Original subtitles

Okay, well, thank you very much for coming. We're doing a second series of

Misadventures of Romesh Ranganathan, and we're looking for some constructive

feedback.

So, I guess the first question I'd ask is, what did you guys think of the show?

I thought you were really good in it. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Because I'll tell you who didn't.

This guy.

This is the cult of stupidity. Romesh and his posse -mouthed sarcastic

appeal to the sort of people who think imagination, spirituality and history

things to be sneered at.

At JohnMcRae189.

Arrogant, patronising, ill -informed. So different from my own experience of

this fascinating country.

Can't even spell my name right. Unfunny prick.

Terribly unfunny.

This dog reminds me of Romesh Ranganathan.

It's not just about this feedback.

It's about getting your take. So does anybody else have any other thoughts?

Can I just say, I thought you were really great in Travelman.

Do you mean Travelman with Richard Ayoade?

We're done.

Against my better judgment... This time I'm going to be visiting Mongolia,

Bosnia, Colombia and Zimbabwe.

Oh my God, he is packing.

I want to know if our preconceptions of these countries are justified.

Bosnia is the land of miracles.

Is there more to Zimbabwe than Robert Mugabe?

Is there more to Bosnia than the war?

Is Colombia all about drug cartels?

Now, this is beautiful.

Oh, my Lord. This is amazing.

I don't really think this is necessary, do you?

What are your preconceptions of Bosnia?

Well, all you think about when you think about Bosnia is the horrific

things that we've seen on the news in recent years, you know, just war -torn,

guess. Like it or not, when things like that are happening further away, you can

relate to it on an intellectual level, but you've got a bit of a distance from

it.

When things like that are happening on your doorstep, you can't help but have

more of a... visceral reaction to it i mean that stuff was happening so close

us and then that actually made it a lot more shocking it'd be interesting to see

if the country itself has stuff to offer you know that's unrelated to that i

mean i just can't separate that from the country in my mind and so that's what

makes it such an interesting place to go and visit you're just going to feel a

little prick okay you're just saying it for fun now

I took a short flight from London to Sarajevo, the ancient capital of Bosnia,

and possibly Herzegovina.

Although its recent past is dominated by the vicious war that broke out after

the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 90s, it has a rich history, dating back

to the Ottoman Empire.

Hello. Hello.

Ramesh. I'm Skander. Skander? Yes. Nice to meet you, man. How's it going?

Welcome to Sarajevo. Very well. Thank you very much. I was picked up by

Hatibovic, a local museum curator and tour guide who had agreed to take me

his wing and show me around this tiny country.

You came to the most interesting city in the world. Are you going to say that,

aren't you? I can't go, well, Sarajevo is fairly nondescript, but we're here

now. Yes.

So you get tourists coming here? Yes.

And are they coming here to find out about the war? Yeah, you see where the

hit? In the facade there? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was just like patched from

inside.

This was all destroyed.

We would call this road like a sniper alley.

So were you going to school and stuff?

My school was not in a public building.

My school was in a basement.

Because it was in my street. I couldn't afford to walk like, I don't know, 10

minutes from my home. Too risky. Of course, I had to die.

You know, I can tell you one joke.

Really? We are famous for jokes. Okay, this is a... I feel like I'm under a bit

of pressure here. Okay, here it goes. In Syria, in the time of the war, there

were two friends.

Bomb explodes and there's a total mess in the city and there's a smoke and

there's a facade coming off and some people are wounded laying down on the

street. It's quite a dark joke so far.

Very dark, yeah. And it's going to get just darker.

And in this smoke, he looks down.

And he sees his friend on the ground, and he sees there's blood coming down

ear through his shoulder.

And he looks better, and he sees there's a piece of his ear, like half of the

ear is gone.

And then he taps him on his shoulder and tells him, man, you have lost your ear.

You're bleeding so badly.

I don't know what you're looking for. Forget about whatever you're looking

Let's go to hospital. Let me stitch you up. And the man on the ground looks at

him and says, no, no, no, I'm not looking for my ear. I'm looking for a

cigarette. I had one behind my ear.

It's good.

There's a lot of pressure on that punchline because it's one of the most

set -ups to a joke I've ever heard in my life.

Skender explained that Bosnia was a country full of surprises and that we

spend the week being surprised by it, visiting ancient cities and captivating

spiritual sites, enjoying award -winning wine and world -class skiing along the

way.

Beautiful.

This is the old part of Sarajevo.

We would begin, though, with a trip on a cable car to the hills above Sarajevo

to enjoy a spectacular view of the city.

So, Ram, this is the beautiful Sarajevo.

This is the view of Sarajevo? What a beautiful view. It's great.

