My trip to the Balkans has been amazing, and I haven't run into any actual problems... until I tried to cross the border.
This is the story of my experience when on a bus heading from Banja Luka to Beograd.
I am going to spend a while in a section of Bosnia that I am very comfortable with, and where I am pretty sure that I will not end up stranded or arrested.
On the plus side, when I was on the bus near the border, I went past a field of flowers!
May all of our journeys be blessed by bus driving angels!
Omg I am glad you are safe and didn't get punished. It is kinda sad you didn't make it to Serbia after all but the most important thing here is that you didn't get punished and you didn't get to live under the bridge lol.
Listening to your story reminds me all of those experiences I had crossing borders. It can be stressful I know the feeling so well. Sometimes you don't know what you're gonna get. But we look back and see, it is all just part of the adventure.
I am jealous that you still get to travel during this global pandemic. You are so brave and so open to new experiences - even willing to stay under the bridge haha. It reminds me of myself when I was still traveling.
Ps. I am so happy to hear that you are experiencing the goodness and kindness of strangers. I need to be reminded of this, thank you for sharing!
Stay safe!!!
Thanks @diabolika!
I'm sure with the amount of traveling you've done, you have been in situations like this a few times.
This trip is giving me my first experiences with crossing borders.
I can't say that I like the border crossing process very much! :D
Sometimes I forget about Covid, depending on the town. In the south of Bosnia, nobody wears masks, and it they don't think about it.
In the north, there are mask laws, but nobody follows them, and the police don't enforce them.
In these places, I am only reminded of Covid when I go into a big, indoor shopping center.
I just got back to Sarajevo though, and here, you have to wear a mask even when you're outside, and even when you're in your car! It's crazy.
One big problem I've had here, that I know would affect you too is barking dogs. I've stayed in several places that were nice, and in good locations, but they were surrounded with barking dogs!
As I am returning to cities, I refuse to stay in the dog barking places.
So far, Sarajevo and Neum were the only cities that are not plagued by barking idiot dogs...
It must be nice to forget about Covid for a while and stay in little towns. As long as there are no barking dogs!
Maybe you can just live there, maybe continue Tarot and also post on Hive. Because it sounds like you really like it there.
I am so sorry you didn't make it to Serbia! I can only imagine how stressful this experience must have been and I'm glad that you came across that nice bus driver to help you out. One time when I was traveling, a bus driver helped me and pretty much saved my ass even though it wasn't a boarder problem, some drivers/boarder guards can be really nice but some are definitely not!
I hope you'll have an amazing time in Bosnia still, after all that stress and I hope you'll give Serbia another chance some day. :D
I am still going to Serbia, but it might not be on this trip.
I want to move to this area, and I've heard that it is easier for me to get a visa to stay in Serbia than it is to do the same in Bosnia.
Also, I've heard so much about Beograd, that I have to go there!