Sarajevo struck me as an energetic and vibrant city, it was a centre of art, culture and religion with a very delicious, thirst-quenching local beer, specifically the Sarajevsko unfiltered and of course ćevapi. We hired a driver to travel south, but much more than that he was an active personnel in both the former Yugoslav People's Army and later the Bosnian Army with combat wounds and tales of wars to share, as much as the war was devastating and long (Sarajevo suffered the longest siege in the history of modern warfare that lasted almost 4 years).

One of the most magical experiences I have come across in my travels was watching prayer calls (specifically 'Maghrib', during sunset). From an elevated vantage point, watch as every minaret sporadically light up in the valley, prayer echoes from hundreds of mosques unfold across the entire city, surrounding the valley in a veil of unity and an overwhelming sense of peacefulness. Growing up in Malaysia, prayer calls are usually dominated by 1-2 nearby mosques, I have only witnessed this unique experience twice in my travels, first in Istanbul and now Sarajevo.

Every little town and village has their unique historic importance, beyond religion, trade, kings and wars, they were all god damn beautiful.