You're looking to the lower end of Sarajevo. This is the old town, the city

centre. Got you.

And then further down, like slightly to the left, would be the airport.

Where the fog is, yeah? Where the fog is.

And what's this here, where the fog is?

That's the old part of Sarajevo.

What about in the distance there, where the fog is?

We would call that Bogosča.

That's like one suburb of Sarajevo.

So where we are standing right now here, that was where the Serbian army used to

be. You can't see, but where this pine tree line ends. You can't see? You can't

see, because where this pine tree ends, that's where the front line used to be.

You cannot imagine a war in which your own army now is your enemy. So your

weapons are used against you. And your people of your country, your army of

country is attacking you. So that is something nobody can imagine.

Skender explained that in 1992, as Yugoslavia began to break up, Bosnia

its independence.

Although a referendum had been won by a sizable margin, the majority of Bosnian

Serbs had boycotted the vote.

preferring to join Slobodan Milosevic's proposed greater Serbian state.

Milosevic sent the Serb -dominated former Yugoslav army to Sarajevo,

to defend the city.

What followed was an all -out attack, which was to last 1 ,425 days,

the longest siege in modern history.

When they come on your doorstep, you have no options. You have to fight,

otherwise you're dead.

I spent most of my days in the basement because you couldn't go out. Only we

would sometimes go in the house because it was, there was a bit safer days.

So for a treat, you would go up into your own house? Yes.

When I talk about my friends, about war, we talk about war, we always talk about

good memories. Those are some of the best moments of our life.

Some moments which were nice.

Like when we celebrate a birthday and there's this friend and we bring him

one onion, half of the soap as a gift, you know.

Some of my favourite parties are just with soap and an onion. Yes, yes, yes.

Soap and onion party.

Skender said that we would spend more time finding out about the war later in

the day. But at first we should enjoy the hill's other great attraction.

It's once famous bobsleigh track.

Absolutely no...

Safety record of this.

So, just get it done, I suppose.

Have you seen this event on the TV?

Have I seen riding sleds that are too small for you down an unused bobsled

track? No, I've not seen that event, no.

This bobsled track is very dangerous when in use.

Having been left unused for many years, and two fucking idiots go down it on

sleds, it becomes slightly more dangerous, I would argue.

I say I would argue I don't know for definite because nobody's checked it.

In fact, you yourself became aware of this being used potentially for sleds

about half an hour ago. So let's see how it goes.

The 1984 Olympics were the crowning moment in the city's recent history.

But as the hills and mountains surrounding the city became a

of the infrastructure was destroyed.

I mean, what is the point?

Apparently, it would cost in the region of £10 million to restore the track to

its former glory.

Money that the struggling economy simply can't provide.

The effort to fund ratio is badly skewed in favour of effort.

The fun was when I made the decision just now to stop.

That evening...

Skender took us to our accommodation for the night for what he ominously

promised would be an experience.

So, Ram, the night has fallen. Yeah.

And time to go to bed.

Why are you being so sinister?

I have no idea.

So I want to show you a place of state tonight.

It's called War Hostel.

War Hostel? Yeah.

Oh, Jesus. This is my friend, Zero One.

This is Ram. Nice to meet you. You're Zero One.

That's right.

01? That's right. It's my father's war -called name.

What is this place?

It's a recreation of what we survived.

Are these bullets?

Yes.

Welcome to 1992.

Thank you.

What is the first impression?

Um... It's difficult to sort of summarise, really.

This is, uh... It's interesting.

This is the accommodation, is that? This is going to be the room.

And what's the deal with the sound effects? What's that? Where did you get

from? We got real sound.

And does that play through the night, that place?

24 -7.

24 -7. We'll have to deal with it.

All right, so go ahead and pick your bed, if you can call this your bed.

Oh, my God.

I will give you a flashlight as well. Thank you.

He asked us to call him 01, and he stays in character for the entire time that

you're there.

He lives with his family above the hostel, and he's turned everything

where his living space is, into a war zone, essentially.

What's going through your mind?

Er... I don't know.

Well... I mean, it's pretty horrific, to be honest.

It's set up to be what it's like to live during the Bosnian conflict. And that

is what you do.

You... Have 01 instruct you through how to survive through

the night so that you know what it's like to live during Bosnian war time.

And this light comes from a car battery that was previously charged.

And the only way to charge it would be this bike.

See if you can find some news.

Okay, now you should go and collect the water because you're going to need it.

Okay.

So imagine behind you there's 100 people at least waiting to collect some water.

And what can happen is that there's no more fuel for the generator. And then

what happens? Everybody goes home and comes the next day or finds a different

water source.

Right.

