Traveling with pets can be a real challenge, especially when it comes to finding accommodations that truly welcome your furry companions. If you’ve ever planned a trip to Mostar, you know how frustrating it can be to sort through countless hotels that either have strict pet policies or outright bans. It almost feels like pet owners are being singled out, making travel seem more complicated than it should be.
Mostar, a city renowned for its historic bridge and picturesque landscapes, has recently gained global recognition in the world of sports, thanks to its young swimming sensation, Lana Pudar. This talented athlete has not only put Bosnia and Herzegovina on the map of competitive swimming but has also become a symbol of perseverance, dedication, and excellence.
A Star is Born in Mostar
Lana Pudar was born and raised in Mostar, a city known more for its cultural heritage and tourism than for its swimming traditions. Despite the lack of top-tier swimming facilities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lana’s passion and determination drove her to excel in the sport. From an early age, she displayed an extraordinary talent for swimming, particularly in the butterfly stroke, which soon became her specialty.
Breaking Barriers in International Swimming
Lana Pudar made history by becoming one of the most successful swimmers from Bosnia and Herzegovina. She competed in various European and international competitions, earning medals and setting records. Her performances at the European Aquatics Championships and the World Swimming Championships demonstrated her ability to compete with the best swimmers in the world.
What makes her achievements even more remarkable is that she comes from a country where swimming infrastructure is still developing. Unlike swimmers from nations with well-funded programs and Olympic-standard facilities, Lana had to train under challenging conditions. Nevertheless, her unwavering spirit and dedication have allowed her to overcome these obstacles and achieve greatness.
The Road to the Olympics
As Lana Pudar prepares to compete—her journey has inspired an entire generation of young athletes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. She represents hope and ambition, proving that talent and hard work can break barriers regardless of the circumstances.
The Olympics will not only be an opportunity for Lana to showcase her skills but also a moment of immense pride for Mostar. Her presence on the international stage highlights the city’s potential to nurture world-class athletes and attract sports enthusiasts interested in following her journey.
Swimming and Tourism: The Mostar Connection
Mostar is already a well-known tourist destination, famous for its Old Bridge (Stari Most), a UNESCO World Heritage site. The Neretva River, which flows beneath it, has long been a place of diving traditions, with the famous annual diving competition attracting adventurers from around the world. While Mostar has been historically linked to diving, Lana Pudar’s success is now creating a new narrative—one that ties Mostar to competitive swimming on a global scale.
With Lana’s rise in international swimming, there is a growing interest in sports tourism in Mostar. The city could potentially develop its swimming infrastructure, attract international training camps, and encourage young local athletes to pursue swimming.
Lana Pudar: More Than an Athlete
Beyond her incredible achievements in the pool, Lana Pudar serves as an inspiration to young people in Mostar and beyond. Her story is one of resilience and determination, demonstrating that success is possible even when faced with adversity. She embodies the spirit of perseverance and excellence, making her a true ambassador for her city and country.
As Mostar continues to shine as a tourism gem, Lana Pudar’s story adds a new dimension to its identity—one that celebrates athletic achievement alongside its rich history and breathtaking landscapes. Whether she is standing on the podium or inspiring future generations, Lana remains a symbol of pride for Mostar and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
From day one the Tour Guide Mostar journey has been an incredible experience for our team. By collecting information about our hometown, history, architecture and contacting people who have visited us, we got the chance to communicate with real-life explorers.
This week we would like to introduce you to Maya Hasrouty, young and beautiful Lebanese girl who is passionate about traveling. Maya is a firm believer that travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.
Can you tell us more about yourself?
With an academic background of Economic Studies in banking and finance, my heart is drawn to cities, cultures, languages, scents, architecture… each with its own charm and “joie de vivre”. Fluent in Lebanese, French, English and German I find that the only effective way of communicating is through the eyes though they are the windows to the soul.
Why do you love to travel?
“We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more.” ― Pico Iyer We travel for all those things and more…. When you set your eyes on a beautiful hidden spot along the way of your journey…. you cannot help it… You’re in love! When you see the sun shining in another country… a variety of sensations get to your heart & you’re in love! When you visit an old church on a secluded island… your heart beats emotionally & you’re in love! When you discover a million years of history in one place… YOU ARE IN LOVE! So to make a long story short… Wanna be in love with the world? TRAVEL!
