There's a sort of latitudinal line that you cross when travelling south, when the bus changes from noisy passengers with loud conversations and music and a dour crew, to noisy conversations and loud music from the bus crew, while the passengers grow quiet. I noticed this in Bosnia/Croatia as well -- and when the bus travels closely to politically contested ground, the music changes, the conversations seem to change in character. Defining their relationship to the place, perhaps.
From the plain governed by the country to the north, the contested region here is bordered by mountains, so I understand the almost mythic sense of gazing longfully at the mountains from the flatlands. On the other hand, even the cities governed by the northern country on the border seem mostly to be marked by minarets.
Several large fires visible along the route -- midsummer in the Balkans.