Previous country: Croatia
Friday 11th July 2025 – we are staying on a small campsite near Jagare. Food is noticeably cheaper in the supermarket here. Internet is noticeably slower here with more latency and dropouts. Uploading photos may be considerably more difficult. We managed to get a SIM card, the Croatian one wouldn’t roam. No English spoken, all done with Google translate. No idea what sort of tariff we have, every option seemed to reset after 7 days – I have never seen that kind of contract before.
Some sort of celebration day – a fire was lit across the river but with tyres and hence acrid black smoke. Surely they should respect their environment better? The smell in the morning is horrendous.
Saturday 12th July 2025 – going for a walk along the river Krupa to its spring source. Beautiful crystal clear water and abundant wildlife. Vivid green Mayflies, trout in the river. Eastern hornbeam and Ironwood trees line the river. We saw a water snake warming up in the morning sunand a red squirrel. There are spotted woodpeckers and birds of prey overhead. There are small Mills here restored by local people with the help of the Welsh Guards! They were selling paper packets of flour (maize I think).
Plant growth in the river here is so verdant:
Red squirrel (poor quality photo):
Idyllic place to live:
Trout I think:
Poor George is poorly again. I think the siren-like noise is the Turbocharger. Luckily there is a company in Banja Luka (75 kilometres away) that refurbish Garrett turbos. There is also a specialist garage there that also do turbo repairs. I have actually found ChatGPT incredibly useful to diagnose and source information. Maybe artificial intelligence can be put to good use!
Went down into the town of Jajce, the first obvious signs of Islam we have seen in Bosnia here – women wearing full black burkas and some beautiful mosques.
There are some waterfalls in the centre of town.
There are also old fortifications in the town (14th century fortress, St Mary’s church later converted to a mosque and medieval bear tower).
The town has a turbulent history, in 1463 it was sieged in a push by Ottomans. In the recent Balkans conflict the town was captured by the Serbs and the town was the scene of the largest and most traumatic refugee movements of the war. There are still bullet holes in some of the buildings in the town. There is a moving memorial to the war dead near the mosque.
Met a German cyclist Andreas who has been to over 50 countries (he is only 20 years old) and is studying to be a policeman. Also a Belgian motorcyclist who is going on to Montenegro.
Sunday 13th July 2025 – we have nursed George back to near to Banja Luka without incident. We hope to visit the turbo place first thing 8am tomorrow to get the turbo rebuilt. I checked the internals yesterday evening and the axial movement inside is considerable and there shouldn’t be any so the thrust bearing is clearly finished. We may stay in an apartment while they do the rebuild. It takes 4 to 8 hours for a skilled person depending on whether the shaft is damaged etc. The Garrett T25 turbo is a reasonably common turbo so hopefully we are in luck.
We visited the stone bridge a natural arch on the way.
The river valley is beautiful en route:
We had a mixed grill lunch (chicken 2 ways – butterfly and kebabs wrapped in bacon, beef pattie and gammon) with salad, chips and lovely circular homemade bread with drinks for only €12.50 for the two of us! Prices in Bosnia are certainly refreshing after Croatia.
Camping tonight just south of Banja Luka (at a site recommended by our Swiss friends Roland and Claudia who we met in West Africa).
Monday 14th July 2025 – spoke to the campsite owner who is especially kind. The mechanic in the village is going to come and look at George at 9am. We felt this maybe the best option because the turbo shops may just want the turbo for rebuild (rather than take it off the vehicle for us) and he will know the best one (it turns out thaf there are 3 in the town). The campsite owner suggested that he could take us to Banja Luka if necessary which is really kind. He has said that the village mechanic has helped about 30 vehicles here! Today’s hitchhiker – southern Oak Bush Cricket (Meconema meridionale):
It looks as if we will be here for perhaps a week. They can’t do the turbo rebuild until late this week. The plan is for local mechanic to remove the turbo on Thursday so they can work on rebuilding it. The campsite has some rooms which we can use while George is at the workshop. We have the luxury of lots of time and we must get the wailing turbo fixed before it fails and possibly wrecks the engine with shrapnel. Thankfully we have caught it early. We are fortunate that we are in a beautiful place beside the river and there is a restaurant only 100 metres away.
Tuesday 15th July 2025 – we are slightly marooned here in Bosnia. I contacted one of the local turbo refurbishers on Viber to try and find out costs and options – none were given by the local mechanic. The parts they use are made in Poland by a company called Kode. I tried to find information on their quality but there is nothing on the Internet. So decided to order the parts from the UK. It took a lot of research to know exactly what we need. I found a label on an existing oil cooler part showing it was manufactured in 1998 so the turbo is definitely original and has done 172,000 miles.
