TUZLA BACKGROUNDER
I do not know a lot as well about Bosnia & Herzegovina, which makes the country kind of interesting and exotic to me even if it’s in Europe and just a 2-hour flight, except of course for the genocide that happened during the Balkan Wars in the 1990’s. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia is located in The Hague, Netherlands and during the trial, we get a lot of updates from the media. Slobodan Milosevic, former president of Serbia was a popular mainstay on the 8 o’clock news. Every time they show a fragment of him on the court, he has this very disinterested whatever-may-care look on his pudgy flushed face. The more recent Balkan War happened between 1991 and 1999 which was during the time that I graduated from university and started working in Manila, Philippines. I was starting my life as an adult while across the continent a war was going on in Eastern Europe.
After the Holocaust during World War II, many people in Europe said – This shall not happen again. Well sadly, it did happen again in Europe. 50 years later after the iron curtain fell down and Yugoslavia disintegrated.
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BALKAN WAR
Yugoslavia was a socialist federation of kingdoms from different ethnic groups that was united under Tito after the World War I. There has been tensions between the ethnic groups but they were suppressed under Tito’s regime. When he died in 1980 tensions rose, and years later after the iron curtain fell, it didn’t take long before each ethnic group declares its independence. War broke out in the already very volatile and hostile region and the European countries just watched. The UN didn’t have a backbone and the rest of the European military countries (including the Netherlands who did peacekeeping there) were too coward to step forward afraid of casualties.
I have only really understood the gravity of what happened in the Balkans when I retraced history by reading about the war on the internet and the ethnic cleansing that ensued, which happened mostly on Bosnian soil.
Many have said – No Serbs, No War. The Serbs (Serbia) under Milosevic was seen as the dominant party with a large military ammunition. It was the Serbian army who carried out the genocide in Bosnia, although the other ethnic groups, the Croats and Bosnians were also guilty. However, it looks like many people there do not really want to talk about the war openly. Maybe the wounds are still fresh, even after 20 years?
It must have been so strange to go to war with your neighbours? They were under 1 country before. And now after the war, they have to live together again, well side by side, as if nothing happened. People have moved on, while I am sure many are still trying to.
Location of Tuzla:
Tuzla is located in the north, near the border with Croatia and Serbia.
Like many cities in Bosnia, Tuzla was not spared from bloodshed during the Bosnian War. The city was hit by 2 massacres which killed many people, mostly civilians. The 1995 massacre that happened at a busy pedestrian intersection (Kapija) in the old town killed more than 70 civilians and injured 240. Sadly, most of the victims were young people.
This is Kapija, the pedestrian junction in the old town of Tuzla. During the Bosnian War, a shrapnell shell was fired and was detonated on this place killing 71 people and wounded 240. The massacre is remembered by the a stone memorial on the building (green) in the middle of the junction.
I understand as well that all this war history talk is not painting a cool image of Tuzla, but we all know that it is difficult to not discuss the past because the painful shreds of war are still very evident when you visit the city. Tuzla, however, is coming out of the war rubble, that for sure.
Of course, I want to see some nice things of Tuzla as well, and not just reminisce a poignant part of its history. I am after all a tourist, a traveller who wants to experience a city, not just about its past, but what it is now and what it will be in the future.
TUZLA IMPRESSIONS
Tuzla’s Stari Grad (old town) is pedestrianised and is quite small. Within half an hour of walking around, one would have seen everything. That is how small the old town is. But it is a lively and colourful old city centre filled with many shops and lots of cafes. Some of the buildings are still left in ruins while others have been repaired and brought back to their previous glory.
Public fountain at the Trg Zrtava Genocida u Srebrenici and cafe terraces facing Trg Slobode, the main square in Tuzla old town.
The main square, Trg Slobode is quite huge. There are many outdoor terraces here and on some days they have markets. I noticed that there is a shortage of proper restaurants in Tuzla, however, the café (outdoor terraces) and casual eating scene are huge. Most of the eating places we saw are cafés offering quick food dishes such as pizza, cevapi, sandwiches, salads and desserts. The fine dining restaurant I was eyeing at, which was located outside Stari Grad, was closed.
I can understand that in Tuzla people prefer to go out to drink and maybe eat casually. The city is still developing. Having some drinks at a café is of course much cheaper than dining in a restaurant, that is why I guess there is an absence of proper sit-down restaurants in Tuzla. Well, that’s just my hunch really.
The best restaurant so far is Restoran Carsijska Cesma located on the main square across the city mosque. We had dinner here and ordered Dagarica and Muckalica, meat stews from the region.
At one of the shops near the square, we managed to buy shawls for 3,00 KM each (which is equivalent to 1,50 Euro!). Compared to Croatia, shops, cafes and restaurants do not quickly accept the Euro here, however, there are a few who do. So it pays to ask since we have Euros with us. I have however noticed that if you pay in Euro, people tend to give you a bad conversion, and they also round it off to their advantage of course. So maybe it’s best to pay in Bosnia KM.
Furthermore, there are 2 modern shopping malls nearby, the other one if large and highly recommended by the locals. The city has 2 universities. The main industry here are salt production, coal mining and various industrial manufacturing.
I see the potential of Tuzla, at least for tourism. She just needs time, and of course some willing investors.
TUZLA PICTURE GALLERY
Moi with Tuzla's fmaous writers, Meša Selimović and Ismet Mujezinović. Not sure who is which statue here though.
Not all the buildings in Tuzla old town have been repaired.
This is at the main square of Tuzla where the 2 public fountains are located. This is a nice area with many outdoor cafe terraces. On some days, such as during our visit, they hold outdoor markets.
Having some drinks at one of the outdoor cafes on Trg Slobode, the main square of Tuzla and seeing for the first time the Bosnian Marks currency (abbreviated to KM). The conversion at that time was 1 Euro is 2KM.
This picture was taken on the day we arrived in Tuzla.
Tuzla Old Town scenes - Lots of outdoor cafe terraces, the water pipe is also popular here, as well as the snacks called Burek and steamed mais.
Tuzla Old Town scenes and the 3KM (1,50 Euro) scarf I bought there =)
Many buildings that are not yet repaired in the old town are covered in graffiti such as this one.
This building is a hardware and home furnishings store, which reminds me of general merchandise types of stores in Asia.
Gradski Park in Tuzla, and across this park are the Pannonica artificial lakes.
Travel Period: April 2017
Destination: Tuzla (Tuzla), Bosnia & Herzegovina
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Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
All pictures were taken by a point and shoot pocket camera or a smartphone.