The Vlašić plateau is on the height of 1,300 meters, and the peak Paljenik (or Opaljenik) is the highest point (1.933 m) in this area. The climate on Vlašić is primarily mountainous, however in lower points of river valleys the climate is moderately continental. The average winter temperature is 1°C and the average summer temperature is 14,2°C. In winter period, with snowing during five months, the snow cover is amounting 1,5-2,1 meters. The snowing regime is varying and characterized by sudden and extreme changes, especially in spring.

The most popular touristic place is Babanovac (under Paljenik), recently established as a new center of winter tourism, often visited both by local and foreign guests. Vlašić is one of the most visited touristic destinations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is known by its long tradition of producing the famous Vlašić cheese. Vlašić is also suitable for bee-keeping and the country tourism is also being developed in recent years.

If you enjoy in winter sports and activities or simply like snow, you should certainly visit some of the most popular skiing sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Ski resort Jahorina is situated to the southeast of Sarajevo. Jahorina mountain is actually a part of the Dinaric mountain range and the largest ski area in the country. There are several ski lifts all over the mountain that offer Olympic-style professional trails and novice trails for children and beginners. The ski lifts climb to 1,894m with fabulous views towards Sarajevo. Within the resort there are 25 km of ski slopes, cross-country tracks and a great number of hotels, apartments, restaurants, bars and clubs with the full range of facilities including indoor swimming pool, medical center, info centers, ski rentals, skiing instructions and internet access.

Ski resort Babin Do on Bjelašnica mountain is situated near Sarajevo (about 25 km from the city center). Bjelašnica has the best infrastructure and most challenging slopes. It is the steepest of Bosnia’s ski mountains. There are 14 km long slopes for skiing and snowboarding and a great choice of restaurants, clubs, wellness and spa centers as well as some other winter related activities.

Malo polje (meaning “Small Plateau”) is a ski resort situated on Igman mountain (southwest of Sarajevo, next to Bjelašnica mountain) that surrounds the parts of Sarajevo: Hrasnica, Butmir, Ilidža. During the Winter Olympic Games in 1984 Igman hosted the ski-jumping competition. It has several good but smaller routes, children’s area and small lift for beginners with soft hills to practice on. Igman is ideal for families and even has horse-drawn carriage rides through the snow. There are ski rentals, ski lifts and a long cross-country route with the trails suitable for terrific cross-country skiing, hiking and walking. The restaurants offer excellent traditional dishes and most of the food is from the surrounding mountain villages.

Vlašić is a mountain situated in the very middle of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having the great accommodation capacities, trails suitable for skiing, snowboarding and other winter sports, Vlašić has been the most popular destination in Bosnia and Herzegovina during winter time. Except for skiing, Vlašić is also known by production of cheese and specific breeds of dog called “tornjak” and sheep called “pramenka”.

Kupres is a town and municipality in Herzegovina, famous by its winter tourist attractions and ecologically preserved nature. It has over 13 km long very well prepared slopes for skiing and snowboarding with five ski lifts. All skiing slopes are connected between themselves and not far away from the central hotel complex. Within the ski center, you can rent skiing equipment and get skiing instructions. There is a choice of hotels and other possibilities for accommodation. The restaurants and their excellent chefs offer tasty traditional dishes. The night life in Kupres is also very rich, so the visitors of all ages can have fun and spend a wonderful time.

Ski center Rostovo is situated 12 km from Bugojno. The offer covers all activities related to skiing (including skiing by night) and also an interesting choice of accommodation: you can choose between hotel and authentic mountain cottages that make the ethnic village Babići a very popular destination.

Risovac is situated in the Nature Park Blidinje that covers the area of 358 km2 on the hillside of Čvrsnica mountain. The park is also a home to Blidinje Lake. An exceptional geographic position of the park (two natural zones) has created a unique combination of both Mediterranean and mountain climate. Blidinje Plateau, 35 km long and 3.5 km wide, is suitable for all-year-round activities. During winter period, Blidinje is ideal for beginner skiers.  Beside wide range of food served in local restaurants and accommodation capacities, here you can also visit medieval necropolis (burial ground), walk around the Plateau or take a boat around Blidinje Lake.