Maya in Montenegro
What is your web address that you would like to share with our audience?
My travel blog is majatraveling.wordpress.com
Was this your first visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina? What cities did you visit?
This actually was not my first visit to this beautiful country… I have been to Medjugorje and to Kravice Waterfalls before and I am gonna write about them soon! I’ve been doing lots of travel. I haven’t been everywhere but it is on my list! I visited France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Greece and recently Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia!
How long did you stay and why?
Unfortunately, my last visit was not long…I visited Mostar in the afternoon and spent the night in Sarajevo. Hopefully, I’ll be back to enjoy the beauty of this wonderful place for much longer
What places did you visit in Mostar?
The Breathtaking Bridge
Would you visit it again?
YES!!! Definitely
What would you recommend to young people?
Travel is a way to learn more about the world. You can tell me that nowadays with all the critical economic difficulties in the world traveling has become a kind of luxury to certain people. Well yes it is but you know what? Saving money to travel is actually worth it! That is why I always encourage people especially young ones to try & save money to travel because once they go out of the environment they live in everything will change for them, this experience will affect them positively. Their interests will change, they’ll have more respect for humanity, nature and even toward themselves.
A lot has happened in the past five years in the historic city of Mostar. The number of adopted pets has increased. During the summer, there are also a lot of tourists who bring their pets into a tourist adventure and later on find themselves in embarrassing situations due to the almost non-existence of restaurants that would receive them.
The Red Bull Cliff Diving Series moves all around the globe, with the competitors launching themselves from cliff tops and other cliff jumping locations in a different country each week. This week the Red Bull Cliff Diving Series returns to the city of Mostar with the action centered on the Old Bridge.
Who is diving this year?
Listed below are all great names that spectators in Mostar will be able to see this year!
Adriana Jimenez
Date of Birth:20/01/1985
Height:1.58m
Weight:50kg
Resides in: Mexico City
She loves dancing, hates running and is one of the world’s best cliff divers – Adriana Jimenez from Mexico City. A lovely personality, that never runs short of surprising the people around her with small gifts and a big smile.
Sergio Guzman
Date of Birth:26/02/1991
Height:1.75m
Weight:70kg
Resides in:Mexico City
“I have not lost the ability to jump in the water like a ‘regular’ person, I just learned how to fall in style,” Sergio Guzman says. His style has taken him quite far already, as the Mexican once invited his girlfriend to a diving show and dedicated the highest dive to her – the rest is history: the two are now married and parents of a cute baby girl.
Jonathan Paredes
Date of Birth:14/08/1989
Height:1.65m
Weight:62kg
Resides in:Mexico City
“Become the champion.” A pretty straightforward goal. No doubt about Jonathan Paredes’ ambitions, and looking at his 2016 results – victory at the season opener, four 3rd placed finishes and runner-up to champion Gary Hunt – the World Series’ ‘ripping machine’ is hard on the heavyweights’ heels.
Blake Aldridge
Date of Birth:04/08/1982
Height:1.70m
Weight:65kg
Resides in:London
If you want to know what competitive is, watch Blake Aldridge – the finalist at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing has had to deal with quite some injuries and set-backs in his career but would never ever give up. And this is not only true for his professional life. “If there’s anything I really suck at, I’ll work on it to be good at it.”
Gary Hunt
Date of Birth:11/06/1984
Height:1.75m
Weight:68kg
Resides in:Paris, France
Introducing the world’s best cliff diver – a man, afraid of heights. “I’m so used to judging height and seeing how many somersaults and twists I can do from that height, I can’t help but imagine how it would feel to somersault and jump off. So where there’s no water underneath, it scares the life out of me.” Luckily, when it comes to diving from the equivalent of six double-decker buses – to keep it Brit-style for the Paris-resident – the 6-time World Series champion manages to overcome the fear factor and to make the most complicated dives look easy.
