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South to Gjirokastër

On my last full day in Albania, before taking a flight that left at 6:55 am, I took a day trip from Tirana to Gjirokastër, a cool three hours away by car. Who needs rest, anyway? That’s not what my vacation days are for.

We started by driving west toward Durrës. Incidentally, if I hadn’t been there in March, I would have likely tried for a day trip there to go to the beach, since the Albanian Riviera is one of the next big destinations of Europe and looks spectacular. But, more importantly, a highlight of that drive is getting to pass the Amadeus Palace. This article is going to say it more eloquently than I can, but basically Albania got excited about tourism in 2011, whipped up some foreign investment, and built an insanely fancy hotel in the very outskirts of Tirana that never actually opened. It was a series of bizarre decisions and, if you’ve read this blog for any period of time, you will understand that I was beyond thrilled that we drove past it and I got to see it.

To find that linked article, by the way, I fully Googled “weird giant Albania hotel” and that was the first result, which is exactly what I was hoping for.

From there, we visited the Ardenica Monastery, which was a nice stop on the way to Gjirokastër. It was beautiful, with a good views of the landscape, which had vibes that were more similar to Tuscany than the mountainous ones I’d seen the two days prior. We got a quick coffee and hit the road again, continuing south.

We started out by walking around Old Town and grabbing lunch at a place that had a nice view over the city. Similar to Berat, Gjirokastër has distinct architecture and the overall effect of all the buildings is quite striking. Also like Berat, it is a UNESCO site.

From there, we headed up to the castle! It was a much more extensive grounds and museum than I expected. There was a whole section where you could see the jail cells, and ancient art, and all kinds of weaponry from all different eras in Albanian history. Some of it might have taken more if I had known more about Albanian history to begin with, but it was still interesting to learn as much as I could as we went through the exhibits.

Also, there were great views from the top! After that, we headed to one more museum, which was more of a historical house that was maintained with how the wealthy would have lived in Albania before the communist era, in a more traditional way. That was super cool, although they limited what we could take photos of so I don’t have much from there. With our last bit of time in Gjirokastër, I got ice cream with a few of the other people on my tour and watched the sun set over the city.

This particular day trip might not be for everyone, because it is a long day, and a lot of time in the car. Ideally, if your timeframe in Albania allows, it would be nicer to spend at least a night or two in Gjirokastër, because I’m sure there’s more to see in southern Albania. That said, I felt like between this, Berat, and my hiking trip, I got to see a lot of Albania in a fairly short amount of time! I thought all three day trips were excellent and would recommend this same set if someone was going for a similar number of days as I did.

I had a great time in Albania, but it was time to head back home! Overall, between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yemen, and Albania, it was a really great set of countries that I got to explore on this particular trip.

Albania Europe

Exploring Albania

For the rest of my time in Albania, I based myself in Tirana and took a series of day trips outside of the city. Part of this is just based on how much time I had, and part of it comes down to the time of year – if it hadn’t been March, I might have tried to go north and do more hiking, but it wasn’t a guarantee that the weather would be good enough for that, so I stuck more to the cultural sites. I did do a shorter hike on one of the days though!

Day 1: Berat

Of the day trip options, this is probably one of the most common – it’s a UNESCO site and it’s not too far from Tirana, at only about an hour and a half drive away. We started with a short stop for coffee at Belshi Lake, and then headed to Berat!

One thing to know about the driving in Albania – it was wild. Some of the most aggressive and crazy driving I’ve ever seen. One of my guides for the day trips was telling me that essentially, no one ever formally learned to drive. Cars were not as common during the communist era, and then suddenly, when everyone could afford one, they all took to the streets and taught themselves, so it can be fairly chaotic on the roads there.

We spent the morning exploring the castle and the surrounding area, including a beautiful old church and the fortress walls. One of the best parts of visiting the castle is how high up on the hill it is, and there were some really amazing views of the area around Berat!

Once we had finished at the castle, we headed down into the town of Berat! We had some free time to explore and get lunch. I found a place that overlooked the historic old town and ordered myself some pasta and a glass of wine, which was so good.

