Summary of My 17D Balkans Travelogue (2018) Covering Istanbul, Bosnia & Herzegovina & Croatia

And here comes the end of another travelogue of mine - like, finally! This year I managed to complete at least 5 travelogues before year-end; Solo Trip To Europe (2017), 9D8N Australia Melbourne & Sydney (2017), 6D5N Central Vietnam (2018), 6D5N Kyushu Japan (2018) and now this one - 17D of my Balkans trip covering Turkey, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia. Feeling accomplished cause my motivation for blogging is finally back on track! I almost lost my interest and passion not just in blogging, but in travelling too dating back 2 years ago.

SUMMARY OF MY 17D BALKANS TRIP COVERING ISTANBUL, BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA AND CROATIA

Here is the compilation of my Balkans travelogue at a glance (obviously I'm lazy to summarise everything 😜):

• 2018 Istanbul, Bosmia & Herzegovina and Croatia (Sneak Peek)
• 48 Hours in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina
• Sarajevo to Mostar By Train and Stari Most
• A Day Trip To Blagaj Tekija, Pocitelj, Kravice Falls & War Tour
• Can't Help Falling In Love With Dubrovnik
• Old City Walls of Dubrovnik
• From Dubrovnik to Split
• A Day Trip To Sibenik From Split
• A Short Layover To Zadar
• The Breathtaking View of Plitvice Lakes National Park
• Zagreb, My Last Leg of Croatia
• Istanbul, Turkey - My Starting and Ending Point of My Balkans Trip

(Just click each of them and it will link you to the individual blogpost)

For this post also, I would like to share not comprehensive one but a brief and basic travel guide based my own first hand experience to Turkey (Istanbul), Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia.

VISA

For Malaysian, visa is NOT required to enter into these three countries. Therefore don't have to worry about applying any visa at all. That's show how powerful our Malaysian passport are, right? However if you are intended to stay more than 90 days for each respective country, then you have to go and apply for the visa. I don't have experience for this cause normally, I only stay one or two weeks for each country. 

CURRENCY EXCHANGE

Before embarking for this trip, I exchanged Euros and some Turkish lira (I changed in KL Nu Sentral). You can bring along US dollar, British Pound or even Singapore Dollar cause these currencies are also widely accepted in most of the European countries.

• Turkey's national currency is Turkish lira. It can be found in Malaysia. But in case you don't have the time to change, no worries cause you can exchange in Istanbul. TRY100 = RM102
• Convertible mark (KM/BAM) is the only legal tender in Bosnia & Herzegovina. I exchanged in Sarajevo International Airport - the first Bosnia's airport I landed. €1.00 = 1.95KM on average*. But because there is 1% commission being charged, hence I got €1.00 = 1.93KM
• The official currency for Croatia is Croatian kuna. €1.00 = HRK7.13 on average*

*The rate I exchanged in May 2018

Top: Bosnia & Herzegovina's convertible mark

Bottom: Croatian kuna 

PURCHASING TRANSPORTATION TICKET

The most frequently asked travel questions - where to buy all these transportation tickets and when? Being "kiasu" in me, I always prefer to buy all my buses and trains ticket prior to my trip in order to secure the seats, especially when the bus and train schedules are quite limited. Except for my train ticket from Sarajevo to Mostar and a-return day trip between Split and Sibenik, I booked all my bus tickets from GetByBus (click here). It's a legit and reliable website, so don't have to worry cause it's really pretty save and secure buying bus tickets from this website. 

The only downside of this website is that you have to print out your tickets. They don't accept mobile ticket. And another thing you have to take note is that for all intercity buses, there is an extra fee of €1-2 charge for luggage fee. Remember to keep some small change.

SIM CARD

Because I was travelling alone, hence it's freaking costly to rent a pocket WiFi by my own. Besides that, for your information Bosnia & Herzegovina is actually doesn't consider to be part of European coverage even for both pocket WiFi and travel sim card. What I did is I bought my travel sim card from Hello1010 (click here) and purchased another one for Bosnia & Herzegovina in Sarajevo Airport. 

There you go! Hopefully I don't miss out any important travel tips and info relating my trip to these Balkans countries. In case you have any queries or doubt, feel free to leave a comment or email me. 

TOTAL SPENDING

As usual, I simplify everything for easy reference - which include means of transportation, hostels, entrance fees, food but excluding my shopping spending throughout my trip around 17 days. 