Raduša (near Gornji Vakuf) is becoming more and more popular ski destination. The highest peak of the mountain is Idovac (1,956m). In addition to well settled ski trails and ski lifts, there is also the restaurant “Vidikovac” at a height of 1,720m, designed in modern style, with a nice terrace providing a spectacular view to the valley and surrounding mountains. If you prefer skiing outside the officially declared trails, the possibilities are truly exceptional since the whole upper part of the skiing site (above forest border) becomes one big free-ride zone.

Oštrelj is a settlement on the mountain Oštrelj (1,330m) situated only 12km from Bosanski Petrovac. Ski resort Oštrelj with accompanying facilities was built after the Olympic Games held in Sarajevo in 1984 and it offers skiing and cross-country trails, ski rental, ski instructions, hiking routes, horse-drawn carriage rides, etc. Mostly covered by centuries-old coniferous forests and having an interesting land configuration, this winter complex is a very pleasant place to relax.

Kozara National Park possesses many striking features of natural beauty and great historical heritage. Having a mild continental climate, a range of landscapes, mountain peaks and a unique architecture, this National Park attracts many visitors. The local hiking club offers a variety of outdoor activities, ski rentals, skiing instructions, accommodation and catering services.

Rujište is a mountain and very popular resort situated 18km to the North of Mostar, in Herzegovina. It is a lovely place, offering ski trails, ski lifts, night skiing, ski instructions, especially suitable for beginners and those who are not able to visit some other bigger ski resorts. The services are provided by the motel “Snježna kuća” (Snow House) with good offer and favorable prices, and there are also climbers’ lodging, scouts hostel and a small settlement with private weekend houses.

Recreation center “Brusnica” is situated on eastern part of Vranica mountain (the highest mountain in central Bosnia), 15km from Fojnica. The Center provides hiking and skiing activities on 5 km long tracks of different categories (recreational to competitive), ski lifts, night skiing, ski rental, skiing instructions, ski-scooter driving, sliding, tubing. The offer is diverse and attractive for nature lovers and discovering new locations. A wide range of services (accommodation in apartments, restaurant, café bar, terrace, sauna, massage services) guarantees a good relaxation and recreation on the mountain.

Igrišta is a small ski center situated on the mountain Javor and named after the highest peak of the mountain (1,406m).  The ski center was built on the highway Sarajevo – Zvornik for the purposes of the Winter Olympics as a spare center. The accommodation capacities include two hotels and the center offers lots of possibilities for entertainment.

The boats for rafting (“rafts”) are made of extremely resistant multi-layered rubber and they have several separate air chambers. They are usually 3m or 6m long. In most cases, rafting boats are sailed by a skipper/a steering man who steers and guides a raft down the rapids of a river. Each of the raft passengers (“rafters”) is equipped by an oar, safety floating vest and a helmet. Beginners (usually tourists) are given detailed instructions to be strictly followed during the rafting.

According to the level of severity, rafting is divided into six categories (classes), as follows:

Class 1: Rafting usually performed on a still river with slow flow

Class 2: Rafting shooting minor rapids with some stones, but still not dangerous rafting at all

Class 3: Rafting shooting rapids, small waves, minor waterfalls, however with no significant danger. Touristic rafting usually belongs to this class.

Class 4: Rafting shooting rapids, bigger waves, some rocks, bigger waterfalls and drops. This class is only for the rafters with experience and it requires great concentration and prompt reaction

Class 5: Rafting shooting rapids, big waves, severe rocks and cliffs, big waterfalls and drops. This class means the final stage of competition rafting and it requires very precise and focused steering

Class 6: Rafting shooting rapids, great waves, big and very dangerous rocks and cliffs, many traps and drops. This class is highly dangerous and life-threatening to rafters, so it often ends up with accidents.

It requires very skillful raft steering, with no right to make a mistake

There are several rivers in Bosnia and Herzegovina being known by rafting, such as: Una, Drina, Neretva, Tara, Vrbas.

Quads (four-wheel quadratic vehicles) are off-road field vehicles intended for driving on hard accessible terrain. They are particularly appropriate for overcoming minor natural obstacles, and as a transport vehicle they are suitable for carrying you and your luggage to the places too far to reach going by foot.