Berat is known as the Town of a Thousand Windows due to its unique architecture. If I’d had more time or wasn’t flying of Tirana a few days later, and was doing more of a itinerary that goes through the Balkans in this case, I would have loved to spend a night or more time in Berat. It had really nice vibes. But, as always, time is precious and the world is vast, so I got back in the car and my tour dropped me back off in Tirana for the night!

Day 2: Hiking

Again, this one felt a bit risky because I was worried it could be too cold in March (which, based on my experience in Serbia, was a valid worry) but I also didn’t want to go to Albania without at least trying for a hike! And as it happened, I got incredibly lucky with the weather, which was perfect for the entire time I was there. So I got picked up in the morning and we headed to Lake Bovilla for a hike up Gamti Mountain.

I had seen the photos, but I still couldn’t be prepared for spectacularly turquoise Lake Bovilla is. The drive there was pretty as well, as we started in the countryside and ended up winding through a canyon as we got closer and closer to the lake.

The hike itself was fairly short. The most stressful part was coming down the relatively steep hill at the beginning – otherwise, the majority was a series of stairs. If you have a fear of heights, you might struggle on these, as they are that metal kind that can look a bit rickety. A few of the other tourists there definitely were a little freaked out as they started making their way back down. The viewpoint was really pretty, though, and then I got lunch and a beer at the nearby restaurant.

All in all, it was a great day! It was great to get out into nature and see a little more of what Albania is known for.

My third day trip was all the way south to Gjirokastër, which I think deserves its own post – not least because it was a 3 hour drive each way. Stay tuned for that one!

Albania Europe

The Museums of Tirana

Before I started planning for this trip, I’ll admit I didn’t know that much about Albania. I would have guessed that it was part of Yugoslavia, which it was not, and the only thing I did know was that it is the homeland of Mother Theresa (although interestingly, not her birthplace, which was Skopje, North Macedonia). As it turns out, Albania actually has a very interesting and unique history!

It was once part of the Ottoman empire, but declared independence in 1912. During WW1 and WW2, the primary focus was on maintaining their independence, which was made more difficult by Italian and then German occupation. In 1944, Albania managed to free themselves from German occupation under Enver Hoxha, ushering in the next chapter of history in Albania: communism.

Hoxha led Albania from 1944 to 1985, leading an intensely authoritarian and isolationist regime. Albania toyed with the idea of allying themselves with Yugoslavia, the USSR, and China at various points in its history, but none of those lasted, as Albania tended to view the relationships as a threat to Albanian independence. Hoxha consistently told Albanians how every other country was out to get them, and wanted to invade them, and used that messaging to keep their citizens isolated and afraid. Albania built over 750,000 bunkers from the 1960s through the 1980s, which means there are still 14.7 bunkers per square mile in Albania.

Between Hoxha’s death in 1985 and the fall of communism across Europe in 1989, including but not limited to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Albania transitioned toward democracy in the early 90s. It was pretty rocky, though, as they weren’t financially stable, and it led to a brief civil war in the late 90s before they were able to stabilize. They’re now a NATO member and they have official candidate status with the EU.

An isolated culture and the lasting impacts of a dictatorship are both things that definitely check the boxes for me as a traveler, so I was really looking forward to the museums of Tirana to get a better perspective on Albania! Which is good, because I was there in March, when it would be a little too cold the main tourist activities of hiking and going to the beach.

I flew from Aden to Cairo to Athens to Tirana, in a flight path that my friends called “totally unprecedented” and “very weird.” I based myself in Tirana for about a week and did a few day trips outside of the city as well to explore more of Albania.

Tirana has an interesting vibe. There’s a lot of modern architecture and street art, which makes it fun to walk around and explore. It’s not a huge city. It was pretty easy to walk from my hotel to all of the major tourist sites and museums.

My first stop was the Pyramid of Tirana! I love a weird landmark, obviously. This one was opened up as a monument to and museum for Enver Hoxha in 1988, and was the most expensive individual structure ever built in Albania at the time. When communism collapsed very shortly thereafter, it stopped being a museum and has been kind of a multi-functional community center every since, with a lot of iterations of what people use it for. They’ve even talked about demolishing it. But for now, it exists, and you can climb to the top of it for some pretty decent views of Tirana.