Ordered the parts at 11am. They will come by air with DHL who say 2 to 3 days. Let’s hope that is the case. I ordered a turbo with the central part of the manifold attached to avoid having to wrestle with the bolts which have been there rusting quietly for 27 years. It also made sense to me to order the left and right manifold to again avoid having to wrestle the existing apart. It can be done (with heat, WD40 and candle wax) but it certainly isn’t easy. I also ordered the two flow and return oil cooler pipes, banjo nuts and copper washers just to be safe.
The shipping cost is £104 and taxes and duties (paid up front and therefore guaranteed not to increase) are £150. A impressive days spending but if it lasts another 27 years then arguably good value.
Decided to visit the local restaurant (which doesn’t have a menu with any English on it whatsoever). With Google translate and some advice we ordered Trout and a local speciality of meat patties with a torpedo of bread. Cuisine seems very meat oriented here, excepting a few French fries, not a vegetable to be seen anywhere. The food was tasty but not exceptional. At least it wasn’t slathered in ketchup.
Thursday 17th July 2025 – trying to be patient awaiting the dispatch advice and courier tracking for the parts. Remembering that we waited 6 weeks in Addis Ababa (in a hotel car park!) to get a visa for Sudan so this should be a walk in the park. Another troupe of Belgian Scouts arrived yesterday (they sure are keen on scouting in Belgium!). A Danish family left because of their arrival. To be fair they aren’t that disruptive and are younger so no alcohol (not that the other lot should have been drinking according to their scouting regulations – I looked it up, they have a no alcohol in camp policy).
Rain in the night and forecast for today but 38 degrees forecast for Monday! We have acclimatised well but that is going to be a challenge. We were hoping to go for a long walk today but the rain maybe heavy so we will see. We are enjoying Bosnia, much less touristy than Croatia and much less expensive but getting more popular. We met a lovely German couple who gave us lots of pointers of places to visit. They were very kind but I was wondering if they had been teachers because we felt a bit like we were in class! They suggested a place where we can wild camp which looked amazing. They said there were Bears with cubs in one area they visited.
Friday 18th July 2025 – our parts left West Midlands Airport yesterday, arrived in Milan this morning and are on their way to Zagreb, Croatia. We are therefore hopeful that they will soon be with us, let’s hope the speedy progress continues.
Sad and shocking news this morning. A friend’s sister Isatou in the Gambia passed away last night. Our friend Abass was on the way home to try and get her further medical treatment for her. She had been suffering from severe headaches and had a CT scan that didn’t show up any issue. So sad.
Had to upload a customs form (all in Bosnian) and a copy of the order confirmation giving values. Thank goodness for Google translate. The customs form even wanted the name of one parent! Bizarre.
Asked to upload order confirmation again which I did. I chatted to DHL online and was given a Bosnian contact number (the package is in Sarajevo). It seems they need an order confirmation with photos on it and didn’t get the one I sent (even though I got a confirmation that they had by email). It actually feels like they are deliberately delaying it. I also resubmitted the customs form with all the information cut and pasted into it and signed it using my finger making a signature on the phone screen. I have asked for customs clearance confirmation today. I called back at 4:30pm (before they finish for the weekend) and established that they had everything they need for customs clearance. It looks as if we will be able to collect the parts on Tuesday (although we hope for Monday).
Saturday 19th July 2025 – went for a nice circular walk. There were orchards of plum and hazelnut trees on the way. Most houses here have fruit trees most often plum or apple. Nearly every household makes Rakija (Šljivovica – Plum Brandy). Many have vegetable gardens which are well tended and productive. The pasture here is so species rich in wild flowers. It makes you realise how use of herbicides in the UK has eliminated diversity in our grasslands. Biodiversity can take 10 to 20 years or more to return after stopping herbicide use. Clearly shown by attempts to sow wildflower mixes that fail after the first season.
Sunday 20th July 2025 – the river beside the campsite is full of rafters enjoying beer, singing and playing Bosnian music (quite different! Their pop songs tend to have dramatic piano intros like a film score and go rapidly downhill when the singing starts!). Bosnia last competed in Eurovision in 2016 due to the state broadcaster owing money to the European Broadcasting Union. Suffice to say I suspect they could do very well. We went for a walk around the valley again this morning. The canyon sides are seriously steep and it is quite hot seven at 9am.
