Himare, taxi crashes and boat rides - swings and roundabouts - 21st August 2026
Pershendetje from the beautiful southern Albanian beach town of Himarë,
This entry starts with a bit of trauma that was terrifying at the time, but is a good story now that some days have passed. Before we begin though, I’ll just drop in the pic of our accommodation - as is my want.
Now, let’s begin…
After we flew in from Manchester to Tirana, we went back to Tony’s and slept in Delph. It was hot, and there was a 200-person wedding outside, but it was OK. The next morning we got dropped off at the North and South Terminal Bus Depot - that is basically a parking lot with 100 or more buses with the name of the destination town in the front window. We tried to get on the bus to Himare, but it was full. Some misinformation about whether there were other buses that day was shared before I met a young bloke, Max from Melbourne, who had missed the bus too. We adjourned to a cafe and Max, Jen and I decided that we would splash out some cash - 50 Euros each - and split a taxi the four hours to Himare’. We didn’t know if another bus was running that day, and it was only 30 Euros more to do this.
Right. So far. So good.
Jen found a taxi and the elderly driver possessed no English but assured us he could take us there.
Right, still good.
The first three hours of the journey were fine, and then, when he didn’t know where to go, we got our combined Google Maps and directed him. He was still in control but was yelling in Albanian at several drivers who cut him off. We were all a little frazzled, but he navigated the mountain pass pretty well, and we were thinking that he was awesome.
Right, still good, if a little cranky.
A weird thing happened as we were descending a mountain. He accelerated up to a blind corner and then locked up the brakes as a car came around the corner. This was a heart-starter, but we were still ok. We got into Himare, and this is when Google Maps can become a little weird. The route went up the back streets of the town, not to the main drag. Each turn was a hairpin, and cars were coming the other way.
By now, old mate was swearing and screaming at all of the cars, and at Google Maps, and at us. We went around a corner, and the old Hyundai was struggling to get up the next hill. He stopped the car halfway up, and I got out to lessen the load in the back, so that he could get up the hill. (Which we were to later learn was the last one before the road straightened out and our accommodation was right there.)
Anyway, here is the climax of the tale.
Jen and Max were still in the taxi - Max in the front, Jen in the back - when old mate had a complete brain explosion and jammed it into reverse and, at full speed backs around a corner and crashes into a knee high wall. The cab is wrecked, and the seat that I had vacated 20 seconds earlier was now dangling in space. Jen and Max evacuated immediately, and we all looked at each other in disbelief. WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?
We think that he actually meant to put it into Drive and do a hill start, but it didn’t turn out that way.
The drop over the wall was about 3 - 4 metres onto a concrete slab.
If I had been in there, would my 100kgs have tipped the balance? Would we all be dead or severely injured? Was a Guardian Angel looking out for us that day? Who knows?
Anyway, he completely loses his shit as Jen, Max and I regathered in the shade of a nearby tree. He starts yelling, holding his head in his hands, swearing at me, etc.
By now, several locals have come out and are losing THEIR shit at him. After 10 minutes of yelling, him wanting more money from us, us getting our luggage out, him trying to rev the shit out of the car to shift it (3 wheels were in the air), and several other locals turning up, someone rang the cops, and they rocked up.
Our host from the accommodation came down, helped us with our luggage (on his motorbike), the cops checked that we were OK, took photos of our passports and let us go. I paid him the agreed upon 150 Euros, even though in his manic panic, he wanted 200.
The owner of the fence kept telling me to not give him any more money and told Jen:
“I pray every day. That is why you are still alive.”
Maybe Guardian Angels come in many forms…
Jen, Max and I walked to where we were staying, our host gave us beers, and we sat for 30 minutes on the balcony discussing the crash.
Man, we were lucky. Check out the pics below.
Max walked off to his hostel, and I had a few more beers before we checked out our surroundings,
We were on a hill with a set of stairs down to the main road - where we could have stopped - and a second set of stairs takes us to the magical turquoise waters of the Albanian Riviera.
We stayed in Himare for four nights and pretty much swam, escaped the daytime heat in the A/C and ate some great food.
Because this is very close to the Greek border, al ot of the restaurants cook Greek food. We lapped up our old favourites: Greek Salad, Lamb Kelftiko, Chicken gyros, etc.
We also came to the conclusion that Himare feels more Greek than Albanian, but all of the prices are in Lek, so best of both worlds…plus they sell Greek beer, so my old friend Fix was on heavy rotation!
The only excursion that we did whilst here was a boat tour of the coastline. Our boat was called The Great Chimera, and we discovered that the Greek tale of the Chimera - a lion with a serpent’s tail - originated in the hills behind Himare. In fact, Himare is the Albanian pronunciation of Chimera, so there you go. Learning on holidays. Yeah boyyz!
The captain - Pedro - took us to see the coastline north of the city and explained about the concrete bunkers - or bonkers - as he called them, that dot the hillside. They were used in Communist times, of course, and there are still thousands of them all over Albania.
Pedro was a funny sort of dude. He talked non-stop for the entire three hours and knew a lot of the history of the place. He also hates the influx of tourism - even though it benefits him.
He did make a few good points on corruption, construction of villas and resorts without infrastructure in town. I.e. no rail, schools, hospitals, etc.., and how the constant cement production takes the sand and grit from the mountainous streams, and they no longer bring sand down to the beach; therefore, in 10 years all beaches will have mega resorts on them but no sand… very interesting.
We did swim through some cool caves, and in pristine water during the tour. Pretty beautiful, if I do say so myself.
Himare was stunning, though packed to capacity. I’d love to see it in October when all of the crowds have gone, and the water is still beautifully warm.
We didn’t see old Maxy boy again during our stay, but not to worry. We all live to travel another day.
So that’s it for now. Swings and roundabouts. Or in the words of The Dude: Strikes and gutterballs, man.
At least we abide.
Ciao
Comments