Going against the flow...in a contra-flow!

Mostar has a few quirks in its road system; certainly to a driver freshly arrive from the nanny state that is Great Britain for driving in the UK leaves nothing to the imagination. There is always a sign to tell you exactly what to do – or not as the case may be. There are sign to remind you to take a break and even signs that announce ‘fog’ when there clearly isn’t anything of the sort. Then there are road cones – millions on them. A motorway contra-flow system will utilise edge-to-edge cones for miles on end, guiding obedient vehicles through every twist and turn, while temporary speed cameras will ensure all of this happens at an appropriate average speed.

Tonight we were heading to a concert in a nearby town. I knew there were road works on the most direct route out of town, but didn’t want to make a fuss by picking my way across town to hit the main road by an alternative route. So it was that we encountered an un-signposted road-closure, negotiated a barely-signposted diversion and ended up reversing up a section of contra-flow after the few cones there were abruptly blocked the road, leaving us facing the oncoming traffic. I don’t know if Jeremy Clarkson has ever driven in Bosnia Herzegovina. Something tells me he’d revel in its quasi-anarchic roads but he’d be infuriated at the large sections tonight’s out-of-town journey that had 50kpm speed limits.