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	€/KM/CZK	RM
Air Fares Singapore Airlines (Return fare Kota Kinabalu to Istanbul) Pegasus Airlines (One-way Istanbul to Sarajevo) Turkish Airways (One-way Zagreb to Istanbul) Cities Sarajevo – 2 days Mostar – 2 days Dubrovnik – 2days Split – 2 days A Day Trip to Split Zadar – 1 day Plitvice Lakes National Park – 1 day Zagreb – 2 days Istanbul – 2 days Ground Tour Herzegovina Tour Others 4GB Travel Prepaid Sim Card - Bought from Hello1010	- - - - - - - - - - - - 60KM -	2,190 293 955 301 188 782 419 149 289 300 363 250 150 103
	TOTAL:	6,732

Exchange rate  €1.00 = RM4.84 as at May 2018

Curious about my souvenir travel haul? There are two items I die-die must buy whenever I visit different country or city which are the fridge magnet and postcard. Besides these two, another one would be the stamps. Sometimes I would spend up to RM100 by just buying these three things. As for this trip, my total spending for souvenir and shopping is RM1,026 including numerous of fridge magnets, postcards, stamps, a T-shirt, a skirt and a dress when I was in Croatia. 

A hardcore collector for fridge magnets.

Souvenirs from Croatia including tea towels, liquid soap dispense and a T-shirt for my nephew.

Pouch and fridge magnets from Istanbul.

Turkish ceramic bowls in various sizes.

AIRLINES EXPERIENCE & THEIR IN-FLIGHT MEALS
For this trip, I flew and experienced 4 different type of airlines:

1) Silk Air for my journey between Kota Kinabalu to Singapore. I even blogged about this airline before (click here).

In-flight meal for Silk Air. I like their fresh fruits but not their main meal. Feel like eating thick flour instead of fish meats.

2) Singapore Airlines for the trip from Singapore to Istanbul as well as for the return. Finally I got to fly with the World's Best Airline. However, I'm quite disappointed with the fleet for the flight to Istanbul cause it's one old aircraft being used. The in-flight entertainment wasn't fascinating and not many options were given. Even for the in-flight meals, I found out it's just so-so and nothing to shout. 

For the route Singapore to Istanbul, their meals are quite acceptable. 

But for the route from Istanbul to Singapore, the meals look kinda sad and unappetising. Luckily there's an ice-cream to cheer me up

3) Pegasus Airlines for one-way journey from Istanbul to Sarajevo. Pegasus Airlines is a Turkish low-cost airlines with no-frills, similar to AirAsia where the fare doesn't include free baggage allowance, in-flight meal and entertainment. 

4) Turkish Airlines for a trip from Zagreb to Istanbul. Turkish Airlines is a national carrier airline of Turkey and it's full-fledged airlines. This is one of the most expensive fares I ever bought in my life just for a single trip. 

Never thought this is going to be a lengthy post but I'm glad that finally this is the end. Now I'm going to have a cup of nice hot coffee and at same time, thinking which travelogue should I blog next.

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Balkans (2018): Sarajevo to Mostar By Train & Stari Most

There are few things I would like to share about Bosnia and Herzegovina (usually shortened to BiH) to which I didn't manage to share in my previous post:

1) Visa - As for Malaysian citizens, visa is not required to travel to BiH for visits up to 90 days. 

2) National currency is known as Bosnian Convertible Marks (KM/BAM). However, in certain places you can pay with Euros as long as you agree to their decent own conversation rate (€1 = 2KM/BAM)

3) The most populated and visited cities of BiH which are Sarajevo and Mostar. Since I done with my post on Sarajevo, so now I'm going to blog about Mostar.

FROM SARAJEVO TO MOSTAR

In order to get to Mostar from Sarajevo, there are two options available; either travel via bus or train. Initially I plan to take bus but when I realised the sun rose as early as 5am, at the end I decided ride on the earliest train. The reason behind it's because this train journey claimed to offer the best river scenery ever by most of the travellers who experienced it.

Currently, the train from Sarajevo to Mostar only runs twice daily; 7.07am and 4.50pm and the journey takes about 2 and half hours. So either you give up your beauty sleep and wake up early to catch the first train or choose to arrive Mostar in the late evening by taking the last train - I rather opt for the first one. Early morning I walked out from my hostel which situated in the Old Town and headed to the nearest tram stop (Bascarsija or Katedrala) to catch the tram to railway station.