By this mean of transport, you can make a tour of various landscape places using unusual paths and visit many sceneries, such as: water springs, caves, valleys, lakes, canyons, remains of ancient settlements, mythic places, sites of medieval Bosnian standing tombstones (called ”stećci”), as well as all the other places impossible to look up by food in one day.

Beside pleasure and recreation, you can also organize some sporting activities by quads, considering that in this sense the quads driving belongs to extreme sports.

In 2004, in a unanimous ruling on the case of Prosecutor v. Krstić, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), located in The Hague, ruled that the massacre of the enclave’s male inhabitants constituted genocide, a crime under international law. The ruling was also upheld by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2007. The forcible transfer and abuse, of between 25,000 and 30,000 Bosniak women, children and elderly which accompanied the massacre was found to constitute genocide, when accompanied with the killings and separation of the men.

In 2005, Kofi Annan, then Secretary-General of the United Nations described the mass murder as the worst crime on European soil since the Second World War, and in a message to the tenth anniversary commemoration of the massacre, he wrote that, while blame lay “first and foremost with those who planned and carried out the massacre and those who assisted and harboured them”, the UN had “made serious errors of judgement, rooted in a philosophy of impartiality”, describing Srebrenica as a tragedy that would haunt the history of the UN forever.

In 2006, in the Bosnian Genocide case held before the International Court of Justice, Serbia and Montenegro was cleared of direct responsibility for, or complicity in, the massacre, but was found responsible for not doing enough to prevent the genocide and not prosecuting those responsible, in breach of the Genocide Convention. The Preliminary List of People Missing or Killed in Srebrenica compiled by the Bosnian Federal Commission of Missing Persons contains 8,373 names. As of July 2012, 6,838 genocide victims have been identified through DNA analysis of body parts recovered from mass graves; as of July 2013, 6,066 victims have been buried at the Memorial Centre of Potočari.

In April 2013, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolić officially apologised for the massacre, although he stopped short of calling it genocide.[22] In 2013 and 2014, the Netherlands was found liable in its own supreme court and in the Hague district court of failing in its duty to prevent more than 300 of the deaths.

On 8 July 2015, Russia, at the request of the Republika Srpska and Serbia, vetoed a UN resolution condemning the Srebrenica massacre as genocide. Serbia called the resolution “anti-Serb”, while both European and U.S. governments affirmed that the crimes were genocide. On 9 July 2015, both the European Parliament (EP) and the U.S. Congress adopted resolutions reaffirming the description of the crime as genocide.

On 22 November 2017, Ratko Mladić was convicted of various crimes at the United Nations’ tribunal, including genocide for his role at Srebrenica. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Optimum height above sea level (950 m on average), thick conifer woods, meadows, two water flows with lakes and chasms, five caves, rocky massif and high quality air provide ideal conditions for alpinism, speleology, skiing, mushroom picking, medicinal herb picking, or simply for nature excursions and visits.

The middle part of Bijambare is a karst enclave with all its commonly observed characteristics: caves, lost rivers, intriguing funnel-shaped depressions and rocky massifs. There are five caves located in three horizons, in a pretty small area. One of these caves is especially popular- the Bijambare cave, which has been a popular tourist spot and a speleological site for a long time. The cave is 420 m long (basic direction without individual branches), with four halls with rich ornaments of all known creation forms: lateral blocks, stalactites, casts, stalagmites and curtains. The fourth hall is the biggest (around 60 m in diameter and 15–30 m in height). It is also called the “music hall” for its acoustic effects.

Bjelašnica has been, in certain areas, the site of extensive combat during the 1992-’95 Siege of Sarajevo and particular areas pose a high mine risk. There are numerous trails set up and maintained by local mountain clubs that lead to the bald peaks higher up. The mountain is also popular with mountain bikers and has become recently a frequent base for paragliders.

The Buna river is a short river in Bosnia and Herzegovina and it is a left bank tributary of the Neretva river. Its source (Bosnian: Vrelo Bune) is a strong karstic spring, emerging from a huge karstic cavern beneath a high vertical cliff. This region is specific for the diversity of its above-ground and underground hydrography. The source of the Buna river is the finest example of an underground karst river. It’s one of the largest and most beautiful springs in Europe, producing approx. 30 m3/s with extremely cold and clean water.