If you don't get shot, you will need a heat source. This is a pile of wood.

It is really quite a struggle, isn't it?

Yeah, it is hard. Imagine doing this every single day.

Yeah.

Now, while the fire is burning, we can prepare the food. It's very simple.

Okay. I'm going to cook some war food. We're going to make some war donut,

call them that. War donut. Okay, take four pinches of salt and just put them

Just everything was war, do you know what I mean?

We're going to make some war doughnuts. We need to get some war water. We need

to get some war fireworks.

And I know you have to wash your hands, which you will do with some war soap.

It was an actual war soap. War soap?

Yeah. Jesus.

Which is essentially the whole experience was just very war weird.

That looked great.

As a final thing for today, I will show you my collection and bunker, which is

just below.

So let's head out. Okay, great.

Fucking hell.

Are you ready for the bunker?

Yes.

I'm more than ready.

The thing is, I'm sort of, if you listen to me just talking about it, you think

this place is an absolute nightmare, but I'm literally the only person that's

got anything critical to say about it. Every review that you read on

is like five star, this place is amazing, this place is incredible.

One guy stayed there for a month.

A month.

I just don't understand, what are you hoping to get that you haven't already

by day 29?

Do you have enough blankets there?

Okay, can I ask you something?

Yeah.

Do you not think that we've sort of got the experience now?

Oh, we've had the great experience.

Yeah, but we've had the experience.

That's what I'm saying to you.

We ate the wall donuts, we went to the bunker.

What I'm talking about is leaving.

Like, what more are we going to get now? We're just going to hear this for the

whole night.

I can imagine what that's like.

Can I tell you something?

Leaving?

Could never be as frightening as staying.

OK? Yeah, let's go. You go first.

I think what he was doing was very well -intentioned. The noises, the

atmosphere, the light levels, how the stuff set out, it does immediately

give you an insight into what it's like.

But the fact of the matter is I couldn't say that they're not.

There's also the other issue of the toilet's not plumbed in, and I'd eaten

three and a half kilos of war doughnuts.

The experience at Zero One's house still weighing heavily on my mind, I met up

with Skender early the next day and headed into the mountains around

This is like we're going to Santa's house. What do you call Father Christmas

Bosnia? What does that actually mean?

So grandfather frozen?

Frozen, yeah. Frozen granddad?

Correct, frozen granddad, yeah.

We have that in Britain because the heating bills are so high.

Yeah.

Skender's plan was to spend the day skiing.

He said the country has been investing heavily in its ski resorts, modernising

the facilities and putting in some sort of magic snow -making machine or

something. I can't say I was listening very hard, in the hope of bringing in

more tourists.

Apparently, it now represents some of the best value skiing to be found

in Europe.

Rom, have you ever been skiing before?

I went once when I was a kid.

What happened?

Well, I went on a ski trip when I was eight years old.

And I...

Kept forgetting to let go. Well, I got too scared to let go of the ski lift.

And so the other kids got on the ski lift and I walked up.

And we'd arrive at the top about 45 minutes to an hour after everyone else.

Then ski down on my own.

And then everybody would be waiting at the bottom going, oh, look, the only

brown kid on the trip and he's the crappiest one at skiing. I wonder if

a correlation.

I mean, I understand what's happening here. I'm skiing with the kids.

Abject humiliation.

Very funny. Really funny.

This is not going to go well. I can feel it.

There are adult beginners classes.

I refuse to believe that this is the only beginners class you could find.

I'm just putting you with people of the same standard.

Well, I've certainly got the same standard at maths. I can tell you that.

I used to be a teacher.

How do you like them apples?

He's aware I've not done this before, right?

Happy, guys?

Without humiliation?

Got the shot? Kids overtaking?

This is shit.

Skender told me that all Bosnian kids are taught to ski from an early age at

school. The kids that I'd taken a lesson with were just doing a normal PE class.

It was impressive, but I still wanted no part of it.

And eventually, I persuaded Skender to let me go on the grown -up slopes.

A decision I immediately regretted.

People are disappearing into the mist yards away from us because there's

absolutely zero visibility.

The other skills will see you. I might as well do this with my eyes closed.

I will push off and then who knows what will happen.

It's like pinball.

Just this brown ball pinging around the slope to its death.

Fucking hell.

Is anybody going to react? Did everyone else say that? Is anyone going to react

to what just happened?

This is serious slope now.

Because I saw you panicking here. So you cannot panic.

I can't control it. I'm going to panic.

You leave Bosnia with your knees in place or you leave Bosnia and your knees

in place?

Okay, why is he allowed to say stuff like that?

Okay, let's go.

Okay, this is a hill.

