When thinking of Bosnia & Herzegovina, it is difficult not to focus on the Yugoslav wars that blighted the Balkan region for much of the 1990s. At a loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, huge landmass was shredded into civil combat. Much of Bosnia & Herzegovina's landscape is still riddled with mines, and ramshackle buildings loll across its towns and villages. However, the country remains beautiful, and its winding aqua rivers have lost none of their lustre.

Although economic stagnation and international isolation is yet to be overcome, there is positive history in abundance, from stunning old mosques to amphitheatres and Catholic shrines. Countryside varies from woodland to mountains to rolling hills. Perhaps most wonderful is the rebuilt bridge in Mostar - what used to be a pre-war ancient overpass. Now re-opened to the public, it is hard not to walk across it and hope it symbolic of new beginnings.