SUTJESKA MEMORIAL + DRIVING THROUGH BiH

June 28-30
The next stop on our journey was Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina [BiH]. Our drive taught us a few things:

1. It is amazing what you happen to find when you are driving through a new country. We stumbled upon the Sutjeska Memorial, located in the Sutjeska National Park, while driving along the M20 in the Valley of Heroes [Tjentiste]. It was opened in 1974 and is a tribute to those who lost their lives in a WWII battle between May and June of 1943. This was one of the bloodiest battles where Partisan forces engaged against joint German-Italian troops. The battles culminated in the area of the Sutjeska River and surrounding mountains. 

sculptor Miodrag Živković

Sutjeska Battle Memorial House - Belgrade architect Ranko Radović

sculptor Miodrag Živković

sculptor Miodrag Živković

Apparently, monuments like this one, huge/brutalist/futuristic, can be found along hilltops in BiH, Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo, Slovenia and Montenegro. These were commissioned in the 1960s and 1970s by Josip Broz Tito, the former Yugoslavian President.

2. We drove the 26 to the M19 to the E761 between Belgrade and Sarajevo. After our stay in Sarajevo we drove the M18 to the M20 to the Montenegro border. It was a great drive but beware of cows and other animals crossing the roads.

3. While I would never take my vehicle off roading in BiH, we did not see any landminds. Online resources had me nervous about this leg of our drive, but we had no issues. According to the US government website, it is estimated that there are still more than 200,000 land mines buried throughout the country. Since 1996 there have been more than 16,830 injuries, nearly 600 of them deaths, due to mines. The issue is that the rain washes them to different locations and therefore many are unaccounted for. It is recommended to stay on paved roads and not wander into any abandoned buildings.

4. The Bosnian landscape is beautiful. It is not recommended to hike the mountains or hills alone unless you are familiar with them due to landmine issues, but they have many guides for hire who know the areas well. Apparently there are some great rafting trips and skiing in the area.

The town where PJ got a speeding ticket.
Last town before the Montenegro border.

5. If you are crossing the border at Zvornik be sure that your GPS is taking you to the vehicular bridge, not the pedestrian bridge. They are close to one another but we made that mistake.

The pedestrian bridge so people can walk between the countries

6. The GPS does not always fully recognize the roads in Bosnia. We managed just fine but our google map was showing a road that does not exist in one area. There are decent signs along the way so it wasn't an issue.

7. Don't speed. The cops hang out on the side of the roads with their speed guns. These print out a receipt of your speed and the legal speed. You can pay the fine on the spot or go with them and pay a higher price. 10km over was only 20 marks [about 10 euro], but it still takes time.

8. We crossed this strange dashed line on our map that indicated Republic of Srpska. We had never heard of this but apparently BiH is separated into two republics; Federation of Bosnia and Herzgovina and the Republic of Srpska. The Republic of Srpska literally means 'Serb Republic' and the flag looks like the Serbian flag without the crest.

The flag

9. The tunnels do not have lights and they can be very dark! Use your headlights.

That's all for now!