The Kravica Falls area also has a little cafe, a rope swing, a picnic area, and a place to camp. The best time of year for visiting is during the springtime when the fall is at its fullest and the arid landscape turns a bright green.[4] During the high season, various restaurants in the vicinity of the waterfalls mostly offer grilled dishes and fish specialties. Near the Kravica Falls is also a small grotto with stalactites made of calcium carbonate, an old mill and a sailing ship. The owner of the waterfall was the famous municipal councilor, landowner, benefactor and philanthropist from Ljubuški, Zaim-beg Selimić.

Mostar is situated on the Neretva River and is the fifth-largest city in the country. Mostar was named after the bridge keepers (mostari) who in the medieval times guarded the Stari Most (Old Bridge) over the Neretva. The Old Bridge, built by the Ottomans in the 16th century, is one of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s most recognizable landmarks, and is considered one of the most exemplary pieces of Islamic architecture in the Balkans.

In the middle ages, Počitelj was the administrative centre and centre of governance of Dubrava župa (county), and its westernmost point, which gave it major strategic importance. It is supposed that the fortified town and its attendant settlements were built by Bosnia’s King Stjepan Tvrtko I in 1383.

The walled town of Počitelj evolved over the period from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. Architecturally, the surviving stone-built parts of the town are a fortified complex, in which two stages of evolution may be observed: mediaeval, and Ottoman.

The first documented reference to the town dates from 1444, in Charters issued by Kings Alfonso V and Friedrich III. During the period 1463-1471 the town held a Hungarian garrison. Following a brief siege in 1471, the town fell to the Ottomans, and was to remain within the Ottoman Empire until 1878. From 1782 to 1879 it was the centre of a kadiluk (area under the jurisdiction of a kadija or qadi – judge) and from 1713 to 1835 it was the headquarters of the Počitelj military district.

The significance and appearance of the town has altered during the course of its history. Three periods seem to be significant for the development of Počitelj:

1. The time of the Hungarian King Matthias Corvinus when the town had significant strategic importance (1463-1471),

2. The period of development of the settlement under the Ottoman Empire with the erection of typical public buildings: mosques, mekteb (Muslim primary school), imaret (charitable kitchen), medresa (Muslim high school), hamam, Turkish baths, han (inn) and sahat-kula (clock-tower) (1471-1698). During this period military conflicts occurred in more remote areas.

3. The period of recovery of its strategic importance after the Venetians conquered and destroyed Gabela (1698-1878).

With the establishment of Austro-Hungarian rule in BiH in 1878, Počitelj lost its strategic importance and began to deteriorate rapidly. The loss of the town’s strategic role helped to safeguard the original urban architectural ensemble, so that the town has been preserved in its original form to this day.

During the 1992-96 war in BiH the entire historic urban site of Počitelj and all its various buildings suffered extensive war damage.

In 1996, Počitelj was named by World Monuments Watch as one of the world’s 100 most endangered cultural heritage sites, as proposed by the University of York, United Kingdom, and the University of Sarajevo, in the light of its outstanding value.

In 2000 the Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina started the Programme of the permanent protection of Počitelj that comprises of: protection of cultural heritage from further deterioration, rehabilitation of damaged and destroyed buildings, returns of the refugees and displaced persons to their homes and the sustainable and long-term protection and revitalization of the Historic urban area of Počitelj. The Programm is on-going and now it is in the stage of rehabilitation of housing complexes in the upper part of Počitelj.

ARCHITECTURE

FORT – The fort of Počitelj was built between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, with intervals when construction was suspended. The original mediaeval nucleus of the fort is the oldest walled section, where two stages of construction can be identified: the older, inner town or fortress (a donjon tower with a small ward or bailey) from the late fourteenth century, with later additions, alterations and reinforcements dating from the second half of the fifteenth century. To judge from the layout of the oldest parts of the fortress it may be assumed that there was a small settlement below the fortifications, dating from an earlier or the same period as the fortifications themselves. Somewhat prior to 1698, the fortress was considerably enlarged and fortified with a stronger system of defense. The town was walled so as to form an inner bailey from the square tower, two bastions (Mehmed-paša’s and Delibaša’s), Dizdar’s house, a granary, the fort’s mosque and a “water-tower” – a cistern with an entrance and steps leading to the water, two large gateways and two small ones. During the 1992-96 war in BiH the fortress suffered no serious damage.

