Sights in Mostar - Croatia and Slovenia - page 685

Stolac Route: AsyouenterTrebinje,aftercrossingtheriver,followsignsfor Mostar and
Ljubinje . Follow the Trebišnjica River into a high-altitude karstic basin, where evocative
oldwaterwheels poweraprimitive irrigationsystem.Fromhere,theriverflowsdowntothe
coast—providing hydroelectric power for Dubrovnik—before detouring south and empty-
ing into the sea near Herceg Novi, Montenegro...one river, three countries, in just a few
miles. This area is blanketed with vineyards and dotted with old monasteries. Passing the
village of Mesari (“Butchers”), you'll also see flocks of sheep. In this part of the Balkans,
Croats were traditionally the city-dwellers, while Serbs were the farmers. There used to be
sheep like these in the pastures near Dubrovnik, but when the Serbs left during the war, so
did the sheep.
Pull over at one of the humble, slate-roofed Orthodox chapels by the road. (There's one
in Staro Slano.) In the cemeteries, many of the gravestones are from 1991—when soldiers
from this area joined the war effort against Dubrovnik.
The large, flat, sunken field you're driving along is called Popovo Polje (“Priests'
Field”). Because it floods easily, the canal was built to remove floodwater. Watch for the
turnoff to Vjetrenica (near Zavala), a karstic cave that was a big draw in Yugoslav times.
Closed down during the war, it recently re-opened. It's less spectacular than the famous
caves in Slovenia, but has interesting water features that may be worth touring for spe-
lunkers with time to kill ( www.vjetrenica.ba ) .
At the fork, carry on straight to Ljubinje. Climbing up into the mountains, you'll see
garbage along the side of the road—an improvised dump in this very poor land, where a
fractured government struggles to provide even basic services. Twisting up through even
higher mountains, you'll wind up in the town of Ljubinje ( љyбињe ). In this humble burg,
roadsidestandswith med signsadvertisehomegrownhoney.Alsokeepaneyeoutfordrying
tobacco. The partially built houses are not signs of war damage (the war didn't reach here);
they're a form of “savings” in the Balkans, where people don't trust banks: Rather than de-
posit money in an account, they spend many years using any extra funds to gradually add
on to a new house.
ContinuingtowardMostar,you'llpassthroughmoredesolatecountryside,thenyourears
will pop (and you'll pass a red, white, and blue sign marking the “border” of Republika
Srpska) as you drop down into the town of Stolac ( CΤOΛaц ); the town's defiant mosque
minarettellsyouthatyou'vecrossedfromSerbterritoryintoBosnia'sMuslim-CroatFeder-
ation. Stolac is home to some fascinating history, and worth a stroll if you have the time
(see here ) . Leaving Stolac, keep an eye out (on the left, just before the Poprati sign) for its
interesting necropolis —a cluster of centuries-old traditional Bosnian tombstones (worth a
quick photo-op stop, and described on here ) .
Past Stolac, you'll climb up the hill, going through the village of Poprati. Soon you'll
have the option of either turning off to the right to head directly to Mostar, or continuing