So, we packed in to this huge old school van. And seriously it was hilarious... when we stopped for gas, the two guys who came with us who work at the hostel had to get out and push the van to get it to start. It felt like the scene straight out of 'Little Miss Sunshine!' It was rediculous. Needless to say I thought our driver was going to kill us.. these people in Bosnia really like to drive fast. Anyway, we made it to the site in one piece and were served brunch since it was like 11 something. Then we geared up in our wet-suits and water shoes and back in the van we went! We drove about 45 min away to our destination of rafting on the Neretva River, and met the man who was to be our guide... the few words to describe him.. mean & sexist. Apparently he we found out later that he had had a little to much Raqija (which is the local brand of liquor here that everyone drinks) and was a huuuggggeeeee jerk. He apparently felt the need to scream at us when we (and even the two guys from the hostel) weren't doing something correctly. He also felt the need to have the mindset that women are incapable of knowing how to row a boat. Well, FYI, telling 6 women from America who are the liberal, somewhat hippie's (hush Frank), and feminist types, that they are inferior to men at rowing a boat does NOT go over well... at one point he actually stopped the boat and made two of us get out because he wanted 2 more men in the boat... yeah, but excuse my french, he was an asshole. So, Bree and I decided to make life easy on everyone and we hopped out.. which was the best move because our new guide actually spoke English and so did the other two guys in the boat.
I think my absolute favorite part of the trip was when we came up to this one area that was alongside the river that had a ledge about 5 to 6 feet hanging over the river. Since my last trip to Mostar, I had wanted to cliff jump at the waterfalls, but because it had just rained I couldn't.. so here was my chance! I was sooo excited and nervous as all hell! It was hilarious because the second I turned around from Bree and headed up to climb the rocks my adrenaline kicked in and my whole bottom half of my body was shaking! It was so great! When I hit the water a huge rush of cold just hit me! (the water was freezing!.. not long before we hit this point their was a waterfall that flows into the river and that water is only 9 degrees! So it gives you a little perspective, but don't worry it was not that cold!) But the greatest thing about it was when I poked my head up out of the water and saw the rest of the IDP girls had jumped right behind me! I cheered on Bree to jump and in she went! It was such a great moment. We finished our rafting trip on the Neretva and ended up back where we ate Brunch. It was so cool, the staff their cooked us traditional Bosnian meals (which were delicious!) and it was just great!
Needless to say we were all pooped! We headed back to Mostar and just hung around the girls apartment. We called it a night pretty early and slept in on Sunday, which was nice not to have to rush. We got to see even more of Mostar the following day, because Bree and I just decided to take the 3pm bus back to Sarajevo.. which we felt like we were chancing it, but we didn't care. We ended up getting back to Tuzla at 9pm.. it was a really long trip, but it was totally worth it! It makes me want to see what water rafting in Denver is like!! Who knows, this could be my new thing! haha but seriously, it could! : D
So the first picture is the entire group that was in our rickity old bus! The second is a picture of the group on the boat *(please note the guide in the yellow backpack with the cig in his mouth..)* The third, is a picture of Autumn and I in our wet suits! The fourth, is a pic of Abbie and I when all of the groups stopped an hour in to the trip to lounge around on the 'beach.' The last is a pic of the meat that the people cooked for our traditional Bosnian meals!
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