Two ways to get to Sarajevo Railway Station (Zeljeznicka stanica) from the Old Town:
1) Tram #1 with the sign Zeljeznicka stanica. Hop off at the last stop and the rides take about 15 minutes. Unfortunately it only starts to operate after 7am which indicates that I might miss my train to Mostar.
2) Tram #3 with the sign heading to Ilidza. Hop at Tehnicka Skola and walk about 8 minutes to the railway station. The earliest tram starts at 5.43am.



The earliest bird catches the worm. By the time I arrived the railway station, I can count the number of human beings using my fingers - like 5 or 6 only. I went to the counter and bought my ticket as it can't do so through online. Seat number was being assigned by the staff and you can't specially request for it. However from what I observed, you can ignore your reserved seat number and sit anywhere you like as long as it is vacant. And the best side to sit is on the left-hand side to witness the awe-inspiring view.


I chosen to sit in the 2nd class cabin and it cost 12KM (approx. to €6/RM30). Initial fare supposedly to be 9.90KM but there is an additional fee of 2KM for the seat reservation fee.

Extra Info:

If you unable to catch the only two trains, fret not as you can catch the bus next to the railway station. You can check out the bus schedule and fares at Get By Bus (here).


ARRIVED MOSTAR TRAIN STATION & MY HOSTEL IN MOSTAR
Shame to say that I snoozed off during the train ride. Not because I woke up too early but because I'm the type that easily fall asleep even on a moving vehicle. But I glad that I managed to catch a glimpse of the beautiful and awesome scenery outside of the train before arriving in Mostar.

I was super excited when the train officer announced that we have arrived Mostar. Frankly speaking, I was looking forward for this city more than Sarajevo, mainly for one reason - the Stari Most, which I will talk later. Mostar Railway Station is within walking distance to the historic old center, and that's where my hostel located. Initially I booked Hostel Dino but out of sudden, they cancelled my booking two days right before heading to Mostar. Keep calm! Keep calm! Immediately I looked for other and I found Hostel Mirror which is slightly cheaper than the initial one.

Date Stayed: 16 May to 18 May 2018 (2 nights)

Room Rate: 16KM (approx. to €8/RM40) per night for a bed in 4 mixed dormitory room with breakfast (Booked via Booking.com)

I can conclude that this is one of my favourite hostels throughout my Balkans trip. First, it's dirt cheap - imagine a night cost €8 only and it comes with homecooked breakfast (as per photo above). Secondly, the host was extremely friendly and warm-hearted. She remembered all her guests name and she made us feel like being at home. As for the location, it is 10 minutes walk to the old town as well as the old bridge. I guess this is another blessing in disguise when my initial booking was being cancelled but turned out I found another hostel with a super attentive and lovely host who takes good care of all her guests. Absolutely highly recommended to stay when comes to Mostar!


STARI MOST - THE OLD BRIDGE
This hump-backed stone arch bridge is the iconic landmark of Mostar and it is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Originally built in 1566, but it was destroyed in 1993 due to devastating civil war and took more than 10 years to rebuild and reconstruct. At here, you will frequently see the members of the Mostar Diving Club dive off from the bridge into Neretva River once they collected sufficient of fund from the tourists. I managed to wait and watch at least two divers jumped off from the bridge while taking photos of the bridge.

Now here's the crucial question - where to stand in order to capture the best view of Stari Most? I found three spots/places:

1) At the beach nearby the banks of the river. This is my favourite spot because not just it's free, but I also able to capture myself along with the bridge. Well, at least to prove I've been there right? Plus this spot is less crowded with tourists and you can stand there as long as you want. How to get there? Try to search for Pansion Villa Cardak and when you found it, walk behind the villa and you will see Neretva River soon.

2) From the streets of the old town. I didn't realise about this while walking back to my hostel until a beautiful tourist asked whether can I help to take photos for her. Only from there, I noticed this is another spot where you can take a nice shot of Stari Most. 

3) From Koski Mehmed-Pasha Mosque. It's not free by the way and you must pay a fee of 12KM or €6 (approx. to RM30) in order to go up and get the great view of the Old Bridge and the entire town. This fee also inclusive a visit to the mosque and minaret.  But being cheapskate me, I skip this one since I already got two best spots earlier. 

OLD TOWN OF MOSTAR

What else can I say? Always my favourite place to visit in almost all the cities of Europe countries I've been. A place for me to dine-in or grab a gelato, a place for me to purchase souvenirs like magnets and postcards, and also a place for me to explore and understand the respective city.  

This is where I had my lunch by the riverside. It's so serene and peaceful here.

Conclusion, try to spend at least a night or two in Mostar rather than just do a day trip there. This charming little town is really worth for visit, especially if you are looking for a peaceful and laid-back atmosphere. 

