tell us was the black box lying.

So I sat inside for about an hour with the air conditioning on, then went outside and completely forgot it was 38degrees. Ouch.

So the other day was going pretty normally, a bit quiet in the day time of course. Phone call from Majda. Majda says 'there will be 2 people arriving at Luka (the hostel I am at) at around 5pm, and then 11 Polish people shortly after'. Now, there is nothing unusual about that, not even the group of 11. Thats just how people go it seems, some people like to travel in big groups. My first thought was that they would be people who want to head out into Medjugordje for the day, but want to stay in the slightly less manic surroundings of Mostar. Thats fair enough. So Majda drove me over to the main hostel to deal with these people. We were going to meet them near the Franciscan cathedral, and then drive to the hostel. I started trying to create a plan of action in my head. With such a big group, usually they splinter off during the greetings, but then there will always be a couple of people there who are leaders of sorts, who will take things on board and convey to the rest of the group. That's pretty much how this will go I thought.

Well, there were definitely 4 obvious leaders among the 11. Why you ask? Well, the other 7 were all aged between 6 and 13. Thats right, kids. Little, excitable, energetic rapscallions. This is highly unusual for a hostel, let alone a small hostel of Majdas reputation. Needless to say, they ate all the cake and drank all the juice of the opening greeting. I wasn't really sure how to approach this, other than laughing quite a lot and then trying to have a serious conversation with parents. I did get a lot of enjoyment out of asking the kids for their passports though, that was pretty fun. I felt like John Kimble. Showing the map was incredibly difficult as well. You can't go telling 7 year olds about a snipers nest can you? The answer to that question is no, no you can't.

The point I would like to make about this, is that if you are 2 families taking your kids on an incredibly justifiable holiday to the Mostar region, or anywhere for that matter, do not stay in a youth hostel. It just makes no sense. For you first and foremost, there are plenty of pensions and apartments in the area that would be far more comfortable for 7 kids, just purely for the room. Also, hostels aren't really the places for little ones. A lot of travellers like to enjoy themselves whilst on the road, and most nights will at least involve a beer on the balcony. A lot of travellers smoke as well. It makes no sense to take your children to a hostel. Its terrible for the travellers as well, as the atmosphere of the place is killed. Instead of having those 11 beds filled with people who are making their way around the area and totally open to new people, they are pretty much cut off from the rest of the hostel. Now, I have a lot of faith in kids, but I can't see the 7 and 8 year olds sitting out on the balcony with the 22 year old Belgian and the 27 year old Australian discussing why the international community isn't making more of a noise about the Niger food crisis. The entire experience just bumped the Hammill family up in my already sky high estimation as well. There were 3 young people who were interested in the history and culture of the area, and being educated by 2 equally curious parents.

I won't deny that it was a pretty funny experience either. I don't think I'll ever get another chance to go up to a 10 year old and demand their passport.

This is what a live band looks like.