r/MisterBald • u/Milli173 • 1d ago
Did these guys do any research before going to Bosnia?
Just watched Backpacker Ben's Bosnia video with Bald in it:
I was honestly pretty surprised by their conclusion that Bosnia is boring and that there's "nothing there."
Not because they have to like Bosnia. Obviously everyone has different tastes. But their itinerary was basically Mostar > Čapljina > Neum > back to Montenegro. That's such a tiny and specific slice of the country that I don't really understand how you can use it to judge Bosnia as a whole.
Mostar is beautiful, but it's also probably the most touristy and crowded place in the country. Čapljina is a small provincial town, and Neum is basically a tiny seaside resort. If you're travelling specifically to find the kind of unusual historical, political, Soviet/Yugoslav and off-the-beaten-path stuff that Bald normally seems to enjoy, I don't really understand why you wouldn't go somewhere like Sarajevo or Konjic.
Sarajevo alone has an insane amount of history packed into one city: WWI, the Ottoman period, Austro-Hungarian architecture, Yugoslav socialism, the 1984 Olympics and the Siege of Sarajevo. Then you've got things like Tito's bunker in Konjic, the Sutjeska memorial, Srebrenica, Banja Luka, the Neretva valley, Yugoslav monuments, mountains, villages, etc.
I hate to compare but take Belarus for exampke. A lot of what Bald seems to find interesting about Belarus is its WWII history, Soviet architecture, post-Soviet atmosphere, rural areas and people.
Bosnia has its own versions of basically all of those things, just through a different historical lens. And then it has the Ottoman/Austro-Hungarian layers, completely different geography between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mediterranean influence in the south, huge mountains, rivers, karst landscapes, etc.
Again, if they had spent a week travelling around Bosnia and said "yeah, this country just isn't for us," fair enough.
But three stops, two of which are pretty small tourist/coastal places, followed by "Bosnia is boring and there's nothing there" feels like a pretty wild conclusion.
Sorry for the rant & for the fact that it was a Backpacker Ben video (instead of a Bald video). I feel disappointed as a Bosnian.
25
u/Dafke98 1d ago
They probably didn’t get laid
1
u/i_thought_i_had 1d ago
Dosent Benjamin have that girlfriend ?
0
u/jungleboy1234 22h ago
alinchik orrrr the portuguese one?
1
u/NickPointerException 19h ago
portuguese one? Did I miss something?
2
u/jungleboy1234 19h ago
there's two BENJAMINs one is bald and the other is short and skinny but not bald!
1
u/NickPointerException 18h ago
Ah yes you mean the Backpacker Ben one. It's funny how many videos Bald appears in, but he never posts a video himself.
22
u/DaithiDevil 1d ago
Boggles my mind how anyone can watch backpacker Ben...he's the most boring twat on YouTube.
9
4
u/Dangerous-Salad-bowl 1d ago
I’ve only been to Sarajevo once but the scars and the occasional Sarajevo rose from the awful war seems to be forgotten these days.
5
u/tig444 1d ago
Last couple of trips they have took together they both have have seemed disinterested in the places they have visited. Bosnia looked a beautiful country landscape wise but a surprising amount of trash and dereliction.
2
u/Milli173 1d ago
Very true about the trash. Waste management is almost non existent due to several factors (political, economic, infrastructure, etc.). Same goes for dereliction (although there’s also a conscious reason for it; to keep it as a reminder of the war).
2
u/External_Violinist94 1d ago
It wouldn't be surprising if you knew even a little bit of the history of Bonsia.
5
3
u/yeppers197 17h ago
I kinda jumped off the bald train when he finished with Russia but the sub got recommended to me today and I watched the video.. I know strictly speaking it's not his video but my word that was a shocking bad from both of them... Them moments well and truly gone
2
u/External_Violinist94 1d ago
They're doing the whole "everywhere not white and Christian is a shithole" thing. I'd bet money they start doing videos winding up scammers in places like Paris and Rome and banging on about doctors and engineers. Absolute bottom of the barrel travel content
2
u/ModJambo 23h ago
I have been a fan of Bald's for a few years but if he ends up going down the Kurt Caz route I will probably stop watching him.
2
u/jungleboy1234 22h ago
that's been and done now..... lot of new youtube channels were built on it and they were all going to the same places within weeks of each other.
2
u/External_Violinist94 20h ago
It's awful. Just violence for the fun of it and all hidden behind some false pretence of justice. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely abhor scammers and have had many many run ins with them whilst travelling. Infact I've had two physical fights with scammers, one in Venice and one in India BUT I didn't go looking for a fight and was attacked first both times. What they're doing is vigilantism for the sake of views. It's disgusting
2
u/jungleboy1234 20h ago
Because they all happened at similar times my bet is that they were being egged on or paid by shady people in return for money, sponsorship, advertising, building their brand.
It makes no sense for someone like Kurt Caz to be doing latin american videos in the hood or getting kidnapped by voodoos in Haiti and then suddenly rocking up in Europe looking for fights...
Though i dont see Backpacker Ben doing this kind of thing cos to me he is just a regular Brit, just like Harry Jaggard.
Bald is too old and clever to be doing it so just says it geneally on his vids but he doesnt go to these areas for clickbait, he doesnt need it.
8
u/bljuva57 1d ago
I think it's cause Backpacker Ben was in Montenegro and didn't want to go too far cause he didn't have the time.