50 top locations of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Zoran Matić
My dears, I am Zoran Matić, a journalist and travel writer from Banja Luka. By profession, I am a health worker, employed at the Clinical Center of the RS at the Psychiatry Clinic. Some would say that it is incompatible with journalism and travel, but my affinities show otherwise. I simply enjoy traveling to destinations around the world. I visited a large number of world destinations.
I have visited about 40 countries of the world and I like to say that I am only at the beginning of my travels. Also, I am a big fan of rock and roll music and have visited many domestic and international festivals and concerts. For years, I have been writing about all these places and events on the Banja Luka Echo portal, in order to make it easier for people to travel and enjoy various destinations. It was this need to show people the beauty of the country ,l wrote my first book “50 Top Locations of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
This book is the guide to BiH in our language. This is the sublimation of all the tourist assets of Bosnia and Herzegovina. A story about all natural, cultural-historical, religious, human and many other contents that are offered and preserved here.
It contains fifty of the most beautiful locations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and fifty additional locations worth paying attention to and visiting, a gastronomic offer throughout the country and an offer of cafes and clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina that preserve the rock and roll culture and great energy that we enjoy. The book was published for Grafomark from Laktaši, with the help of a hardworking team of collaborators who printed the book and helped my write my story.
From my personal affinities and enjoyment, the idea was born to convey to people. This is a country where all aspects of tourism exist, whatever form of tourism you like or want to explore is here easily accessible.
When this evil with the corona virus started in March, people had to cancel their travel plans and orient themselves towards destinations within their own countries. I have been traveling extensively in Bosnia and Herzegovina for ten years and I have visited a lot. My friends started contacting me with questions about where to go on vacation and how to spend some interesting and quality time in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Over time, I realized that it was necessary to make a book that would have all the tourist treasures of this country in one place.
This is a country that has more waterfalls than Italy, France and Germany combined. A country that has a wild horse habitat that is one of the most unique in the world. Here is the only remaining shrine of the Jewish people in Europe. Then the first document that mentions "human rights" ... And much more that I showed people.
What I have to say is that the book is written like a travelogue. To be more precise it was written as my personal experience of all the locations, although I had the help of a friend at the location of the mountain peaks. I think that this is the only real way to introduce people to all those places and all that is offered in locations all over the country, because people can learn a lot from my experience, it is exactly this kind of recommendations that attract people to destinations.
Since my affinities and my ‘snake body’ do not allow hiking, people helped me present the mountain treasures of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the right way. My “paradise” helped me create the book, and I am most proud of that. My girlfriend Jelena visited all the locations with me and helped us show them the right way. Darko Karać, a graphic designer from Banja Luka, made an unreal perfect book cover, a unique collage of Bosnia and Herzegovina and it“s beauties. Milica Kecman proofread, and there are many others who make this book necessary for all those who want to get to know Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is full of natural beauty and it is difficult to single out which area would be more beautiful than the other. A large number of places fascinated me. The river Una particularly impressed me, because its appearance justifies its centuries-old name. Herd of wild horses above Livno, it is definitely one of the most serious tours in all of Europe that you can experience. Tito’s bunker in Konjic, as an incredible example of combining the incompatible (socialist construction and modern art).
Sutjeska National Park, a place that every living person should visit to understand the importance and power of nature, that we are actually hers and not hers, and that nature is a dude of the highest rank. Also, if you want to visit Sutjeska National Park, contact the “Active Holidays Bosnia” agency, because the mountain and the park are very demanding and the best way to get to know this place is to go with experienced people who will show you this beauty of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the most beautiful way. Trebinje, which is the uncrowned king of tourism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many other incredible places that found a place in my book. Also the influences of religions on this area are incredible. It is incredible how many sanctuaries from all religions, how many churches and monasteries have existed here for centuries, mosques and tekkes that have gathered believers for centuries. All these places are centers of spirituality, oases of peace, and if you visit them, they will upgrade your soul.
However there is one thing that I highlight as an incredible tourist potential. These are the people of this country. Incredible, characterful, defiant and proud hosts that you will remember for the rest of your life. There are a large number of personalities who made this country famous and put it on the world map. These personalities are exactly in my book. I have included stories about Petar Kočić, who showed the spirit of Krajina. Then Ivo Andrić, who showed the world that there is one nation a little different from others and perhaps best described our characters.
Aleksa Šantić, Jovan Dučić, the greatest ambassador of our mentality, the greatest poet among lovers and the greatest lover among poets. Meša Selimović is one of those people who managed to put our minds on paper that endures everything. Ismet Mujezinović, for whom I like to say that time does not pass when you look at his pictures, that time is simply a special zone between a man and the emotions that his creativity evokes and many others that you will read.
Written by: Zoran Matić