HOW MUCH I SPENT IN MOSTAR

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	KM	RM
Transportation Sarajevo to Mostar via train Accommodation Hostel Mirror – 2 nights Food & Drinks Others Postcards and fridge magnet	12KM 32KM 31.25KM 7.50KM	30 80 78 19
TOTAL (RM)		207

Exchange Rate: €100 = 195KM on average. 1KM is approximately to RM2.50 


Here's a quick video of the diver dive off from Stari Most

Previous Post on My 2018 Balkans Trip

• 48 Hours in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

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Balkans (2018): 48 Hours in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina

Quite a number of my friends and blog readers requested me to blog about this trip first instead of the rest. I guess most of them are more interested with my Europe trips compare to the other of trips of mine.

Before I proceed any further, let me share my actual flight route first: 

Kota Kinabalu → Singapore → Istanbul with Singapore Airlines

I will blog more about my trip around Istanbul once I done with Bosnia & Herzegovina and Croatia travelogues first. 

FROM ISTANBUL TO SARAJEVO 

After staying for a night in Istanbul, I moved on to Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia & Herzegovina. The only mode of transportation to travel between these two cities are by flying. My friend advised me to search from Pegasus Airlines and I did, so at the end I got my ticket for 275 Turkish lira which including 20kg of baggage allowance. Bear in mind there are two different airports in Istanbul; Ataturk Airport and Sabiha Gokcen Airport. Make sure to check your airport cause these two airports are situated quite far away from each other. As for my case, my flight depart from Sabiha Gokcen Airport and I took Havabus from Taksim (one of notable Istanbul spots). You can check out for more here. 

Because Pegasus Airlines is a Turkish low-cost airlines, which is similar to AirAsia, there is no complimentary meal being served unless you are willing to pay extra. After almost 2 hours on board, finally I landed in another new country again. Frankly speaking, I was quite anxious and nervous cause I didn't know much about Bosnia, except for the heartbreaking civil war of the 1990s but deep in my heart, I told myself, "Hey, this is not your first solo trip to Europe. You did it last year!". That's how I comfort myself. 

Without thinking too much, I passed through the immigration clearance smoothly, claimed my backpack, exchanged some local currency and bought local sim card. I did purchase Europe travel SIM card from Hello1010 before embark for this trip but unfortunately, it didn't cover Bosnia. Therefore I decided to buy from the airport and this special SIM card for tourists costs 20 KM (approx. to €10/RM50) which valid for 10 days. Nowadays, prepaid sim card is my life saviour and I can't imagine how my travel would be without it. 

HOW TO GET TO SARAJEVO CITY CENTER FROM THE AIRPORT

This is one of the most challenging journey throughout my trip. Previously when I did my research from Wikitravel and Lonely Planet, it mentioned the only way to get to the city center from the airport is by taking bus and this local bus can only catch in one of the bus stop situated 15-20 minutes walk from the airport. I even email the hostel asking for airport transfer and guess what, they quoted me for €20. That's insane! So at the end, I decided just to walk to that particular bus stop in order to save my money. Damn cheapskate me. 

After walking for almost 20 minutes under the dripping rain, finally I saw the "most wanted" bus stop. But funny enough cause after waited for almost 40 minutes, the particular local bus seems to be never arrive. I started to question myself whether am I waiting at the wrong bus. Somehow, life is always unpredictable. I met a local who can speak English fluently. She told me that the bus I waited for was not operating on that particular day due to some technical problem. Hence, she advised me to join her to the nearby tram station and from there, take the tram heading down to the town. She even invited me for a cup of Bosnian coffee before leaving. Guess this is a blessing in disguise. My bus never arrive but who will expect that I meet such a friendly and helpful local instead. 

Not just the symbol of the country, Bosnian coffee is also a part of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian identity and tradition. 

Latest update for the airport transfer: Only on my last day I found out there is a direct bus from the airport to the city center. Wondering why the hostel staff didn't inform me about this at the first place when I email them?

HOSTEL I STAYED

Old Town is always my favourite spot to stay and I chosen to settle down in Hostel Rania for good two nights. Nothing to complain about this hostel as the location is excellent, staffs are helpful and friendly and as for the room and bathrooms, both are fairly clean except for one thing, there is no personal socket within the bed. 