I also went to the House of Leaves, which I couldn’t take pictures in, but this one was about the surveillance systems that the Albanian government used on its citizens for decades. The secret police were very busy monitoring and arresting and torturing Albanians for all sorts of crimes, real and imagined. This, in conjunction with Bunk Art 2, gave me a very good overview of the communist era.

Bunk Art 2 is a museum located in a bunker in the middle of Tirana! There is also a Bunk Art 1, but that’s located a bit outside of the city and I had other priorities for my day trips outside of Tirana, so I missed that one. It was really interesting, and went more into the interrogations and torture that were done by the secret police, as well as the overall impact of the communist era.

Overall, I liked Tirana a lot, and it made for a great base as I explored the rest of Albania. I went to Berat, Lake Bovilla, and Gjirokaster from Tirana, the last of which was a very long day, but I think it gave me a good sense of Albania and what it offers. Tourism is definitely starting to take off in Albania, especially along the coast – from what I’m seeing in tourism trends, it is on its way to becoming the next Croatia in coastal beach tourism during the summers, but I felt as though I was still seeing some of its cultural sites in a more nascent stage of tourism. More on the day trips out of the city in my next post, but I definitely enjoyed Albania and would recommend it for any itinerary in the Balkans!

Asia Yemen

Ending in Aden

The initial itinerary for this trip ended with two days in Socotra. Socotra is certainly the most popular place in Yemen for travelers – it’s an island that’s quite far from the mainland, so it doesn’t have the same instability as the mainland, and it has a lot of beautiful nature and unique plants. But as we got closer to the trip, it became possible to go to Aden for tourism, and so the itinerary shifted so we could take advantage of that opportunity!

Aden is located on and in a caldera, so whenever we could get to high ground, we ended up with spectacular views of the city! Climbing up to the high ground in the abaya was not as fun, but so it goes.

It felt as though Aden was a much more relaxed city than some of the ones we had visited in the east. Women were walking around in just hijabs instead of niqabs, so we didn’t have to cover up quite as much even when we were in busier areas! We saw more men wearing western clothing as well.

One of the best activities was climbing up to Sira Fortress, which had amazing views. We hiked up to the top a little before sunset so that we could see the city in its best light.

The first night we were there, we went out to the night market, which was a late night. We ended up staying there until 2 or 3 am, and when we left, the market was still in full swing. It’s so interesting to see how the city becomes fully nocturnal during Ramadan. I am curious what the balance of normal life looks like when it isn’t Ramadan – even when I was in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, there was still definitely more life at night and less people out during the day just due to the sun and the heat. But it might not be quite so stark.

After the late night, we had a chill morning and did a little more sightseeing in the afternoon. We went to the Cisterns of Tawila and the Aidrus Mosque. We were going to try to go to the beach, but it seemed like some sort of VIP was already there and there were too many military checkpoints for us to continue. We ended up just going back for an early dinner, and then we found shisha and nonalcoholic beer (since Yemen is a fully dry country) that we could have on a nearby rooftop. It was a relaxing last day.

A film camera has never failed to make me look like a vampire

Our final morning was an early flight out to Cairo. We got a military transport for that last journey to the airport – I’d seen the men in front of our hotel, but I thought it was just some sort of hotel security or military that were based around the city. I hadn’t realized they were there for us!

All in all, Yemen was an amazing trip. One of my favorites, which is really saying something. It’s rare to find a place that feels completely unique, but Yemen absolutely does, between the culture, the history, the architecture, and the natural beauty. It was worth the constant heat and the heavy layers to get a chance to explore a place that does not see a lot of tourism or cultural influence from outsiders. I hope that things continue to get better in the north and that the country finds more stability in the future!

Asia Yemen

Going Viral in Mukalla

When we were in the airport in Cairo, before we boarded our Yemenia flight to Seiyun, we were told not to post on social media live. Not for safety reasons, but because it is so easy to go viral in Yemen that it would be a pain for us to be recognized in the streets everywhere we went. We wanted to keep a low profile. And we did a pretty good job of that… until we went to Mukalla!

The first place we went into Mukalla was the fish market! It was interesting but very smelly – I ended up having to wash out the hem of my abaya in the hotel sink to try to get the scent of fish out of it. I had never seen a market that sold stingrays before. We also headed next door to the market that sold fruits and vegetables.

