If you’ve missed out, you can find part one from our Sarajevo trip here, and you can read part two here.
Our third and final day in Sarajevo was upon us. A hectic and slightly mad schedule awaited us – during the day, we had to:
- Pack up all our stuff. Everything had (somehow) escaped from our bags and jumped onto the floor.
- Check out of our accommodation.
- Go on a fairly in-depth tour of Sarajevo; taking in the wartime tunnels and the abandoned Bobsleigh track.
- Eat something, at some point.
- Make our way to the airport in time for our afternoon flight to Cologne in Germany (we will reveal this mysterious reason why at the end).
- Find our accommodation in Cologne. And more food.
We got numbers 1 and 2 out of the way pretty quickly and Emil gave us one final lift into town. He didn’t even charge us this time – we must have done something right!
Armed with our massive bags, we waddled back through the Bazaars in the old Turkish bit of town, heading in the direction of the BH Spirit tour company’s office to begin our trip to the tunnels and bobsleigh.
Discovering Sarajevo’s Abandoned Bobsled Track
First on the tour agenda was the Bobsled track, nestled at the end of a very unloved road high in the mountains above Sarajevo. As we bumped along over the potholes and past the stray dogs, we began to realise why the taxi drivers had been so reluctant to take us there the day before (definitely had nothing to do with our embarrassing attempts to speak Bosnian).
The track was built for the 1984 Winter Olympics. It would have hosted tens of thousands of spectators in its heyday. Now it stands as a crumbling memory, covered in graffiti and – eerily – bullet holes from the Bosnian war. Dino, our guide, dropped off near the top of the track and gave us plenty of time to wander down to the finish line at our own pace.
Walking down the bobsled track
The entire site is absolutely silent, bar the sound of the birds, which makes for a very strange atmosphere as you walk down. Taking it all in is a fascinating experience and makes for some great photos. We’ll let these do the talking because words don’t do it justice. Needless to say, it’s somewhere you must visit if you have time in Sarajevo.
We stayed slightly longer than we should have done. Eventually, we found Dino wandering down the track to meet us as we headed back (“I thought you’d got lost!”).
Read next: The best things to do in Kaliningrad
Discovering Sarajevo’s Tunnel of Hope
Dino whisked us off at speed, back through the crazy Sarajevo traffic and on to the airport, not for a flight but to visit the Tunnel of Hope.
The tunnel was built during the siege of Sarajevo and used to smuggle everything from food to weaponry. It was a real lifeline for the people of Sarajevo. There was a short film and a series of displays, but our guide Dino’s stories made the visit memorable.
There’s no replacement for hearing from someone who lived through history. He had some genuinely shocking tales and some sad insights into the anger that still, unsurprisingly, exists among Bosnians today.
A short section of the tunnel is open to let you experience a little of what the people who used it must have gone through. It is TINY. To put it into context, Lucy’s head nearly touched the ceiling. That is a sign of a low roof.
Even the 50 meters or so you were allowed to walk gave you a sense of how claustrophobic and uncomfortable it must have been when in use. Truly remarkable.
Our tour concluded with a visit next door, where we met Abid – a Bosnian pensioner and one of the unsung heroes of the war. Abid used to drive a supply truck and told us tales of transporting goods (and sometimes bodies) under sniper fire from the Serbs on the hills. It must have been terrifying.
Despite the morbid topics of conversation, Abid did have a great and slightly unorthodox sense of humour. His wife kindly served us coffee, and Abid promptly described her as “the biggest pain in my life” (more than once). Poor lady.
And with that, the tour was over – we bid farewell to Dino and had one last Burek before we began the journey back to the airport…this time to catch our flight!
Heading to Sarajevo airport
A taxi seemed like a bit of a cop-out, so we opted instead for a walk & tram combo. Without really having a clue what we were doing, we somehow found a tram heading in the airport’s general direction. Unfortunately, it was rammed, and our backpacks were not a welcome addition in the eyes of the other passengers.
We missed a stop but managed to jump off within decent walking distance of our final destination. Before we knew it, we were sitting in the departures lounge. Sarajevo airport is, by the way, absolute garbage. If you want anything to eat (or even drink) whilst you’re waiting for the flight, buy it before you go through security. Unless you have a real love of burnt toast and overpriced water.
It was finally time to board our Germanwings flight across to Cologne, starving and thirsty. Germanwings is one of our favourite airlines – well-priced, reliable, and a great variety of routes.
And the reason we were flying to Cologne? A Taylor Swift concert. Not even embarrassed. After the gig, we’d be making our way by bus down to Frankfurt and catching another flight to the beautiful Zadar in Croatia. Quite some detour. Stay tuned!
Cool trip! The Tunnel of Hope and the interaction of Abid were particularly poignant – that war happened about 2 decades ago, but the effects still reverberate to this day. Hopefully someday we’ll be able to travel to Europe again – Sarajevo might be on the list.