voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines for you at the top of the hour, which is straight after this programme. geographically, you'll find bosnia and herzegovina is in southern europe, on the balkan peninsula. but metaphorically, it's on the fault line of culture and history... call to prayer ..a mix between east and west... mostar is my city. that's where i'm born, and that's where i belong. ..where the landscapes tell stories of conflict and survival. oops. they got scared of me there!

he laughs it's a unique spirit of resilience that continues today through the generations. this is a country that has long intrigued me. i'm starting myjourney in the capital, sarajevo. today, it's a beautiful, vibrant city. but 30 years ago, it was under heavy military siege.

piano music and every now and then, you see small reminders. journalist, and i was house—sharing with a mate and he told me this incredible story about a cellist who was playing that music, albinoni's adagio, amongst his notes became synonymous with the resilience of the people. the siege of sarajevo lasted 1,425 days, the longest in modern history. and now you can be let

in on the country's greatest war secret. was pivotal in stopping the whole city of sarajevo now it's crowded. it started here, actually. yeah. this property belonged to edis kolar's family. during the war, his father handed it over so an 800—metre tunnel could be built into the besieged city. when i was younger. months digging around the clock in eight—hour shifts. here is the original entrance from that period. wow!

but the stairs are completely original. and this was the door. the door to the city. yeah. when you close this, you close 300,000 people inside. this was the only exit they could go out. the only way out. nothing else... wow, that's a real artery. a lifeline. and you can feel the bad smell now. it's... and when you smell this, you know, you remember you know? you had births, marriages, deaths. wounded. weapons, food, everything on one place, you know, we on the front line here, we knew that we are protecting the tunnel. 0n the other hand, you were

protecting your house, too. behind our back was family. that's.. that's why bosnian army was strong. and we would die there, believe me, before they pass through. you know, the level of underground water rising fast. you know, it could be up to the knees, just freezing water, you know, and practically you are all wet. whoever was working was all wet. so the conditions now are much, much nicer than before? of course. there is no water. at that time, people had to carry 50kg, 60kg it was war. we have to do something, what is important. you know, nothing was hard. yeah. you know, they felt good because, as you said, they were older men, they couldn't fight on the front line. yes.

so they were doing something for themselves. now, 130 metres of the original tunnel has been reinforced the international airport is now closed. back then, the airport was controlled by the un and considered neutral ground. your bedroom? my bedroom, yes. he chuckles the museum is open to visitors pass through each day. what do you think about a place that was so central to the war and has now become a museum where tourists from all over the world come? you know, after the war, when the tunnel was closed, me and my father came here every day because my grandparents lived

in this house. and everything, what we found around, we put in this basement. plus, you know, the nato soldiers who were here started, of course, coming because tunnel was not secret, but it was not, like, published anywhere. they were the first tourists! yeah. that happened in 1996, immediately after the war, and i didn't have any idea that so many people would come here at all. you know, if people can learn just 1% from this story, you know, that would be good for other people who have wars today. the war killed over 100,000 people and left the country's economy in tatters. but much like the tunnel, sarajevo has made great strides in restoring itself and repurposing its public

spaces to help enhance the cultural life of the city. tucked in amongst the buildings, up a quiet street, is kino bosna, a former cinema, which has been around for nearly a century. now, it's been turned into a buzzing music venue, a cultural event space, and somewhere where people can

i play a little bit of bass guitar. she asks a question yeah, yeah, yeah. do you...? what are you saying? next thing i know, i'm being introduced to the band playing tonight. hi. nice to meet you, too. how are you? i'm fine, thank you. he strums yep? you seem panicked! yes. i am slightly panicked when i get asked to do more than i'm capable of. let's just stick to the one song! it's still pretty early, but the place is filling up. i like the vibe here. it's a monday night, but they're obviously going to go for it. and as for me, i'm wondering if i know the song! he makes introductions rajan!

applause 0k! drumbeat starts he sings i think i played in time and in tune, and they seem to be ok with it! great experience. fantastic experience. wow!

so, there's only one passenger train line in bosnia that runs from sarajevo through the city of mostar, which is perfect, as that is where i'm heading next. basically, this is brutalist architecture from the 19505. incredible. i love it. fortunately, the trains, apparently, aren't from the 19505, but we'll find out. they greet each other ticket for mostar. i do love old stations and railways around the world — there's something so magical about them. this could be our train.

