I made some eggs in the morning and then headed out to the major attraction for the day, the mountain. The mountains south of the old town were an essential part of the 1984 Winter Olympics and much of the infrastructure up there still remains. Just a few years ago, the cable car system that goes way up the side of the mountain was rebuilt following its destruction in the war, and now it's a great way for tourists to access the parks. I walked a few minutes over to the base station, stopping by the spot where Franz Ferdinand was assassinated (there's no monument anymore, so I listened to "Take Me Out" in his honor), and then got in a cable car.

I was accompanied by an older local woman and someone that I assume was her daughter. The mother was very friendly and started making conversation, which quickly became a long thing about how grateful I should be that Trump is now going to restore America's position in the world. The daughter changed the conversation as soon as there was a break in this, so I suspect they were of different minds on the issue. Regardless of subject matter, I've noticed that the people here tend to be quite friendly. I think there's a lot of love for America in the Balkans since they see our role in Yugoslav Wars as having been positive. Except the Serba, that is. The cable car briefly had a decent view of the city, but this quickly vanished as we rose up into the smog/cloud layer that covers the city. We soon emerged from this to find ourselves with an incredible view of the mountains. Above the clouds, the air was crystal clear and breathing was much easier.

I had a few things in mind for what to do up here, but I saw that there were some hiking trails up the summit of the mountain. I felt this calling to me, so I headed that way and started climbing. It was a very nice hike and there were many possible routes. At one point a local guy started giving me all manner of advice on which approach to the summit I should do and where to go to get the best views. I hadn't asked for any of this, but I was browsing Balkan memes on my phone and I think he misconstrued it as being lost. Once I got above the tree line, the memes went away because the views were incredible. The city, despite being just a few miles away, was completely hidden by the layer of clouds. The only other thing visible were similarly tall peaks, so it gave the impression of islands in a sea of clouds. It was a really beautiful hike.

On the way down, I no longer had my guide friend since he split off from me a while back. Because of this and the fact that Google Maps doesn't have any records of the trails, I got lost a couple times, but I always managed to reorient myself and get back on course. The only challenge was getting back down to the cable car terminal before dark, which I just barely did. I regretted having to go back into the terrible air of the city.

I spent a bunch more time with people from the hostel in the evening. Once again, I found myself really liking everyone I met. Apparently, I just missed an English flat earther who'd been there for months and also believes that the moon isn't real - would've loved to get into it with him. One of the Australian guys from Mostar I went through Bosnian customs with showed up - he wears a ridiculous balaclava, puffy jacket, gloves, and winter hat, and then still complains about being cold. It was like 40 F; Maine guy and I exchanged lots of judgmental looks. We played lots of cards and briefly went out to the same pub from last night, but I got pizza and we weren't out too long.

Serbia tomorrow. Honestly, Sarajevo still has plenty of things for me to explore, but it's not quite likeable enough for me to want to do that. It's been nice to see for a couple days, but I think it's best to get moving on.