Helena Merten
Date of Birth:17/03/1995
Height:1.65m
Weight:54kg
Resides in:Gold Coast
The acrobat set her first mark at the FINA High Diving World Cup in February 2016 and grabbed the last spot for the World Series to become the youngest ever athlete in the permanent divers line-up. And Helena Merten lived up to the expectations: a podium at the season opener in Texas (3rd) and another one to round off the year in a challenging floodlit night event in the Dubai Marina (2nd).
Rhiannan Iffland
Date of Birth:09/09/1991
Height:1.67m
Weight:60kg
Resides in:Newcastle, Australia
The laid-back Aussie-girl from New South Wales comes from a trampoline background and started her diving career around the age of nine. Although she performed at (and won) some national meets, she took the Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series entirely by surprise. 2017 will be ‘Rhi’s’ first season as a permanent diver. Will she be able to defend her title?
Orland Duque
Date of Birth:11/09/1974
Height:1.75m
Weight:70kg
Resides in: Cali, Colombia
For almost 20 years, the sport’s main ambassador has developed and established this raw and extreme discipline, has won literally everything – the inaugural World Series in 2009 as well as the first FINA High Diving World Championship title in 2013, amongst others – and there’s still no stopping this man at the age of 42.
Lysanne Richard
Date of Birth:30/08/1981
Height:1.62m
Weight:56kg
Resides in:Montreal, Canada
Only two women have won in 2016 and Lysanne Richard was one of them. An astonishing season for the 35-year-old ended with the 2nd place in the overall ranking right behind an untouchable Rhiannan Iffland. Out of her five podium finishes two went straight to the top.
Kris Kolanus
Date of Birth:22/10/1986
Height:1.70m
Weight:63kg
Resides in:Halle, Germany
The 30-year-old is the first athlete in the history of the World Series to return as a permanent diver after being forced into wildcard status for the previous two seasons. Kris Kolanus is also the only diver in the line-up who runs his own record label – Mad-Hop Records.
Michal Navratil
Date of Birth:05/06/1985
Height:1.84m
Weight:85kg
Resides in:Prague, Czech Republic
“After seven seasons in the World Series I finally figured out my dives and I feel confident with them. I’m really happy with my dive list; I have a good level of difficulty. 2016 could be the year of success!” Said. Done. Nothing to add.
Andy Jones
Date of Birth:21/04/1985
Height:1.82m
Weight:81kg
Resides in:Santa Monica, California
Coming out ahead at the 2016 showdown, California-based Jones utilised his Cirque du Soleil background in the World Series’ first-ever night time event to show his best diving and topped his most successful season with a first place from the 27m-platform. The 11th athlete to ever win a competition completed the overall podium behind Gary Hunt and Jonathan Paredes, promoting him to one of the favourites for the 2017 season.
Cesilie Carlton
Date of Birth:27/03/1981
Height:1.65m
Weight:54kg
Resides in:San Antonio, Texas
After becoming the first wildcard diver to win a competition (the off-the-cliff meet on the Portuguese Azores in 2015) the 36-year-old has big plans for the new season. After winning the inaugural world championship title for high divers in 2013 – following FINA’s inclusion of high diving as a professional sport in 2012 – the physically super fit athlete is part of the Women’s World Series since its debut season in 2014
David Colturi
Date of Birth:30/04/1989
Height:1.73m
Weight:70kgResides in:Los Angeles, California
The former medical student was back on the 10m-board in early February and might still add a few more successful cliff diving seasons before he ultimately returns to the books to become a doctor.
Ginger Huber
Date of Birth:06/12/1974
Height:1.70m
Weight:58kg
Resides in: Orlando, Florida
At 42, Ginger still feels comfortable on the podium and so she won 2nd place in Shirahama (JPN) and 3rd on the Azores (POR) in last year’s World Series. Unfortunately, her 6th place in the 2016 overall rankings does not at all represent her true potential.
Steven LoBue
Date of Birth:17/06/1985
Height:1.61
Weight:62kg
Resides in: Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
Steven LoBue is a man of many labels: he has established himself as the World Series’ ‘turbo spinner’ – he’s the only man who does five somersaults in less than three seconds. He’s the ‘miracle man’ from La Rochelle when he hit the platform at take-off with his forehead and came out with only a scratch. The diving coach is a loving husband and father, and never short of a smile.
