Life in Bosnia: Bihac and Surroundings

Life in Bosnia: Bihac and Surroundings

This article was submitted by ISA BELLE, a Dutch student studying in Mostar, Herzegovina. 

Bihac is a town of approximately 50,000 inhabitants in the north-west of Bosnia, cut in twice by the Una River and close to the border with Croatia. A few people that I talked to made me really excited prior to my trip. They told me that it was a beautiful town with astonishing nature, and they mentioned Una a lot.

So I was indeed full of excitement when I got on the bus from Mostar to Bihac. Taking the bus is the best way to move from point A to B in Bosnia though train is slightly cheaper because the train network is not highly developed. Still it takes a long seven-hour ride to get to Bihac from Mostar. It is a good thing that Bosnia is such a beautiful country, thus you can easily entertain yourself by just peering out of the bus window.

Arriving in Bihac was like traveling two months back in time. While spring had already arrived in Mostar, winter was still ruling in Bihac. The cold wind was blowing but couldn’t discourage my friends and me. We checked in at our hotel and decided to explore the town. After hearing all those positive things about Bihac, I was a little disappointed at first with the town. There was only one small though modern centre, and there was not that much to do. However, the Fethija mosque in the centre was very beautiful and opened for visitors. You need take off your shoes and behave respectfully once inside. Another attraction worth seeing is the old tower Bihacka Kula. You can not miss it as it stands next to the beautiful Una. The river, the mosque and the tower are mainly what the town Bihac is known for, but the surroundings promises to offer a lot more.

That was why we headed south along the Una to Martin Brod, a remote village with waterfalls. We never reached Martin Brod though because we stayed in Kulen Vakuf, a very small town just a bit to the north. Driving to Kulen Vakuf from Bihac, we pass through amazing landscape, dotted with little villages dominated by mosques. What kept us in Kulen Vakuf was a ruined fort on a hill, looking over the city and nearby areas. We decided to climb the fort. The route was well-directed by wooden signs indicating where to go. The higher and higher to the top of the hill you climb, the more your breath is taken away by immense beauty. You can look at all directions and behold different types of landscapes. When you reach the top where the fort is, you should just sit down and look around a bit. I guarantee that you will feel free of all the sorrows you have in your life and that you won’t come down in the next hour because you want to enjoy the privilege of being the lone spectator looking at one of the most brilliant landscapes you have ever seen.

The next day we traveled to Cazin, a Bosniak village situated on the hill, looking over the Una, to the north. The main highlight of Cazin was the Ostrožac castle, part of the small village of Ostrožac. The castle was built in the 1500s by the Ottomans, and an addition was made later by a member of the Habsburg family. The interior of the castle was destroyed, but we went in and you should too definitely. You have a wonderful view over the surroundings and can imagine how it was in earlier times. In the gardens, you find very interesting sculptures, go up the walls surrounding the gardens and from there you have brilliant views over the amazing natural beauties Bosnia has to offer.

We returned to Mostar the day after, exhausted but satisfied with our trip to Bihac. The city itself might not be that interesting, but the surrounding nature is truly wonderful, especially in the summer as you can raft on the Una. If you have the chance to travel to this part of our lovely planet, grab it!

How to get from Mostar to Bihac

Bus: There is a bus every morning at 9:00 am from the main bus and railway station. It takes 6 -7 hours to get there. If you buy a retour ticket, don’t forget to stamp it when you go back; this costs 1KM.
Accommodations: Villa Una is a good and cheap hotel near the town center. The owners are very friendly.