The markets were cool, but the highlight of our time in Mukalla was the boat tour at sunset. Most cities are best viewed from the water, in my opinion!

The sun was about to dip over the horizon as we got back to land, which meant it was time for iftar! There was a big spread set up near the harbor, and the local people invited us there. A large group of foreigners caused a pretty big stir. Locals were taking photos and filming us as we sat down to break fast with them.

By the next day, we found out that one of the local Yemeni guys who was filming was an influencer, and videos and photos of us were everywhere. I even got recognized in Aden two days later! It was a strange experience, to say the least.

We got dinner, had shisha on the beach, and then headed to the night market. The night markets were so much fun. It felt like the whole city was out and about, buying and selling and bargaining for everything you could want to buy. I didn’t enjoy wearing the abaya, for the most part, but it was nice at the markets because I was entirely invisible while wearing it. I could look around without any extra stares.

The next day, we went back to the same area, and found it completely deserted! It was so strange to walk the same exact streets and find them empty, with no evidence of the chaos of the previous night. When we were done exploring, it was off to the airport for our next destination – Aden.

Asia Yemen

Into the Desert

It’s been a busy few months of moving apartments (again) and traveling a lot. Things are settling down again, so it’s time to get back to my irregular & not-scheduled travel blogging! When I left off, we were in Seiyun, Yemen.

From Seiyun, we headed into the desert to Wadi Dawan! The landscapes were reminiscent of Arizona, but with incredible Yemeni architecture at every turn. We had a few stops for viewpoints and exploring the towns before we made it to our next hotel.

Our hotel was amazing. It was on the edge of a cliff that reminded me of the Grand Canyon, with small towns dotted below. We even had an infinity pool that overlooked the canyon. Sometimes, when I go to places that are really off the beaten path, I think about how well these establishments would do if they were in more touristy places. The views from the pool were so nice. It would definitely be a luxury option if it was at a canyon that got more people visiting.

After enjoying the pool and relaxing for the first evening, we headed out to tour some of the surrounding communities the next day. It was interesting how the landscape changed going down into the canyon – suddenly, there were palm trees and a river bed, giving the whole area a feeling like an oasis.

There weren’t many people out and about, given that it was Ramadan, but the locals who were out were friendly and excited to see us. It is one of the best things for me of going to places that aren’t typically tourist destinations – I feel like places that have a lot of tourism can get jaded, because they see more of the negatives of having constant visitors, but regions that don’t see a lot of tourists are excited to share their culture and tell you about the places where they live. That’s how it felt in Yemen. People were so happy to say hi, and asked how we were enjoying our time here.

Some of us also went for a hike into the canyon to one of the villages! To be honest, I would not recommend hiking in an abaya – it was hot, it was difficult to figure out where my feet were under the dress, and I was stressed about tripping over the hem of it and skinning my knees on the rocks. But despite the less-than-ideal outfit, I’m glad I went on the hike, because it was gorgeous. We got down to the village close to sunset.

I like hiking. Not as much as some of my friends in Utah, but it’s always nice to add a short hike into an itinerary and have the chance to be awed by nature.

The next day, we headed to our next destination! We were heading from Wadi Dawan to the coast, which meant another few hours in the car for a quick road trip.

This region was probably my favorite in Yemen. I loved the natural beauty that was all around us, and it was nice to get into the smaller towns, where it felt like we could get better interactions with the locals than in the bigger cities. I will never forget sitting on the edge of the canyon, drinking tea and watching the sunset!

Asia Yemen

Welcome to Yemen

After Sarajevo, I flew to Istanbul, then Cairo, where I spent the night at an airport hotel. The next morning, I donned a black abaya and a headscarf and I boarded a Yemenia flight to Seiyun.

Yes, the US State Department warnings are pretty aggressive. And parts of the country are definitely not safe to travel to, but I felt safe where we were during our trip. I went with Wander Expeditions, and we took lots of precautions, including wearing local clothing to blend in. Plus, the areas where we went have military presence from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to help keep things more stable. The region considers themselves South Yemen, and have a unique flag with a blue triangle and a red star to differentiate themselves.