Letter A, letter A, letter A.

Letter A. Fuck.

Oh, God. Oh, God.

Letter A. Letter A.

Shit!

You good?

Right, let me be crystal clear in case anyone's under any doubts. I'm done.

OK? Skiing's over.

Can you just turn the camera on him just to show how much you can see behind

him? And that is... Fuck all.

Sri Lankan people are not supposed to ski.

What you will not hear...

Winning gold in the Winter Olympics are Juna Ratnaika. You know why? Because Sri

Lankans don't belong out here.

So maybe we should just take your skis off. What do you think? Yeah, sure.

do that.

Sorry, Skender. No worries.

Okay, I'm done, Skender. So I'm just going to go back up. I'll see you.

See you down.

Yeah, see you down there, mate.

Be good.

Yeah.

Utterly pointless.

That afternoon, we returned to Sarajevo with Skender promising another of his

war experiences.

Last night's evening with Zero One was still very much fresh in my mind.

And so, it was with a certain sense of trepidation that I entered another

-looking house on the outskirts of the city.

I would like you to meet Edis.

He used to live in this house when the war broke out.

During the siege, Sarajevo was almost completely surrounded by the Serbian

split off from the rest of Bosnia. The only gap in the Serbian forces... was

UN -controlled International Airport, a neutral barrier between the siege city

and the Bosnian Free Territory beyond it.

The airport at that time was under control of the United Nations. They did

allow us to go over.

Hundreds of people were trying to cross the airport every night, you know, and

many people were killed, you know, and after that we have to find some kind of

another solution, and that solution was the tunnel underneath the airport.

In desperate need of food, fuel and weapons to defend themselves, the

began to dig a tunnel underneath the airport.

It would eventually stretch 800 metres underground.

For three years, the only way for ordinary Bosnians to get in or out of

city.

The tunnel was very small, but it was obviously enough big to help people to

survive. It was really, really hard.

So what was it like for you, then, if this is your family home?

This is actually my family, and me and my father.

If the tunnel hadn't existed, do you think it would have been a very

outcome for Sarajevo?

I think Sarajevo would fall down, you know, and every city in Bosnia that fell

down had terrible massacres, you know. Thousands of people were killed, you

know, and I think, you know, that would happen in Sarajevo. Definitely tunnel or

something would save the city.

This is actually original entrance to the tunnel.

When you close this door, he closes it.

That's crazy.

It's a really incredible feeling.

Okay, just be careful on the steps. Okay.

It's our tunnel.

It's like this way the whole way along, is it? Yes.

Try to imagine water was there up to the knees.

I know.

You have some old man on the front of you who's up every ten metres to take

rest.

I sort of came to this sort of thinking, I've got an awareness of it because of

watching the news and stuff, and also it's right on our doorstep, and so it

feels more immediate than wars in more far -flung parts of the world. But

actually going into the tunnel and seeing a tunnel that was so...

integral to Sarajevo's sort of survival, you can't not be moved by it.

That is uncomfortable and horrible.

Oh, terrible.

I went through this tunnel at least 500 times during the war.

So this tunnel was secret for a while, but then they found out about it? They

attacked, you know, they wanted to take it, you know, but we had very strong

defence here and we stopped them.

It was very close.

I remember that time also I was there.

They spent 4 ,000 shells in two hours in this village here.

That's a lot.

This was definitely the most dangerous place in Sarajevo, let's say.

It's horrible, I mean...

I just can't even begin to imagine what that must have been like.

You know, Skender tells stories about just everybody in the city just being

confined to their basements. You sort of occasionally go up to your house when

it feels a little bit safer.

And that was for years.

I mean, it's just... I thought I had an appreciation of it, but I didn't until

sort of coming here and seeing it for myself.

I'd been in Sarajevo for two days now, and falling down a mountain aside, the

experience had been dominated by the conflict.

This is very pretty.

Yeah, yeah, this is the old town of Sarajevo, very unique, very old.

I asked Skender to show me something that wasn't to do with the war, a line

inquiry I would quickly come to regret.

Ah, here he is, here he is.

God, it's like we're in a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang reconstruction.

In 1914, the Archduke Ferdinand was shot and killed here.

whilst driving through the city, sparking an international incident that

the First World War.

Well, he looks exactly how I expected him to look.

Skender explained that a local man has produced an exact replica of the car and

that he'd arranged for us to take a ride in it.

Hello.

Dobrodan.

Dobrodan. Dobrodan.

Dobrodan. Dobrodan. That's the right way to do it.

Romesh. What made you make this car?

It's my handmade car.

You made it handmade?

Handmade. How long did it take?

About 100 days.

100 days?