MOSQUE OF ŠIŠMAN IBRAHIM-PAŠA – or Hadži Alija’s mosques is one of the finest achievements of the classical Ottoman style of single-room domed mosques in BiH. According to its chronogram, it was built in 970 AH (1562-63 AD) by Hadži Alija. The mosque occupies a prominent position in the urban fabric of the town and its natural surroundings. Other public buildings located by the mosque are the mektebs, the imaret, the medresa, the hamam, the han and the clock-tower. The mosque was blown up in 1993: the dome and minaret were demolished, and the rest of the building was badly damaged. As a part of Programm of the permanent protection of Počitelj the mosque was rehabilitated and now it is returned to its original function.

MEDRESA (Muslim religious high school) OF ŠIŠMAN IBRAHIM-PAŠA – Evlija Čelebi’s travel chronicle makes it clear that the medresa in Počitelj dates from before 1664. It belongs to the standard type of smaller religious school, with five classrooms and a lecture room ranged along the two sides of an inner courtyard. The classrooms are roofed with five small domes and the lecture room with one large one. During the 1992-96 war in BiH the medresa was damaged by shelling. As a part of Programme of the permanent protection of Počitelj the medresa was rehabilitated.

HAMAM (the baths) – It may be concluded from Evlija Čelebi’s travel chronicle that the baths were built prior to 1664, and that they were built by craftsmen sent from Istanbul for the purpose.

The hamam is typical of smaller public baths. As a part of Programme of the permanent protection of Počitelj the hamam was rehabilitated.

HAN (inn) OF ŠIŠMAN IBRAHIM-PAŠA – was built around 1665. It was of the single-storey han type, built around a central area where horses were stabled. Little has survived of the original structure of the han: the remains of an arched gate of finely dressed cut stone with parts of the outside walls to the left and right of the entrance, parts of the outside wall opposite the entrance; some remains of the raised podium (for travelers to take rest); all of this recorded prior to 1960. The object was renovated in the 1970s to be used for catering purposes.

SAHAT-KULA – CLOCK-TOWER – Since Evlija Čelebi’s travel chronicle makes no reference to the sahat-kula, it is assumed that it was erected at a date later than 1664. It is typical of clock-towers in Herzegovina, which arose under the influence of Mediterranean-Dalmatian architecture. It is stone-built, with dressed quoins and ending in a stone pyramid. There are four pointed arches on the four sizes above the opening near the top of the tower. This type of sahat-kula is to be found in Počitelj, Mostar, and Stolac.

HOUSING – Stylistically, the residential architecture of Počitelj is a blend of Mediterranean and Oriental elements with certain local features. The influence of Mediterranean architecture is to be seen in the use of gable roofs, the pronounced stone wall structure, small, widely separated windows, and the arrangement of the rooms in fairly small, single-storey buildings. The influence of Oriental architecture is reflected in the use of hipped roofs, doksats or oriel windows, rows of close-set windows, the arrangement of rooms with a hajat (anteroom) on the ground floor and an open divanhan (sitting room) on the first floor, and the interconnected enclosed courtyard and interior living quarters. The basic building material was stone. Typical common features are round chimneys and roof cladding of irregularly shaped stone slabs. All the houses had privies in the courtyard and a hamamdžiluk (small bathroom) in the musandera (built-in carved wooden structure incorporating cupboards and occupying the entire wall of the main room). Wealthier households had a bathroom in every room. All the houses in the town were laid waste during the 1992-96 war in BiH. As a part of Programme of the permanent protection of Počitelj the mosque was rehabilitated and now it is returned to its original function.