We just heard that our Swiss friends Roland and Claudia (who we met in West Africa) are visiting us tomorrow!
Tried the restaurant at the rafting place again and it was much better than the other night. Had a mixed platter of meat for two – some with cheese and some with bacon. A mixed salad took the edge off the mighty meat fest! We felt that we had gone early but it was packed.
Monday 21st July 2025 – more discussions with DHL customs people. They want a local address in Bosnia. Discussion over my name and my father’s name (they need the name of one parent) and further revisionsto the form. Why this couldn’t all have been sorted on Friday I don’t know. I think they are deliberately wasting time. They now assure me that they now have all the correct paperwork but it still has to be cleared by customs officials! Good grief! I am losing the plot. They say it can still be with us tomorrow as originally estimated.
Went for another morning walk around the Kanjon (canyon) as they call it. Very steep sides to it indeed (1 in 5). Difficult to capture in a photo.
Lots of Alfalfa (Lucerne) grown here for animal fodder. They don’t even seem to irrigate it despite the heat.
Curiously I once found a letter in French from my Great Uncle Alexander Harewood Matthews to a French agricultural merchant asking for Lucerne seed for sale on eBay!
Tuesday 22nd July 2025 – the turbo and peripheral parts have arrived in Banja Luka having travelled overnight from Sarajevo. Roland kindly drove us to the town to collect them, 3 parcels. We talked to Georgie, the campsite owner about the mechanic. The mechanic is again complaining that he is too busy but we should go there at 10am tomorrow. The mechanic is saying that he may need the car for one or two days. So we decided to call Tony, the ex army Land Rover mechanic near Zagreb. He is on holiday today and his colleague said to call back tomorrow. He thought they could accommodate us but needed Tony to say so. So we have progress, in small steps. Roland offered to help me change the turbo but we don’t have a heat source for seized parts or a torque wrench. In some ways I really want to do it myself but once started there is no going back.
Wednesday 23rd July 2025 – our Swiss friends Roland and Claudia have been with us for two days. It has been great to catch up and talk about travels. We had a leisurely lunch at the local restaurant yesterday and Roland cooked again in the evening. We all have a love of safaris in Africa (Roland kept a vehicle in Zimbabwe for 10 years) and we all plan further travels there. Perhaps we will meet up again on the plains of the central Kalahari, one of the most special remaining wild places on earth.
Meat-fest lunch Bosnian style:
We decided that we are best to go to the specialist Land Rover mechanic in Zagreb. We tried to telephone many times to make the arrangements there meanwhile hedging our bets with the local mechanic. When the campsite owner Georgie came over we explained that we were going to Zagreb. He complained but we paid in full for our 9 nights camping. Then things took a nasty turn very quickly. Georgie said that we had to pay for the mechanic! We politely pointed out that the mechanic hadn’t done anything. It was becoming clear that he had some kick back arrangement with the mechanic and was in no mood to lose his pound of flesh!
Georgie became increasingly agitated and unhinged and said that he was going to call the police. I called his bluff politely suggested that he should. He then closed the gate barring our exit. At this point I lost my temper and told him not to be ridiculous but to no avail. I then went to see if I could drive out the other way. At this time he took the car keys from the ignition (stupid of me to leave them there but I thought Rachel was there). I realised I could get through the other way and so it seems did Georgie.
Rachel sensibly decided to negotiate and offered him 20 marks. He immediately countered with 50 marks (€25). There then followed a ridiculous charade where Georgie insisted the money was put under a stone by the (closed) gate. While Rachel moved back from the gate and Georgie (grudgingly) returned the keys to me.
The remaining (Dutch) campers were asking if there was a problem. I guess they heard Georgie shouting and insulting me and saw the gate was closed. I said yes, but had no time to explain further. The whole experience was extremely unsettling and I was shaking for some time after (shock, anger and adrenaline). I have rarely experienced such avarice and unabashed greed! An absolute disgrace. He even called me a Colonial! He said that Rachel had respect (purely because she had offered him money!).
We had a call back from Tony, the Land Rover mechanic near Zagreb saying that he can accommodate changing our turbo on Monday. Not ideal but pleased to have got away from Georgie and his mechanic. I can’t help but feel that if they had worked on our Land Rover we would have been held to ransom over the cost. They had refused to say the cost of repair or time frames which had made us very wary. Little did we know.
The big irony is that the local mechanic wasn’t even open when we drove past at 10:15am!