Yeah. So it was expensive. A lot of money, right?

Don't talk about money.

Oh, sorry.

What is this?

This is uniform.

For you.

Look like Ferdinand's uniform.

That's what Franz Ferdinand wore.

Do you want try?

Don't want to try?

Yeah.

I don't really think this is necessary, do you?

I mean, I don't look like Franz Ferdinand.

I look like I should be asking if you need help with your luggage.

I think that's what Franz Ferdinand wore.

Nobody is going to see me in the car and go, that's Franz Ferdinand.

Well, that looks like Franz Ferdinand. I don't know anything like him. Obvious

difference. He never wore glasses.

I should probably help him with those.

Mr. Franz Ferdinand.

This really feels excessive.

Yes, no, I'm not really Franz Ferdinand.

Hello, everyone.

So when Franz Ferdinand arrived to Sarajevo in 1914, he was driving this

So in that time, there was a guerrilla movement here in the Balkans, which was

trying to overthrow the Austro -Hungarian rule.

So at Franz Ferdinand's drive along this riverbank, there were around eight

assassins were awaiting along this road, trying to kill him.

The first attempt of assassination happened along this region here, where

throw a bomb at his car.

Threw a bomb at the car? Yes. But they missed him.

I'll be honest with you, if I was in the car and somebody threw a bomb, for me,

the trip's over.

They wanted to continue the ride, and the critical moment happened exactly

here, when the car turned.

An assassin named Gavro Princip was there waiting.

I'm actually starting to get slightly nervous.

And when the car turns to our left right now, this is the historical moment.

This is not ideal, is it? I mean, he would have had so long to line up now.

And that assassination triggered the First World War.

This is how it feels to be France president.

Yeah, I've very much got the idea.

Can we just get out now, please?

It's a weird thing, because I've asked Skander to show me something that isn't

to do with the war, and he said, OK, how about this?

It's the incident that triggered a different war.

I mean, one thing I've picked up from being here is they're big on immersive

experiences. I mean, dress as Franz Ferdinand, get in a car, go to the

go into the tunnel, go to Zero One's house, make war doughnuts.

What is this adding to it? I don't need to be wearing the jacket.

The hat.

There's people going, oh, what's that? Oh, apparently a bellboy was

on that corner.

Anyway, listen, my shift starts at the hotel in a minute, so I've got to go.

At the start of our trip, Skender had promised that Bosnia was a land full of

surprises.

So far, it had been more alarming than surprising.

But that afternoon, we headed out of town to visit an ancient archaeological

site that Skender assured me would completely blow my mind.

So what are we looking at here?

We're looking at the world's biggest and the world's oldest pyramid.

Skender told me that 15 years ago, a Bosnian archaeologist called Samos

saw this hill and declared it to be an ancient pyramid.

Ramesh. Ramesh, yes, hello. Welcome to Bosnia. Thank you very much.

Despite the idea being roundly rejected by mainstream scientists, he has spent

the best part of a decade trying to prove his theory.

This is the largest and the oldest pyramid on the planet.

Everything they taught you about the pyramids, just forget here.

Forget everything? They tell you Egyptian tombs, pharaohs, not true.

Pyramids are built all over the planet. The biggest one is right here.

Bosnia is the land of miracles.

All right, watch your head here.

Okay. Convinced that he was looking at an ancient complex which would turn all

known history on its head, Sam began looking for an entrance.

When I came here and I saw the pyramids, I knew that the tunnels had to be

somewhere.

Because all the pyramids in Egypt or Mexico or China, they do have tunnels.

All the tunnels were filled with the filler material.

We started removing the filler material and realized that there is a huge

network of tunnels.

Right.

It's all slightly confusing, isn't it?

It is slightly confusing. What is also very difficult is, and let me be clear

this, I think it's a load of shit.

But it's incredibly difficult.

Now, we have shortened our way to the pyramid for about 650 meters, so we

have about, let's put it this way, about 20 years to go. 20 years? But this is

archaeology.

Most archaeologists contend that these aren't ancient tunnels.

In fact, they claim that these tunnels didn't even exist until Sam dug them.

But then it was increasingly clear that Sam wasn't overly concerned by what

other people think.

So when we came here, there was a clearing, and then we discovered the

block so far.

We see very sophisticated civilization who knew energies

better than us.

So they were smart.

Who's they?

More advanced civilization than us. In archaeology, five questions.

Who, when, how, why, and what. What is this?

Pyramid complex.

Who? We don't know who. They are more advanced.

When? 30 ,000 years back.

How? Now we can see. Ceramic, concrete.

But if you're saying who more advanced than us, so then you're saying aliens or

something. Is that what you're saying?