Date Stayed: 14 May to 16 May 2018 (2 nights)

Room Rate: 22KM (approx. to €11/RM55) per night for a bed in 6 female dormitory room without breakfast (Booked via Agoda)

BEST PLACES OF INTEREST IN SARAJEVO 

Except for taking the tram from nearby the airport and to the bus and train station, I explored the central area on foot as it is very compact and almost all of the attractions just right at my fingertips. In case you are lazy to walk a lot, hence you can consider to buy a day card for unlimited ride on all local public transport within Zone A for the cost of 5KM (approx. to €2.50/RM12) and this day pass can be bought from the newspaper stands.

Here are few attractions and famous landmarks I managed to cover when I was around the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina:

1. Sebilj (Fountain) - One of the city's most recognisable symbols, Sebilj is a pseudo-Ottoman style wooden fountain tucked neatly in the centre of the Old Town (Bascarsilja) square. 

2. Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque - The largest historical mosque in Bosnia and Herzegovina and one of the most representative Ottoman structures in the Balkans. 

3. Latin Bridge - This bridge is believed that sparked the beginning of World War I due to assassination of the Austrian Hungarian empire Franz Ferdinard took place here. There is a small museum of Austro-Hungarian rule in Sarajevo and the assassination at the corner across the street from the bridge. 

4. Sarajevo Meeting of Cultures - From this very spot, this is where you can see the meeting of civilisations, represented by a clear dividing line between Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian architecture.   

5. Vijecnica (City Hall) - The most extravagant buildings constructed during Austro-Hungarian occupation and it serves as a symbol of the meeting of world civilisations. 

6. Cathedral of the Nativity of the Theotokos - Besides being the largest Serbian Orthodox church in Sarajevo, it also known to be one of the largest in the Balkans. Right next to the cathedral is the multiculturalism monument. 

7. Vjecna Vatra (Eternal Flame) - A memorial to the military and civilian victims of the Second World War in Sarajevo. The flames never stop burning which makes this monument a unique piece of art, idea and dedication. 

8. Trebevic Cable Car - After 26 years, this famous cable car is resumed operations and reopened to the public. It links the old part of the city with the mountain Trebevic. The cable car ride costs 20KM (approx. to €10/RM50) for a return trip. 

9. Bascarsila (Old Town) - Sarajevo's old bazaar and the historical and cultural center of the city. Bascarsila is an oriental bazaar, a maze of narrow streets tucked in the center of the city's heart and this place is an ideal spot if you are seeking for real souvenirs. That's explain why I prefer to stay in the Old Town.  

SARAJEVO CUISINE

There are so many traditional dishes I would really love to try and explore but unfortunately I can't do so - the downside of travelling alone. I only managed to sampling one or two like:

1) Cevapi - The staple food of Sarajevo, it is served with flatbreads filled with grilled dish of mixed meat (the most common to be found in most restaurant and shops are served with beef but can request to serve in chicken, like in my case).

2) Baklava - A traditional Ottoman Turkish sweet pastry often eaten as a dessert. It is a rich, sweet dessert pastry made of layers of filo filled with chopped nuts and sweetened and held together with syrup or honey.

I found out eating in Sarajevo are not that expensive compare to the rest of the cities around Europe. I bumped into a restaurant served chicken with pasta for 4.50KM only (approx. to €2.25/RM6) and look their intricate looking and mouthwatering pastries (as below), it cost 1.90KM only (approx. to €1/RM5). Madness!  

TOTAL DAMAGES SPENT 
Here are the breakdown of how much I spent throughout my trip in Sarajevo for 2 days and 2 nights:

PARTICULARS	AMOUNT
	KM	RM
Airfares Istanbul to Sarajevo via Pegasus Airlines  Accommodation Hostel Rania – 2 nights Transportation Within City Local bus Sarajevo Day Pass Admission Fee Trebevic Cable Car Food & Drinks Others Ultra Tourist 5GB Sim Card Postcards, stamps & fridge magnet	- 44KM 1.60KM 7KM 20KM 27.50KM 20KM 42KM	293 110 4 18 50 69 50 105
TOTAL (RM)		699

Exchange Rate: €100 = 195KM on average 

Regardless whether exchange in the airport, post office and etc, there is a surcharge of 1% commission. So at the end, I received 193.60KM instead of 195KM.

To sum up this trip, I personally never thought travelling around Sarajevo can be that cheap and affordable especially in terms of hostel, food and drinks and local transportation fee. Even fridge magnet cost 2KM only (approx. to €1/RM5) per piece and if you are planning to get fridge magnets for friends and family, this is where I would you recommend to buy more cause I found out it is much more cheaper here than Mostar and other parts of Croatia. 

One for 2KM or 3 for 5KM


Anyone love postcard like I do?

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