Himarë Castle and a Boat Tour
Today, it was time for us to return our trusty rental bike to its home in Himarë.

There was a small traffic jam as we waited for a herd of goats to cross.


On the way, we stopped in to visit Himarë’s old town: a historic district that includes the ruins from a castle built in ~5th century BC.


The cost of entry to see the castle is 300 lek. But, when we went to pay, the man said “Student?” “Uhh, we’re not really…” “Student!” And he gave us a small discount. How nice! We were the only visitors at the castle.


Once we made it into town and returned the bike, we faced the dilemma of how to get back to Dhermi without a vehicle. As we were pondering this, we noticed a stand advertising boat tours.
“Does this tour go to Dhermi, and would it be possible for us to be dropped off?” Indeed it did, and it was. Problem solved.

The tour brought us to a series of beaches and grottos that can only be reached by boat. There was even a neat tunnel that you can swim through. We should have brought the go pro!

The second-to-last stop was Grama Bay, where we were dropped off for two hours before reaching Dhermi. This made us late for work, which we were of course devastated about.


James tried his hand at cliff jumping in Grama Bay, which was hella cool to watch. Unfortunately, this was also how he lost his prescription sunglasses that he’s had for 13 years. One of the couples from the tour even lent us their goggles, but it was no use – the glasses had sunk at least 10 meters deep. We’re hoping to get a new pair made in Berat.
Here are two of the very last photos I took of the sunglasses before they reached their watery grave.