Thursday 24th July 2025 – feeling calmer after yesterday’s outrageous encounter. Still feeling a bit of shock to be honest. Last night’s campsite is owned by another ambulance paramedic who after a night shift and one hour of sleep is cutting the grass and tidying the campsite. There are donkeys, sheep, goats and even a giant rabbit here who was playing with the cat.
Giant hibiscus in the village:
I talked to the campsite owner here about what had happened to us yesterday. He wasn’t surprised. He said he had helped one of his campers who had been quoted €500 when they had broken down and the final cost was 200km (€100) at his mechanic.
It was 36 degrees in the shade yesterday. We went for a short circular walk this morning and bought melon, tomatoes and sweet peppers from the stall in the village. The stall holder has a recirculating fountain to keep his water melons cool and fresh! I have never seen that before, what a great idea.
Friday 25th July 2025 – it seems that most campsites in Bosnia operate illegally! They are supposed to register the passport details of all their guests, give receipts and pay a tourist tax of €1.50 per head per night to the municipality. Last night was the first time this actually happened! I understand tha/t there is quite a lot of corruption here so officials probably receive some recompense to turn a blind eye. We have driven back to Croatia to visit the mechanic near Zagreb on Monday. We are going to be staying at the campsite in the Lonjsko polje national park again that we enjoyed on the way over.
Return to Bosnia
Return
Monday 22nd September 2025 – border crossing easy. They didn’t scan or stamp our passports leaving Montenegro. The policeman had a look and handed them back. Stamped into Bosnia quickly and as we already have insurance on our UK policy no need to buy any.
Visited the Arslanagic Bridge, a historic Ottoman-era stone bridge located in Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Built in 1574:
Then the Hercegovacka Gracanica Monastery, a Serbian Orthodox monastery located on Crkvina hill:
And Tvrdos Monastery, a 15th-century Serbian Orthodox monastery. Slightly disappointing as the cellars and winery were both closed.
Walked to the village Stolac where there are allotments by the river with irrigation channels. Incredible vegetables. Each house has fruit trees, pomegranate, fig, grapes, citrus, even persimmon.
There are also some waterfalls here:
Tuesday 23rd September 2025 – visited the stecak (plural: stecci), which are monumental medieval tombstones. These are also found in Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia. They include slab, chest, gabled, and cross-shaped often decoratedwith.
We then visited the village of Pocitelj with its stone roofed houses, citadel and mosque.
The mosque:
We then went to the source of the Buna river which produces 40,000 litres per minute, more than the source of the Danube. Here is Blagaj Tekke, a Dervish monastery located at the source of the Buna River (Vrelo Bune) in Blagaj:
Tonight we are staying in the town of Mostar:
Ate Bosnian Schnitzel for dinner. A huge take on traditional Schnitzel with a kind of curd cheese. So rich and shaped like a giant sausage! Deep fried until well beyond golden!
Wednesday 24th September 2025 – out in the town of Mostar early to avoid the crowds. The town was extensively damaged during the war and bullet holes remain on many buildings. All 5 bridges over the river were destroyed.
There are many mosques in Mostar:
The bridge is polished by millions of feet:
There are an extraordinary number of cafés and restaurants in the town.
We are staying by a lake tonight at Ripci. However the weather is turning nasty.
Thursday 25th September 2025 – we went on two walks around the lake as the weather has improved despite the forecast.
On one side of the lake are different fungi: Brown Rollrim (Paxillus involutus). Poisonous.
a species of Sarcodon, commonly known as a tooth fungus or hedgehog fungus due to the presence of teeth-like spines on the underside of its cap instead of gills:
type of Bolete, possibly a Penny Bun (also known as King Bolete or Porcini), or a Bay Bolete (with Rachel’s boot for scale). Allegedly edible:
Saturday 27th September 2025 – the weather is unsettled. Rain yesterday evening, we climbed in the tent for shelter. Thunderstorms forecast for this afternoon. Autumn colours have started in the last few days. It feels like time to head for home. It is around 1,300 kilometres from Zagreb.
George still has a whine. I believe (and hope) it is the output shaft bearing and relatively easily fixed. It is noisier when the transfer box oil is cold. We have an appointment to see Tony, the ex REME Land Rover man on Wednesday. It will be good to hear his Birmingham accent in Croatia once more! However serious it is we need to deal with it. The bearing may fail completely and there is danger of damage to the transfer box case if there is too much flex on the shaft. Tony is understandably a busy man with his level of expertise however. Praying that the transfer box itself isn’t damaged because that is generally specialist repair (mostly an exchange unit and they weigh 60 kilograms so shipping isn’t cheap).
We visited some watermills today:
