Tunnel of Hope

Here you can see the traces of the First World War, the car of the King Sonandi is still on the scene, really and nostalgic, if you have the opportunity to stay in Bosnia and Herzegovina for two more days before leaving.

The Sarajevo Tunnel is commonly known as the “Hope Tunnel” and “Life Tunnel”. The tunnel is located below Sarajevo Airport to connect Sarajevo City and Sarajevo Airport. The entire city of Sarajevo was besieged by the Serbian and Yugoslav forces when the Bosnian war broke out in 1992, and in early 1993, the tunnel was completed with rudimentary tools such as shovels and shovels, by local Bosnian soldiers and civilians. The only light source for people to operate underground was oil lamps made from containers filled with cooking oil and wicks made of rope. On the evening of July 30, 1993, the tunnel was finally completed, and the 800-meter tunnel was about 1 meter wide and the average height was about 1.4 meters. Thanks to the tunnel's construction, the troubled city regained access to telephone lines, oil supplies, food and electricity. From July 1993 to the end of February 1996, the hope tunnel became the only link between Sarajevo, which was then under siege, and the outside world. The tunnels allow food, military supplies and humanitarian aid to enter Sarajevo, and are an important way to bypass the arms embargo and provide garrison weapons. Many people escape through tunnels to escape Sarajevo! After the war, the tunnel was converted about 20 meters into part of the museum I visited today, which contains many war relics and memorials from Sarajevo's siege period, the longest in modern history. I can only bend my head down the tunnel with the crowd, and I can't lift my head, let alone rely on it for four years! After coming up, there were a row of simple houses at the exit of the tunnel, and the door was opened casually, with rows of benches and a TV set, which looped the documentary film of people building the tunnel during the Bosnia and Herzegovina War. The picture suddenly took me back to 1993. The life of the vigorous people in Beijing at that time was thriving, and the people of Sarajevo were still in the midst of war 7,600 kilometers away! The world is changing and it is incredible! After visiting the Sarajevo War Museum and the tunnel of hope, the hard and cruel images of wartime in the documentary still come to my mind. The old man who accompanied me (about who he is? See my last article) said to me, “Look here and there on the ground, the mark of the red paint drawings (Figure 1), see?” and I said, “Yes, what is that?” and he said: "Those were the guns and bullet holes in the Bosnian War, and then the war ended, and people painted them in red paint instead of filling them up, we called it 'blood roses'!" I really realized his explanation, but it is not like a blooming red rose! It is amazing that the romantic Sarajevo people can commemorate the tragic war in such an artistic way and decorate the city! 🇧🇦

Next to the airport is the Sarajevo Tunnel Museum, a tunnel built between 1992 and 1995 during the Battle of Sarajevo Sarajevo during the BiH War. The tunnel was built by the Bosnian army to link the city of Sarajevo and Sarajevo airport. The connection between the two was then cut off by Serbs, and the tunnels allowed food, military supplies and humanitarian aid to enter Sarajevo, and became an important way to bypass the arms embargo and provide garrison weapons; many also escaped through tunnels. Now the Sarajevo tunnel has become a tourist attraction, the entrance and exit have been converted into a museum. We visited it, walked a tunnel, felt the cruelty of war, and wished world peace forever.

The Sarajevo Tunnel is a fascinating piece of recent history. Built during the war and siege of the city in the 1990s, it was used as a way to smuggle weapons and food into the city, and wounded people out. Go with a guide if you can...there is a lot to learn.

Beautiful scenery, clean environment, worth a visit!