My late arrival last night in Sarajevo gave me little time to explore the city so I got up relatively early in order to see as much as possible. I headed to the tourist agency who had organised my accomodation late last night and decided to book myself onto a city tour. It's not the thing I normally enjoy doing but they were organising transport to visit some of the sights further out of the city that I probably wouldn't have been able to organise easily myself. It was also a good opportunity to meet some other travellers and get some information perhaps to help me for the next leg of my trip.

With an hour or so before the tour I decdied to hunt around town for some breakfast. No sooner had I walked out  of the office than I bumped into an old school friend randomly. Of all the places in the world, it was to be Sarajevo that I was first to meet another old Etonian - a totally bizarre occurrence and one that I thought would never happen given the route I am following. Nevertheless this was a welcome surprise and we had coffee and caught up before I had to rush back for my tour.

The tour itself was to the tunnel under Sarajevo airport that was dug during the 1992-1995 seige from the Serbs. It was the lifeline for the cities inhabitants and allowed un-noticed transport of critical arms and supplies during the defence of the city. A harrowing protrayal of what life in the city was like during the seige was shown and the surrounding village in which the tunnel was hidden still bore many scars from the seige. We then followed the route to the Serb sniper positions in the hills above Sarajevo and looked down on the city, before heading up another of the surrounding mountains to where the army barracks were.

Despite the scores of bullet holes and shell craters that remain in the city, it is diffcult to really imagine life in those dark days. Sarajevo has a somewhat cosmopolitan feel now and while much reconstruction is needed there is a sense that the city, which hosted the 1984 winter olympics, is back on track to become a thriving capital for the country. It is littered with bars and cafes and in the warm spring air a couple of us from the tour took the opportunity to sip thick Bosnian coffee on the outside terraces. This felt like the life - a seriously relaxing and sociable afternoon in the cafe followed.

Indeed I met up again with Phil and Britney, who were studying in Germany despite being from Oz and the US (respectively) for a satisfying steak in one of the many eateries in the old part of the town. We then headed off with Matthew (another guy staying in their hostel) to the Trukish cafe hidden away in one of the backstreets to drink all kinds of weird tea and enjoy the hubbly bubbly pipes. This was one of the most relaxing venues I'd been on in my trip and the atmosphere made for a great evening despite the lack of alchohol!! Brahim, our waiter, was completely mad and sang his love for Sarajevo as he served us portions of bosniak and magic tea (sadly nothing more than Apple and lemon flaoured tea). He proudly informed us that he was a terrorist and swanned around the cafe like a madman. Still he made for an amusing evening and a great improvement for my general feelings from Bosnia.

From a historical point of view, Sarajevo has always been an interesting city. Being at the crossroad of the East and West the influences of the Muslim Turks and Western Christianity are evident. Mosques and churches are clearly visible next to eachother. Traders from the later days of the Silk Roads would have met here on their way east or west to rest and recuperate and the smokey, narrow alleys of the old town recreate some of the medieval atmosphere. In short a truly fascinating city to be in, one only fears that mass tourism will send hordes of English stag nights to this rejuvenated vibrant and eclectic city.