Mostar [15-06-08]

*i'm currently sitting outside my room suntanning myself while writing this entry in my travel logbook*

After a sumptuous breakfast, the few of us set off to visit a famous monastery nearby. The monastery was constructed by a cave where springwater flows out from underground. The site belongs to a 'mystical' branch of Islam where (according to Mustafa) they often think about the meaning of life. And that's the reason why they chose to build the monastery by the spring because the spring represents the beginning of life of the river. It's the first time i heard of a Islamic monastery. I mean the images that we often conjured up in our minds with the term 'monastery' are often of Christian connotations. An Islamic monastery is indeed an eye-opener for me.

The monastery by the cave

Its so cool to sit by the river and chill. But i guess you would have to take off your shoes first. The tables and chairs are half-submerged in the spring water.
One of the prayer room
THis is the ceiling of the toilet... what great ambience
This chart shows the different kind of tombstone designs for different people. I kind of forgot whether its by rank or by ancestry.
For the ladies, a shawl is required to enter the monastery.
Two tombs inside the monastery. it's really weird to see tombs in a praying place for according to Mustafa, they don't normally put tombs in mosques. So i presume they must be of some special status.
Not only is it of historical interest, the site is of geographical interest too.
Drank the springwater and gosh it was so sweet and refreshing. Although i was pretty dubious of the birds flying around (what if i get bird flu from the droppings shed in the water), i gave it a try anyway and didn't regret thereafter.
Then we had elderflower juice which was a tad too sweet for my pleasure. One more thing... i find it really amusing that guides love to tickle me from behind. Both Maardy (in the last tour) and Mustafa did the same thing. Gosh, it seems like i have this sign painted on my back "Please tickle me" or something like that.

After that we went to visit a 16th century house. Have to apologise that the photos for this segment is from the interior of the house to the exterior of the house.

Jeremy seemed to be in a Marianas Trench of a thought
Exquisite designs on the wooden panel

I actually have the thought of designing my house to be like that next time... Wishful thinking on my part

And did i mention it is a UNESCO site?
The path leading up to the house

Next, we went to the mosque to climb up the minevat to catch a glimpse of the town from above. The passage up to the minevat was really narrow but the view was great. I was a bit apprehensive when i was up there for the 'loud-hailer' was just right beside me. I mean can you imagine during the prayer time when the 'loud-hailer' starts to play... i will be deaf lohz.
A view of the old bridge --> it seems like photos of the bridge kept coming up.. hahaha

Finally someone familiar in the photo
The interior of the mosque. Unlike churches where there usually are lots of iconic figures of saints and angels, a mosque is usually just patterns. From Mustafa, Islamic mosques do not have 'human' kind of drawings for that's tantamount to idolatry.
We had ice-cream and it was so so good. Next was lunch where i had this meal called "pola pola" (Half-half) with a mixed salad. I really had to say the cuisine over here is really meatish. And i spent the whole afternoon sunbathing at the balcony with Sallie.

Three of us (Jeremy, Sallie and I) hiked up a hill through the Serbian Orthodox Christian cemetery. I was actually pretty afraid, not that I was in flip-flops, but that i was afraid of landmines. But thankfully we did not step on any and i do have to admit (on hindsight) that it was a reckless thing to do. But hey... what's an adventure without a risk..=P Sallie had an encounter with a snake on the way down.

Interesting geographical features... looks like sedimentary rock

Going down... gosh...i really ought to have worn my hiking boots

Just a random pic along the way... the Diver's club. Remember that topless hunk in the previous post?
THere were lots of this "don't forget" sign in the town... a remembrance of the war
Dinnertime! We had dinner at a local restaurant and i had this local stew called Muscaask (i hope i didn't misspell it). It was so nice considering i was getting pretty sick of meat. Had a nice conversation with Mustafa and Jeremy over politics and history of Bosnia and Hercegovina.
This might sound out of point. But it was a totally awesome experience to hear the 'wailing' of the mosques throughout the whole day.