What a difference a day makes

24 hours ago I was sunbathing on a beach in Dubrovnik, now I have just had to delay my first experience of exploring Mostar, Bosnia due to torrential rain, it really is quite a change in my fortunes! It was sad to leave Croatia at all really, not just because of the weather either! I have had a great time there, the cities and towns are generally beautiful, the locals friendly and helpful and even though a lot of places were quite quiet I did meet some wonderful people and have some great nights out, particularly in Rijeka, Split, Trogir and Dubrovnik. The difference between Croatia and Bosnia is fairly noticeable. The landscape is different, the people look different. Bosnia is mainly a Muslim country and I have already noticed a lot of mosques and heard a lot of prayers in the short time I have been here in Mostar, which is pretty much Bosnia's second city. I had a pretty great final 5 days or so in Croatia, which is a little surprising considering I have hit with a particularly vicious bout of man flu in that time. I think the reason for this has been the fairly hectic pace of my travel so far. I have been going to a new destination every other day since Florence almost a month ago and I think that may have caught up with me. It did mean that my full day in Torgir wasn't a particularly great one, I had decided to go to nearby Sibernik on a day trip but had to call it quits halfway through due to feeling rubbish. Its bizarre having a cold in a really hot climate, I had probably made it worse drinking the night before with Mario who ran the hostel in Trogir and a German girl who was on holiday in the area for a bit. After this it was time to head to Dubrovnik which I do not need to describe to you as its pretty much world famous now. I had to get back to Split and then take a 5 hour bus journey to reach Dubrovnik, it was really scenic, going along a windy coastal road. The bus briefly passes through a tiny stretch of Bosnia for around 20 minutes which is a little odd. I had cancelled my initial hostel as I noticed it was way out of the center and had some pretty bad reviews. I decided to splash out a bit on the only hostel in the old town area, it proved a good decision as the place was packed with travelers. I ended up going out into town with 3 guys from San Francisco, an Irishman and a Korean dude who spoke no English. There were not a lot of places open but there were enough of us for this not to matter and we ended up in a dodgy Latin club called Fuego which was an experience to say the least. The next day I went with the American guys to a nearby island for some snorkeling, cliff diving and swimming. It was another day where I felt lucky to be doing this and pinching myself with disbelief that I was still in Europe and we were approaching mid October. I went out for a beer and pizza with Paul the Irish guy when we got back, he had traveled pretty extensively to India and various other places I am heading so it was useful to pick up some more information about this. We also discovered that everything is around half the price outside the city walls which was good because Dubrovnik old town is by far the most expensive place I have been to so far and that includes Italy! The evening was along the same lines as the night before only this time we avoided the nightclub! Interesting story for those of you who follow the TV show Game of Thrones, they were filming in Dubrovnik whilst I was there, although I think they were just finishing it off when I arrived as we were denied access to a bar due to the closing which was going on. Anyway the little guy on the show ended up partying at the hostel we were staying at and one of the guys who worked there had a picture of him passed out on the hostels couch! My final day in Dubrovnik ended up being seeing the sights of the place such as the city walls walk which was stunning. I spent the afternoon on the beach again surrounded by impossibly good looking Croatian women, yes life was good! I avoided going out that night as my bus here was early in the morning. I have pretty much passed out, exhausted when I arrived here and my attempts to see the city have been thwarted by the weather so I have to wait until tomorrow to really see what Bosnia has to offer. I have tomorrow here in Mostar and then I go to the capital, Sarajevo for 3 nights, after that it is Serbia and Belgrade which is supposed to be Europe's ultimate party night! hopefully this cold will be gone by then!