This port was my most adventurous yet because I added two countries to my itinerary…Montenegro and Bosnia/Herzegovina (former Yugoslavia). While students are not allowed to leave the country once we port, staff and faculty are. Since I had no solid plans in Dubrovnik, I just spent a little time there and spent the rest of the time checking out a couple neighboring countries.
A group of 8 of us spent the first day on a peninsula about 45 minutes from the port called Cavtat. We first checked out the old town Dubrovnik area, grabbed lunch at a pizzeria, and then after walking for 3 miles in terrential downpore and wind, jumped on city bus # 10 and took it until we reached our destination-a cute little town surrounded by a marina. We walked around the town in search for a 3-part puzzle-style Geocache. By the time we found the geocache it was dark and we were tired so we got on a bus and headed back to Dubrovnik. 
On day 2, Josh and I hopped a bus, crossed the Croatian border into Herceg Novi, Montenegro, and went searching for a geocache. When we got to the bus station, we grabbed a quick lunch at a little cafe next door and then hopped onto a city bus and headed toward a small town called Kotor. We began our journey by climbing a mountain for over an hour. When we found the geocache it was planted next to a tree, in front of an old church, on the top the mountain. The mountain happened to be right next to the bus station so we didn’t have to use any city transportation to get from the station to the location of the Geocache. Success! The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular.
Next is where the real adventure began! After going back and forth on my decision to take a visit to Bosnia or not, I decided to give it a go. I hadn’t done any completely independent traveling on the voyage so far and I wanted to branch out and go for it at this port. So the next day I packed a light overnight bag and walked to the bus station for my 2 hour 45 minute bus to Mostar, Bosnia. I had no plans, just print-outs from the internet about the town that I was planning on visiting-Mostar. But before writing all about the town I visited, let me back up a little first... I arrived about 30 minutes early for the bus because I didn’t want to miss it and about 20 minutes later, a group of familiar faces showed up. It was Professor Taylor (Tom) and his family and Professor Preece (Stephen) and his family who were also heading to Bosnia on the same bus. Unlike me, Tom’s wife (Laurie) had emailed someone regarding accommodations in Mostar for the night. It is very typical in this area of the Baltics to stay in people’s homes-usually the way it works is little old widowed ladies wait around the bus station day to day hoping to pick up backpackers and travelers to offer them a room or apartment in their house for the night. This is the only way these women make an income and from the reviews I found online it seemed like a rather safe and economical way to do it. I was planning to go that route and figure out the details once I arrived whereas Laurie had already began the planning for their group of 7.
As we stood there in the Dubrovnik bus station waiting for our bus to arrive, a little old man approached the group-he was connected to the woman that Laurie had emailed in Mostar (although she never got any response or confirmation) and he was meeting them to solidify their stay with his friend in Mostar. As they stood there and talked about what they wanted to do, the families then invited me along and included me in on their travel plans. While the excitement of my independent traveling adventure was now gone, my heart rate dropped immensely knowing that I had a group of travel companions. Laurie also just so happens to be a Gamma Phi Beta from Washington State so we already had a bond as sorority sisters, which came in very handy at a time like this. I was officially adopted into their travel group. They even had an extra sandwich and included me in on their dinner on the bus on the way there.
When we arrived in Mostar, it was dark and very cold. To our surprise, we were greeted with a little transport van that took us to this woman’s house. We were of course slightly apprehensive because we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into but we took a closer look at the accommodations and gave it a go. The woman was very nice and seemed happy to have the business during this cold off season. She gave us the rooms (two small private apartments-one with 2 beds and one with 3 beds) for 15 Euros per person and it included hot breakfast and coffee or hot chocolate in the morning-it was a steal!
After putting our overnight bags in the rooms, we went out to check out the town-more of like a sneak preview for the next day when it was actually light out. It was absolutely FREEZING so we were all bundled up. We finally came across a small pizza café that we stopped in for some hot tea and to thaw out. A few people got pizza and I got a jam filled crepe-yum! After our little snack, we headed back and went to bed. 
Our next day started at 7:00am with a wake up knock from our little old lady friend and a snow fall!! It was so freezing that is snowed over night and into the morning. It was almost too picture perfect. It actually smelled like Christmas was in the air! The woman brought us trays with our breakfast consisting of delicious fresh bread, cheese, and scrambled eggs which made a mean sandwich and great start to the day!
So by 8:30am we were off to check out the town which was just filled with history. Mostar was the center of a very historical war in 1993 and much of it was destroyed. The aftermath of the horrific attack was still very visible. There were bullet holes on the sides of buildings and many of the buildings that were bombed and gutted were still standing there as shells. There were also tons of graveyards with all of the tombs bearing the year 1993-very sad.
Mostar is known for the bridge in the photos above. This one, however, is not the original, but it is an exact replica beause the original was completely demolished from the war. This one was just rebuilt in 2005. This entire area of the town was just gorgeous. It was filled with cobblestone roads and little shops. The water that flowed under the bridge was a beautiful aqua green color.
Our favorite little cafe that we went to twice in the two days that we were in Mostar. 
Here I am at another little cafe warming up with the kids (all but 1).
We were so close to Sarajevo but unfortunately we didn't have enough time to go there. That will have to be a future trip!
I took it easy on my last day at this port. I slept in until lunch time and then went back to oldtown Dubrovnik with Eric and Jessice. Eric spent the afternoon in an internet cafe and Jessica and I walked on the wall of the Walled city, which is the famous sight of this city. The weather finally cleared up and I ended up having to take off a layer of clothes because I was getting pretty hot under my winter coat. We walked and walked all afternoon and took some really beautiful photos of the walled city and surrounding landscape. After grabbing some delicious gelato, we headed down to a little restaurant that was built in the rocks on the side of a mountain overlooking the ocean and watched the sunset with 20 or so of other staff and faculty. The sunset was really beautiful and we all agreed that it was the perfect ending to another great port!
Only one more port to go...Spain here we come!
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