorry I'm not going to lie this is just it is maybe the worst hummus I've ever had.
Ever.
Alright, well let's get some food in us and then we'll go sightseeing.
Let's get out of here.
Time for price point for that meal at restaurant Biser.
It came to 17.50 in the local currency which is a little over 10 US dollars for really
bad hummus and some stale polenta.
Haha.
So yeah that is that.
Don't ever go there and let's continue on to the attraction.
Now for the reason we had come all the way to Blagaj, that would be to visit Blagaj Tekija,
a Dervish monastery (Blagaj Tekke) which is tucked under a cliff and sits by the source
of the Buna River.
The structure is believed to date back to the 1520s and it contains elements of Ottoman
architecture and Mediterranean style, making it a national monument.
So just looking over men must wear long trousers under the knees.
Yes.
And women must be covered with a scarf and in long skirts.
Both provided by it says the Tekke or Tekke staff.
I typically bring my own scarf but I am wearing pants.
It is an interesting mix with a sort of looks like a fake leather jacket and hey a normal
scarf.
And then that.
Well, tada.
We're ready.
Once we were covered up, we were able to visit the monastery.
This mainly involves walking through a series of carpeted rooms with a few religious texts
and minimal furniture.
But I think the main draw are the views you get of the monastery from the other side of
the Buna River.
If you visit during the summer months, you can pay to take a short boat ride into the
cave.
We visited in late autumn, so that wasn’t really an option, but we snapped a few photos
and enjoyed the bright foliage.
Okay so we have finished our visit.
We're walking back to town now to go catch our bus.
Yeah.
It is time for thoughts Samuel.
Thoughts.
Well the most positive.
We'll start with the most positive and it is just absolutely gorgeous setting.
Yeah.
Stunning.
Like absolutely stunning.
Just some amazing views every it is worth exploring in all directions.
Walk across all of the bridges, see it from both sides and so on.
Um, the Dervish House I found more impressive on the outside than inside.
Mmmhmm.
It was quite simple.
Like inside there were mats and uh a few other things.
What did you think?
Uh yeah like the rooms were empty.
It was just like colorful carpets on the floor so there really isn't much to see.
Yeah.
Um, I would agree.
It makes for nice photos and it is beautiful from the outside.
Yeah.
And just looking up at that rock wall behind it and the color of the water is beautiful.
Yeah.
But you know what?
If you're looking to visit a similar construction I would maybe say check out the Turkish House.
Yeah.
In town.
We both really liked the Turkish House in Mostar.
In Mostar yeah.
That was incredible.
Yeah.
Um, yeah but so final thoughts really when you come here as we mentioned before be sure
to not eat at the restaurants because they all have bad reviews and the place we ate
at was probably the worst food we've had all year in Europe.
Oh man.
Yeah, I'm sorry I don't like to trash a place but yeah it was bad.
And then when you charge that much for it too.
Yeah.
Uh, definitely don't eat here.
Come to experience the place.
It doesn't take a long time to visit.
The actual wandering around that we did after we ate I'd say you could be done in an hour
or even less.
I mean look at us we're filming it and taking photos and we were done in just over an hour.
Yeah.
So keep that in mind.
Also keep the bus connections in mind.
We missed ours by 15 minutes and we ended up waiting almost an extra hour and a half.
Mmmhmm.
And so yeah um really we're not missing the bus on the way back.
No we are not.
That is for sure.
We have a 1:45 bus to catch and right now it is quarter after one so we still have a
little bit of time to spare and yeah we'll just show you guys a little bit of what the
town looks like in the form of b-roll.