The very first thing we did was get our local clothing! For the women, it was pretty easy – there’s not a lot of variation in what you get to wear there. I had bought a black abaya online in advance and then had a couple headscarf options, one to cover my hair and one full niqab to cover everything but a narrow slit around my eyes. For the men, though, they have a fairly elaborate outfit that we had to buy at a local market.

One other facet of our trip is that we were there during Ramadan. During Ramadan, the entire rhythm of life changes, because there’s fasting from sunrise to sunset. The people operate more nocturnally, with life beginning the moment that the sun goes down and the call to prayer begins. Iftar, which is the breaking of the fast, began as we were driving from the market to our hotel to check in, and there were people on the side of the road passing out water and juice and snacks to everyone that drove by.

This was our first hotel in Seiyun, which I loved. It was beautiful, with an extensive garden, a pool, and a rooftop where we could sit and talk late into the night. Being in the hotels was also very freeing, because it was the only place where we didn’t have to wear the abayas or scarves.

Because of Ramadan, walking around during the day felt like a ghost town. We often wouldn’t see anyone around. In a few places, like the markets we visited later on in the trip, we would get the chance to go while it was lively and then we would walk the same streets the next morning and marvel at how much it had changed.

One of the strangest things was how familiar the landscape felt. It looks just like Arizona, where my grandparents lived for several decades. I used to visit every spring, and if I turned my head away from the buildings, I could practically imagine I was back there for a visit.

From Seiyun, we also visited Shibam, which has been called “the Manhattan of the Desert.” It’s the oldest city in the world to use vertical construction, making these the original skyscrapers.

Shibam was spectacular. Our first introduction of it was from a nearby hill, where we watched the sun set and heard the call to prayer. We went back the next day to talk to a few shopkeepers and take some photos.

The beaded mask is meant for weddings. The beadwork was so intricate and beautiful!

In general, the level of handicrafts was so high. I got a small woven bag and a carved wooden house that matches the style of the ones in Shibam, which are both incredible – I can’t wait to display them in my home.

They also spoke with us about the unique challenges of preserving these buildings. As one might guess about a building made from mud, it is vulnerable to water, including the condensation from retrofitted air-conditioning window units that they use in the hotter days.

One of the things that I love in foreign countries is seeing the brands, whether they’re familiar, knock off, or local. Oreo advertising about celebrating Ramadan in the Saudi Arabian Carrefour, for example. Yemen didn’t disappoint. The knock off Cheetos logo for their “Hot Fire” flavor was one of my favorite things I saw over the course of the week! And the bottom picture is a Fanta, in one of the cooler soda bottles I’ve ever seen.

I also would like to give a shout out to one of the people on my trip, Chad, who brought disposable cameras along with him and had us all use the film with some very cool results. Some aspects of visiting Yemen had a dreamlike quality to it, and the film development emphasized that in all the right ways. That last photo of Melhim and I standing on the top of a building and taking photos of the Shibam skyline is one of my favorites from the whole trip! Also, yes, I still look like a vampire when flash is used in photography. Some things never change.

This was the start of a truly special trip, and I’ll have more photos of it soon!

Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe Serbia

Stuck in the Snow in Serbia

Post author By admin
Post date June 13, 2025
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While looking for good day trips outside of Sarajevo that weren’t Mostar, I found one that I was really excited about that went to East Srpska and Western Serbia. Bosnia and Herzegovina is very interesting, politically – even from the name, it’s easy to tell that it defines itself as multiple different segments, under one umbrella. Geographically, Herzegovina is the southern part, which includes Mostar, and then the north and east are considered Bosnia. There are also two political entities. One is the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the other is Republika Srpska. Srpska often identifies more heavily with Serbia, both in their flag and their traditions. It made for a very interesting day trip, because we got to see very different parts of BiH and we had a guide for this portion, so we could ask lots of questions.

The landscape felt a lot like Colorado as we headed out of Sarajevo and headed to our first stop, Visegrad. The bridge was originally built during the Ottoman empire and is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. After walking across it and admiring the town from the bridge, we boarded a boat to get a better view!

Once we had taken it all in, we headed into town. Part of Visegrad had been built as a film set, called Andricgrad. It had very strange vibes – kind of Truman Show, with the appearance of an “old town” but clearly brand new.