I'm saying that we are inferior.

It could be humans, but also, like you said, it could be extraterrestrials,

inner terrestrials, some spiritual beings, anything's possible. What is an

terrestrial, sir?

Inner terrestrial, those who live inside this planet.

Right. It's not a theory.

Inside? At this point, it's just a theory.

Okay, but you're talking about underground, are you? Exactly.

What I would say is he's a very engaging guy. He's an intelligent dude. He

obviously believes in what he's doing.

I wasn't bored by that. It was fascinating to watch this guy that sort

devoted, you know, he's devoting the rest of his life to finding out what

this... It's a massive waste of time. But you can't help but admire his

dedication. So imagine 20 years from now...

Energy starts flowing.

And then you can see there's energy beams coming from the Persian pyramids.

change the whole world.

And we send the energy of love the best frequencies everywhere.

So 20 years time, tunnels activated. Tunnels opened.

Pyramid activated.

The pyramid shoots love energy into the air. Is that the... There you go.

You know, the truth is I'd like it to be true.

What I'd love is that in 20 years time, Sam makes his way to the pyramid.

He flicks the on switch and then puts his arms up and then we just see him

emerge from the top of the pyramid and he's just jizzed into space.

That's what I'd like to happen.

What I suspect will happen is that he will reach the pyramid, nothing will

happen, and then 20 students with spades will kick the shit out of him.

I was halfway through my time in the country, and until now I had genuinely

enjoyed myself.

But it had been a trip of contrast.

One moment you were being taken through tunnels that might have been built by

aliens, the next we were seeing tunnels that were built to save a city from

starvation. One minute you're skiing, the next you're experiencing what it was

like to live under the constant shelling of an enemy army.

The war did seem inescapable, and the following day we drove east out of

Sarajevo. to the sight of the country's darkest moment.

What brought it all to an end? What brought an end to the war?

You know, it's a very complex answer, but it's the NATO airstrikes.

Like, NATO planes came on 1st September 1995,

and for the next two weeks they were bombing Serbian army positions around

country.

Mainly targeting the most important military target.

This is the beginning of the end.

And what brought up this decision to the place where we are going right now is

called Srebrenica.

In 1993, the United Nations declared Srebrenica enclave as a UN safe haven.

When they arrived here, Dutch UN forces promised that these people are

protected.

July 1995, people of Srebrenica realized that they cannot defend themselves

because Serbian army was approaching close.

The only way that they could save themselves is if they leave the town of

Srebrenica and walk like 60 kilometers to this region here.

So people left the town, walked here.

The crowd was like some 30 ,000 people.

And when Dutch have realized that there is now already too many, they close the

gate.

Serbian forces came here, made agreement with Dutch.

Serbian forces will bring the trucks and buses. They're going to take the people

outside of the base. They're going to split them in women and men groups.

Buses of women went towards the free territory and most of them were

But buses of men were never released. They were brought to different locations

and in the days of 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 July,

All of them were killed, executed in mass executions.

So today on this memorial, here are the bodies of identified by name, and the

total number of people being killed is 8 ,372.

I'm obviously coming to it as an outsider.

It's incredibly sad, obviously.

Of course.

But there's two emotions. It's sort of sadness at what this has happened, but

also, even as an outsider, you can't help feeling sort of, I guess, anger at

fact that this was sort of allowed to happen from what feels like, you know,

these people are supposed to be protected and it didn't happen.

What's your prevalent feeling when you sort of come here and see this?

So, yes, like, when I first time came here,

Like, the feeling was of sadness, of course, because these people who were

killed come from my part of the story, from my life and the region where I

The problem is that the whole world was behind this place. I mean, when the

resolution was passed in the Security Council of the United Nations in 1993,

meant that whole 192 countries should prevent this from happening.

You disregard belief that you can be betrayed like that.

And what has been the long -term effect on Srebrenica?

Long -term effect?

The life in this region is dead. I mean, this patient, like I like to say,

has survived the operation, but he is at the end of his life. He cannot survive

because there is not enough effort placed to revive this place and

itself as a place to live.

Even though this is the biggest wound of this country, like the biggest scar.

You look at the numbers, and ordinarily when you see something like this, you'd

be going to a cemetery or a graveyard where those deaths had happened over the

course of a long time. This happened over the course of a few days.

It's just the perfect storm of just horror.

It's one of the worst things I've ever heard.

I mean, to be honest, I have got mixed feelings about coming here and engaging.

with the war in Bosnia as a tourist?

I mean, it is definitely possible. You could come here, you could go skiing,

you could return home.

The question as to whether you should, the fact of the matter is that Bosnia's

recent history is so completely dominated by this conflict, and the

the country still exists today.

