Allegedly there is no time travel. Supposedly nowhere and already for physical reasons never. However, there are exceptions: For example, a vacation in Bosnia. The small Balkan country is decades behind the more modern and well-known vacation destinations. Here you can still sleep in typical socialist hotels, marvel at typical socialist remnants of history and even - no one believes you - pay with the once quite famous German mark.
Don't you think it is true? But it is. In Bosnia, people still officially pay with marks and Pfennigen, because in the dual state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the mark is still considered official currency. In 1998, the country introduced the convertible mark and introduced the "feninge" as a subunit - phonetically modeled on the German pfennig.
At that time, the Yugoslavian dinar was hardly worth anything due to the war, so many Bosnians relied on the D-Mark as an unofficial means of payment anyway. The state then simply made it official and introduced the Convertible Mark as currency, which is still used today.
Bosnia is beautiful
To the advantage of visitors, because Bosnia is beautiful, but cheap. Those who booked a trip to the Balkans only out of D-Mark nostalgia will soon realize that they made the right decision. The country has not only an eventful history and an incredible number of great sights, but also hospitable people and: Extremely low prices. An overnight stay is available for 30 marks, a dinner for ten, a beer for two.
If the next vacation should be completely different, not again to the Baltic Sea, not again to the long overrun Croatia or to the expensive beaches of Italy, then Bosnia is an adventurous alternative. "You won't find mass tourism here," says Ricardo Fahrig of the Albanian travel agency Zbulo! which also organizes trips to Bosnia and Montenegro. Visitors are likely to feel more like American pioneers on the road - ahead into the unknown.
The risk is low, the fun huge. Bosnia is best explored by car, because the country, which looks small on maps, is huge. Away from the big cities of Mostar and Sarajevo, it consists mainly of mountains that don't have to hide from the American Rocky Mountains.
Deep valleys crisscross it, and raging rivers, with remote villages along the way, marvel at every visitor. The roads, however, are excellently developed, there is Internet everywhere via smartphone, you only have to buy a local sim card - for ten marks you get 10 gigabytes of data volume. It's a little bit tricky, because the most of the people here not so firm in english. Or someone elses languages.
Image begun to change
Nevertheless, many people are still hesitant about taking a vacation in Bosnia. The disintegration of Yugoslavia and the resulting Yugoslav wars from 1991 to 2001 made for many negative headlines. All long ago, traces are hardly to be seen. But the wars have left their mark; they continue to define the country's image to this day.
Only in the last ten years has the image of Bosnia begun to change. The poorest country in the former Yugoslavia is no longer seen as unknown and dangerous, but as unknown and sexy, says Fahrig. "There's still a touch of adventure, though." You can take a long road trip here, from surprise to surprise.
Or hike, or visit towns, or find a secluded hotel on a lake or river and go rafting for days. Everything here is basically secret. And sure: there's hardly any crime because, as landlord Marek says, "our bad guys prefer to operate abroad, there's more to be had there."
Perfect for wild campers
There are no areas in the Balkans that women or families traveling alone should avoid. For camping tourists, there is still little infrastructure off the main routes. In many places you have at most a pitch, but no power socket or shower. But the country is perfect for wild campers and nature lovers. Nobody cares if you look for a place yourself. Because the Balkans are famous for their hospitality - so it can happen that you are spontaneously invited to dinner.
Yes, two and a half decades after the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, after war, partition and destruction, the country is once again offering attractive opportunities to foreigners. Only about 600,000 officially registered guests came last year. Many of them only because of the pilgrimage site of Medjugorje south of Mostar, which mainly attracts pilgrims from the USA and Western Europe. A network of wine roads has been laid out around Mostar, the capital of Croatian-majority Herzegovina, since the area was known primarily for its white wines in the old Yugoslavia. Several new ethno-villages (time tavellers slogan: "life as it was then") also vie for visitors.
Breathtaking scenery
Of course, the accommodations are not world-class, but the warmth of the landlords and the breathtaking scenery easily make up for that. Above all, the wild mountain scenery is impressive, some of which was only opened up by modern roads 40 years ago. Gas stations can be found in every small village, and just like Germany in the past, there are small stores and guesthouses everywhere. Who had to justify at home that he makes vacation in Bosnia-Herzegovina, will say late now: But correctly decided.
Of course, it is not crazy to visit a country rich in history and scenery. That a war raged in Bosnia for years, in which horrible crimes were committed, is no secret. But the war has been over since 1995. In fact, today the country is divided into the Serbian "Republika Srpska" and the Bosnian-Croat Federation.
Traces of the war
At least the same currency is used in both parts of the country: the convertible mark. The traces of the war can still be found in the cemeteries. In the villages in the interior of the country, the numerous brand-new mosques catch the eye. In Banja Luka, on the other hand, the country's second largest city and the center of the "Republika Srpska," all 16 mosques were destroyed between 1992 and 1995. Here, too, the Cyrillic letters have quite suddenly replaced the Latin letters. Good for those who used to have Russian in school.
Travel information about Bosnia and Herzegovina: www.bhtourism.ba
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