doors beep whistle blows now, apparently, the left—hand side of the carriage is the best place to sit for stunning views. so, here we go. the two—hour train journey runs twice a day — once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon. beautiful scenery aside, it definitely beats sitting in traffic. mostar lies close to the border with croatia, and it's home to muslim bosniaks, 0rthodox serbs and catholic croats. the rebuilding of the once famously bombed medieval bridge after the war was used as a metaphor for reuniting the different communities,

but mostar still has a reputation for being one of the most divided cities in the country. and study different curriculums. but what seems to unite everyone is the tourist industry, which is big in mostar... ..as are the famous divers. cheering and chanting $57, he's now taking two to three breaths. and... whoa! so, this is you? yeah, it's from the competition. ahmet stupac is a bit of a local diving legend here. wow! 0h, beautiful! jumping from the 2a—metre—high unesco—listed bridge has become somewhat of a rite of passage for young men here, but also a good way to make some money.

you jump in feet—first and head—first. thejump in head—first is called "lasta". it's like the bird swallow. i told myself if i did the jump, i would have a tattoo of a swallow here. and i did, like, a design of a jumper here inside a swallow. tell me about the tradition ofjumping off the bridge. when did it start, and why did it start? so wejumped, like, 400 years ago, the tradition started from then. and in the beginning, it was to impress girls. so, to prove who is the bravest. later, we started doing that as a job and tourists would pay us tojump. and it went like that. thank you. the divers wait till they've collected at least 50 euros

from onlookers before plunging into the cold river. before we jump, we wet ourselves to avoid the shock because neretva is like eight degrees. it depends on the season, but... ..mostly 15 to 20 jumps a day. what's the reaction of the crowd when you jump? so i'm the only one in mostarwhojumps, like, on head—first now, and the people were cheering for me, and it's pretty awesome. i don't know how to describe it. this city has plenty of food options along the neretva river, so i'm crashing ahmet�*s lunch with his mate marko. this is your local restaurant? yeah. they have great food. i bet you come here every day, don't you? yeah. my friends work here. ah, they actually work here? yeah. 0h, right. two of them. ah. have a nice time,

enjoy the food. thank you so much. it looks delicious. this dish is called bosanski lonac, or bosnian stew. . so it's a traditional dish - you may find in any household, really, no matter of the - background, ethnic background. do you like this, ahmet? yeah, i like it. i like everything that has meat in it. rajan laughs yeah! here you go. fantastic. thank you so much. of course. food from the land, from the whole of bosnia. no matter what family you're from, no matter what religion you are, that will do the job. yeah, everyone eats it. yeah. what is bosnia? it's just a mixture i of a lot of cultures. we're right in the middle of serbia, croatia... - we had turkey ruling over as. well, austrian empire as well. so there's a lot of culture i here and a lot of potential. it'sjust on us to change it, not on our parents — - it's too late, i guess. yeah, yeah. are you proud to be bosnian?

i'm proud to be bosnian. and you, because you've got serbian background, are you proud to be bosnian? yes, of course. even though my parents and their parents are . originally from bothi serbia and slovenia, actually, but mostar is my city. - that's where i'm born, - and that's where i belong. time to leave mostar and head for the mountains. bosnia has a rich rural landscape, and almost half of the country is still covered in forests, which make it perfect for hiking and adventure sports. but what i've been told is that one of the biggest draws to livno is a herd of around 1,000 wild horses roaming

here are the horses. horses like this were once the backbone of the agricultural industry here. but once tractors and modern machinery arrived, many farmers set their horses free to fend for themselves in the wild. and over the years, their numbers have grown and grown. there are a number of tour operators that take you to see the wild horses, and some even donate part of their funds towards looking after the animals. oh, wow! look at this. horse whinnies so, zeljko's pouring salt along the ground —

they are riding into the colder air that's over the uk right now. and it's on this edge here where these two air masses meet. that's where we sometimes get the snow. and in this case, we'll potentially at least get a little bit of freezing rain through the early hours of saturday morning. so this is what it looks like, then, 4am in the morning, 5am. you can see some snow, perhaps some freezing rain, falling across the pennines through yorkshire, possibly into lincolnshire as well. to the south of that,

it's rain.