Can you, with a clear conscience...

come here and engage with this purely as a tourist and connect with any of the

surface level sort of tourist activities in bosnia and feel all right about it i

don't know the truth is i haven't even made up my mind about how i feel about

but that is kind of what i'm going through right now

we

headed south leaving Bosnia and heading into neighbouring Herzegovina.

The plan was to see the country's iconic town of Mostar, famous for its ancient

bridge, stopping along the way to sample award -winning wines and, as a first

step, a pilgrimage to a holy site in the otherwise unremarkable town of

Medjugorje.

This is very beautiful, you know. Beautiful. Why do I say it like that?

This is so beautiful, Herzegovina.

Correct.

So where are we going now? So I'm now taking you to Medjugorje, and it is the

apparition of the Virgin Mary.

The apparition of the Virgin Mary? The apparition, yes.

She appeared in 1981 to six children, young kids, who claimed they

saw her in the hill above the Medjugorje.

And ever since then, this phenomenon attracts a number of believers.

What is your take on it? I like to believe it. I like to believe these

And even if it's not factual, it's really good because people come here,

find their peace.

When I was a kid, we used to see Mary, but it was this old woman called Mad

Mary. He used to throw stuff at children.

Maybe she moved here in 1981.

Maybe this is where she lives now.

Despite never having been officially confirmed as an apparition by the Pope,

thriving industry has grown up around the town of Medjugorje in the years

the sightings.

Skender told me that on the back of the influx of tourists, the town has become

one of the wealthiest in the country.

If I lived in another area, I'd be sending my kids out in the hope that

come back with a story.

Go out, and for God's sake, can you try and see something?

This is the Operation Hill above us.

Right.

So this is where the Virgin Mary appeared to those children which I told

about. Okay.

Do you want to go up? Yeah, let's go. No, no, no, wait, wait, wait. I don't

I stay.

Why? You need to experience this place for yourself, on your own. I won't do

good to you.

It's like a spiritual thing.

So you're staying here? I'm staying here. And what are you going to do while

gone? I'm going to have a coffee or something like that. But please be

It's very slippery.

People get injured. Some people even died.

On the road up.

Okay, there's something you tell somebody after they finish the walk,

the prayers will save you. All right, I'll see you in a bit. See you in a bit.

See you in a bit, mate. See you in a bit.

I'm absolutely furious with Skender at this point. He stayed down there to have

a coffee.

I can't help feeling I'm the victim of the stitch -up.

It's going to be an apparition of my fist to his face when I get back down.

Oh, God.

Is this worth it?

It'd be worth it if we see something. Well, we're not going to see anything.

How do you know?

Come on, mate.

Is that it there?

Romy, did you see anything?

No.

In contrast to Sarajevo, the weather was much, much nicer down here.

Herzegovina felt like a different country to Bosnia, even though it isn't

although it sounds like it. Skender told me the warmer Mediterranean climate is

perfect for producing wines.

We're going to try some of the finest Herzegovinian wine. That evening, he

me to a local vineyard for a tasting session.

Really

good.

Very good, yeah.

So Skender took me to a wine tasting, and I'm going to be straight up with

I am so smashed.

It's... I literally can't see. I cannot see.

So what are you looking for in a good wine?

Wait to

distinguish.

Of the two things that I thought you could engage with sense -wise, I'd

taste and smell.

I didn't think I was supposed to fucking listen to it.

Isn't it bad to mix wines?

That's lovely.

Let's see.

So what do you think? Tell me what you think about it.

There's not loads left in this, you know that, right?

What have you learned about Herzgewinian wine?

I've learned it's delicious.

It is tasty.

I have some gift for you.

Stay there.

You know what is this?

A bottle?

Pyramid water.

Oh, my God.

For you. Is this the water with the vibration, the love vibration?

Yes. From the pyramid.

That's the one.

Oh, my God.

That's the best you can get. This is worthless.

What tastes came through?

Wine.

Next question.

to say that I told you when you came that Bosnia and Herzegovina is going to

blow your mind.

It's not an ordinary travel destination.

It's not an ordinary story. It's something you heard of already.

But when you go home, it stays with you, like deep in your heart.

So I told you, you're going to love it.

That was such a beautiful speech.

Skender, thank you so much for the trip, my brother.

It was my pleasure.

You know, we should do like one hug.

Nursing a significant hangover, we arrived at our final destination, the

historic city of Mostar, where Skender had planned a relaxing day.

exploring its cobblestone streets, old stone buildings and the iconic Stady

Bridge.

Nice to have a bit of a relaxed walk because, I'm going to be honest with

don't feel great after last night.