One of the other interesting things we saw in Srpska was this billboard, with their leader, Milorad Dodik. We had asked if there were going to be any celebrations for the 30th anniversary of the peace treaty, and our guide shook his head and told us that things were still tense. In my understanding, Dodik had attempted to enact new laws that were challenged by the courts, and the courts in the Federation also responded by sentencing him to prison. He responded that he would not recognize their decision and was attempting to rile up the population in Srpska to support him against the Federation. Things seem to be settling down again now – the news articles aren’t more recent than March, when I was there.

Our next stop was the Dobrun Monastery, which Wikipedia informs me was built in 1343. Its location along the banks of the river was very scenic.

After that stop, we crossed into Serbia! We ended up getting lunch at another film set town. Is it odd they have so many film sets in this tiny part of the Balkans? This was designed to look like a traditional Serbian village for the film Life Is a Miracle. I found it to be more charming than Andricgrad, personally.

Once we’d had lunch, we headed into Tara National Park to go to a viewpoint. Unfortunately, the farther we got on the road, the icier it got, until we went down a hill and then weren’t able to get up the next one. Which was fine, we would just turn around…. except, we couldn’t get up the hill we had just come down, either. Our guide told us to get out of the car (me, Grace, and a Polish woman who was on the tour with us) and he tried to get it up the hill. And then tried, and tried, and tried. All told, it took about two hours where we were stuck on the side of the road, waiting for our car. A huge thank you to all the lovely Serbians who stopped to try to help us and wait with us!

Luckily, the car did get unstuck, and we got down the mountain again and back to Sarajevo! It was certainly an adventure. I will want to go back to Serbia, as I’d like to see Belgrade and Nish and a few other places, but I will never forget my first time.

Bosnia and Herzegovina Europe

Sarajevo Weekend

I first visited Bosnia and Herzegovina on a day trip from Dubrovnik, when I went to Mostar. I loved it immediately – it was one of the highlights of a whole month of travel, and I was eager to go back to experience more of the country! As it turns out, I ended up getting to come back sooner than I expected, in a long weekend with a friend of a friend who I only met when she showed up at the Airbnb. Alan, our mutual friend, ended up having to pull out of the trip at the last minute due to a skiing injury. While it was a bummer not to get to experience the trip with him, I still had an amazing time!

I had most of the first day by myself, since I landed at 11 am (after an extremely tight layover) and then Grace didn’t arrive until dinner time. I started by wandering around the city center. The airport is a bit of a haul from the city. I wanted to take the bus, but it was infrequent and I would have had to wait for a long time, so I ended up sharing a taxi van to the city center with a few other travelers. Once you get there, though, almost everything is walkable, with one historical site as an exception.

Walking around the Old Town is very cool. The architecture is beautiful and I loved looking at all the shop displays, with the Bosnian tea sets and carpets and handicrafts. Grace and I didn’t do much the first night beyond figuring out dinner and getting settled in, but we got up early the next morning to see as much as we could!

We started with the Latin Bridge, which is one of the most important historical sites of the 20th century. This is where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, which kicked off WW1 and led to millions of deaths. It’s such an unassuming place. It was very strange to stand there and think about how consequential it once was.

From there, we headed up to the Yellow Fortress, which had great views of the city! Luckily, the weather wasn’t too hot, because it did take a few steep hills to get there.

Sarajevo has a very dark recent history, and the museum options are plentiful but depressing. We ended up going with the Museum of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide, which was a very good overview of the conflict and resulting genocide in the 90s. I knew a little about it, but not that much, and Grace and I ended up staying there for a long time reading through all the details and watching the videos of what life was like during the Siege.

It was so recent. This November will mark the 30th anniversary of the peace treaty between Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia, which means that pretty much any adult that we spoke with lived through the war and the genocide and the siege. As I’ve said before on this blog, I love to see when a place is resilient and manages to thrive after such horrible circumstances, and Sarajevo is an incredible example of it. The marks that were made on the city are still evident, from a few collapsed buildings that have never been rebuilt to evidence of mortar shellings, like the “Sarajevo roses” in the sidewalks where the holes were filled with a red material.