THE GAVRANKAPETANOVIĆ HOUSE – is a group of buildings consisting of two smaller and one larger building (with the division into selamluk and haremluk) built during the course of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In size it is the largest and most highly evolved example of the residential architecture of Počitelj. A characteristic of the building is the use of arched windows on the west facade. By the mid twentieth century the buildings had been abandoned and were deteriorating badly, as a result of which, in order to preserve and renovate the building, a project to convert it to an artists’ colony was launched in 1961 and completed in 1975. The central building was converted to accommodation for the artists. During the war the complex was set on fire and laid waste in 1993. The most serious damage was to the haremluk, to the wooden post-and-pan construction and wooden cladding. As a part of Programme of the permanent protection of Počitelj the Gavrankapetanović housing complex was rehabilitated and now it is returned to the function of Artists’ colony.

As such it becomes an increasingly popular destination for nature lovers and tourists from different parts of the world.

Visitors do not mind the fact that they have to cross 25km of macadam path to the lake, and there’s no electricity in most facilities.

It seemed fitting after so many civilizations had settled and fought over this place that in 1943 the AVNOJ was signed and sealed here in one of the most historical moments of Bosnia’s and Yugoslavia’s history.

The second session of the Anti-Fascist Council of the National Liberation of Yugoslavia on November 29 ratified that Bosnia and Herzegovina, as an equal federal unit, would enter the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia. These resolutions outlined the future democratic and federal organization of the region. The outskirts of town are blessed with an abundance of water, which is probably what made it so attractive and practical as a settlement in earlier times.

The valley reappeared in 1244, in terms of primary historical records, when the Hungarian King Bela IV gave one of his notables a piece of land in Lasva. By that time, the area was a feudal estate of the Bosnian state.

Although remains from these centuries do not show the wealth the valley had known in Roman times, the era did have its share of castles and mansions. The Travnik Fortress was the most impressive fortress at the time, and still stands out as the best preserved of them all. This era gave Travnik its name.

The Ottoman era renewed the glory of Travnik. It was the principal city and military centre of the Ottoman Empire. It was from here that the Ottomans planed their invasions further towards the southwest. They brought mosques, religious schools, roads and water systems. They fortified the medieval fortress and built a mini-city within its high stone walls. For over 150 years, the vizier – the Ottoman Sultan’s representative in Bosnia – had his headquarters in this town, attracting both consulates and trade. Travelers visiting Travnik in this era were impressed by the town and called it the European Istanbul and the most oriental town in Bosnia. Ivo Andrić’s brilliant ‘Travnik Chornicle’ gives you a feel of this period.

The spring water at Vrelo Bosne is drinkable, however not recommended. On a typical year more than 60,000 tourists visit the park.

The park is usually entered by foot or, for a reasonable price, by horse-carriage via the 3 kilometer straight main avenue (Velika Aleja) leading into it. Along the avenue you can see traditional buildings from the Austro-Hungarian period offering a peek into the luxuries of the past.

The paths and roads inside the park are ideal for walks and bicycle riding and give the visitors the opportunity to take a closer look at the bubbling streams and waterfalls. Outdoor cafés and restaurants are available offering drinks and food but opening times vary from season to season. Typical animals are ducks and swans among others.

During the Bosnian War the park was not maintained and trees were chopped and used for heating by the local citizens. In 2000 the park was restored to its former look by local youths led by an international ecological organization.

Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team is known to hold their training sessions at the Vrelo Bosne park. Team also stays at near by Hotel Hercegovina.

The Una River has defined Bihać, the city and municipality for centuries. The waterfalls in Štrbački buk and Martinbrod are widely known. A valley near the Una headwaters, and the upper Una River valley are a national park since 2008. Every summer Bihać hosts the Una Regatta coupled with many cultural events.

This is a place where World War I commenced with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the Austro-Hungarian heir to the throne, his wife Sophie and their unborn child on June 28th, 1914.

This is the first socialist country to host the Winter Olympic Games in 1984. The natural resources of the surrounding mountains – Jahorina, Bjelasnica, Igman and Trebevic, as well as the hospitality and sports spirit of Sarajevans helped the city break a record by presenting the largest Winter Olympic Games of its time. This triumphal event featured 49 nations and over a thousand participants. Sarajevo was awarded the gold medal for the organization due to the hospitality of people.

The cultural and Olympic spirit of the city was shaken by the longest city siege in the history of modern warfare – 1452 day long siege of the 1992 – 1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The city however survived and continues to grow and rebuilds itself to once again symbolize the city of different cultures, the city of sports and festivals, the city of friendship and hope.