Yeah, I'm a little bit ashamed of myself, I'm being honest.

Me too. You know, that was like my fourth time in my life.

Fourth, like by fourth. Yeah, I know what fourth is, man. Your fourth? Fourth

time in my life.

The tie.

Like had more than three glasses of wine.

Seriously? Seriously.

Are you serious? I'm not serious. Oh my God, now I feel bad.

See what you made me do.

So we are now like exiting the very old part of the city. Yeah.

And as soon as we enter this pedestrian area, we're entering like into more

Austro -Hungarian heritage and modern Yugoslavian days.

I'll show you one interesting place.

When the war ended, Yeah.

This city ended up to be, like, quite a divided city.

People of Mostar wanted to erect a statue.

Somebody who is, like, a symbol of unification and solidarity.

Mate! So we came up on top of this guy.

This is unbelievable.

You know that?

I know Bruce Lee.

You know him?

Yeah, I don't know what you're doing.

Mimicking.

This might be what has made me fall in love with Bosnia.

How did they decide it was going to be Bruce Lee?

Was there a vote?

Probably they voted among some other figures, and he came on top.

I mean, I'd love to know who the other candidates were.

Charlie Chaplin, Rod Hull, Eddie Murphy, Simon

Garfunkel, MC Hammer.

Rusty Lee.

Ravi Shankar.

Gene Wilder. Buster Keaton.

Max Bygraves.

Lightning McQueen.

I could see it to go forever.

Shall we continue with the tour?

Sure. Let's go.

Marge Simpson.

Jackie Chan.

Yes. Good choice.

Jim Davidson.

So I want to show you the bridge.

This is the most famous symbol of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Look at that.

So this bridge was made in the Ottoman time. It was built like in the mid 16th

century. And ever since then, it became the most important symbol of this

country. But also, unfortunately, in 1993, it was destroyed in the war. When

was reconstructed in 2004, it became the symbol number one of Bosnia

-Herzegovina. It was special because ever since it was built, people started

diving from it as well.

So even today, you have this diving competition, which is slowly entering

500th year of the anniversary of diving.

It looks quite dangerous.

It looks very dangerous.

Would you like to try?

I don't think so.

We should go up.

You can have a look, like, how it feels on the top. So maybe you will know only

then better what you feel about it. I mean, I feel like I know now, but I'm

happy to go and have a look.

And then you can confirm that I'm not doing it.

Okay, let's go.

I would like to introduce my friend who can maybe show us how he's done. I feel

sick just watching this.

How long have you been doing this?

I mean,

have people hurt themselves doing this?

Right,

so you've got to penetrate the water.

I mean, do you mind if I see you have a go and then I'll make up my mind whether

I want to do it? Is that okay? Because I think it's only fair that I see him do

it first, right?

Good luck.

Oh, my gosh.

So good.

So good.

Bro, that looks horrific.

How do you feel about doing it?

I don't want to do it. I don't want to do it.

I think you should do it.

I can't do this.

Is it actually all right to do?

I'll save it.

Okay,

let's just get it over with.

Shit.

If you don't do it, we don't really have an end to the show.

You do have an end. Just cut to credits.

Otherwise, the end of the show is going to be Romesh died in the fort.

And then you get a cut to credits.

And then it's going to misadventure the Nishikumar.

I'm just going to do it, okay? I do.

That's my man. Ready?

Okay.

Three, two, one, go.

Unbelievable. Scanda was keen to emphasise to me that I was going to see

one of the greatest travel experiences that I've ever had and I'm never going

forget it. And if you compare what my expectations of this country were

to the reality of what it's been like to travel here, the difference is...

is enormous.

You could come here and have a great week's ski holiday. You could come and

a weekend break in a medieval town.

You could go wine tasting and all of these things for a fraction of the price

that you'd spend elsewhere in Europe. And on top of that, you could spend some

time waiting for an alien pyramid to be reactivated.

You don't have to engage with the war side of things, but I think as a result

coming here, I think you probably should.

Srebrenica, the tunnel, and even to a certain extent that sort of zero -one

experience.

I would say that I've sort of been affected by it in a way that I haven't

been before.

And I think, how I currently feel, is that it has left me with an increased

level of empathy.

So I guess without being kind of overdramatic about it and being all sort

-of -episode noble.

I would say that it sort of left me with a changed attitude.

That I think, I think and I hope that I'll carry forward as a result of this

experience.

It really surprised me.

What I know about Colombia is drugs, Pablo Escobar, violence.

Oh, shit!

I've got volcano in my ears.

No, honestly, it's great. Oh, yeah, this is seamless.

For the benefit of those who can't tell, I'm currently getting my junk rinsed.