I spy at least three mortar shell scars on this building

After lunch, we continued with the historical tour, which did require a taxi. We wanted to go to the Sarajevo Tunnel, which is also known as the Tunnel of Salvation or Tunnel of Hope. It’s located back near the airport, pretty far out from the city center. It was worth the journey, though – very interesting to see how they got food and supplies into the city despite the blockades. I can’t imagine how harrowing it must have been in the dark under the threat of sniper fire and bombings.

With that, we called it a day, and had a really nice meal and drinks at a local restaurant. We had scheduled a tour for the next day, which deserves its own post (stay tuned), but it meant an early morning to make sure we had time to experience the full itinerary.

For our final day, Grace had more time than I did, so she managed to swing a day trip out to Mostar! I was heading out at 3 pm, so I had another quick walk around the city, trying to see some of the areas that we had been driven by but hadn’t had a chance to walk through, like Veliki Park and along the river.

I also managed to make it to another one of the museums I was very interested in, which was Gallery 11/07/95. It is a photo gallery of the genocide. The audio guide was excellent. They had several short films that did a great job illustrating what it was like to be there during the war. It was so impactful and moving. I am glad we did the museums in the order that we did, though, because I think this one benefitted from the knowledge I had gained up to that point. It allowed me to spend more time reflecting on what had happened vs. piecing together timelines and the progression of the tragedy.

After that, it was back to the airport for another set of flights. In this case, Sarajevo to Istanbul, Istanbul to Cairo, and a night at the airport hotel before a morning flight to my next destination.

If I ever intended to rank the countries I’ve visited, Bosnia and Herzegovina would definitely be up there for me! I’ve really enjoyed both of my visits. The culture is friendly, the landscapes are beautiful, and they do such a good job presenting their history and how it fits into the broader regional conflicts that were occurring throughout the fall of Yugoslavia.

El Salvador Guatemala Honduras North America

The Ruins of Copán

When I was looking at my options of day trips from San Salvador, I found one that was ambitious but very interesting. It was doable to head into Honduras to see the ruins of Copán, which is a Mayan site that I was interested in seeing!

And when I say doable, it is still a long way. Over four hours by car each way, crossing through Guatemala. Four border crossings in total, for the very motivated who really want to see UNESCO’s cultural heritage site of Honduras. My tour picked me up at the crack of dawn, and I headed out. There were six of us total.

I technically count Guatemala as a country I’ve been to but it is top of my list to return to see it properly

After a gas station breakfast in Guatemala and watching the sun rise from the car, we made it to the ruins! As it turns out, they are a fantastic place for bird watching. They have scarlet macaws who frequent the area around Copán, which were so cool to see flying around us.

I also got to see toucans, which was a bucket list item for me! I had desperately wanted to see them when Megan and Matt and I were in Costa Rica, but they were elusive there.

Once we had all finished taking photos of birds, we headed to the ruins. Copán was a very important city to the Mayans, and today it remains significant because the sculptures and architecture is so well preserved. I’ve seen quite a few Mayan ruins throughout my travels in Central America, and Copán certainly ranks up there – the detail in the carvings was very cool!

The site was pretty large, and while there were other tour groups, Honduras doesn’t see the same number of tourists as many of its neighbors. Most of that is a reputation for being quite dangerous, as it has one of the highest murder rates of any country. In data I found from 2023, it was ranked 4th after Jamaica, Haiti, and Ecuador. That’s more in the cities, though, and I certainly didn’t feel unsafe in Copán. But it did mean that it doesn’t have the same overtourism problem that places like Chichén Itzá are facing. We saw a few other tour groups, but it never felt crowded.

Copán is a huge national symbol in Honduras, so some of what we saw was even on their money! I love seeing the architecture that’s represented on a country’s currency where I can.

Our guide was excellent as well. She knew a lot about the history of the site and what all the carvings meant. She told us how she wished that the government focused on developing tourism to Copán more, and investing in the infrastructure around it, since they have a world-class historical site in their backyard.

After the ruins, we headed to lunch in the adjacent town, which has the helpful name of Copan Ruinas. The food was very good and we had just enough time to do some shopping in the market before we got back in the car to head to San Salvador.

All in all, it was a great day trip. A lot of time in the car, but worth it to see one of the more interesting ruins in Central America and to get a chance to see a little of Honduras!