Sunbakers Sunsets

Although we were staying in Himarë for two nights, our accommodation had cancelled on us, and the replacement only had availability for one night. So, once again, we were forced into a checkout deadline. Being viciously hungover, this was becoming increasingly annoying. We'd yet to stay anywhere for more than a single night, meaning a proper sleep-in was becoming almost impossible to come by. At least this time, we were only driving across the small town of Himarë rather than having to tackle another long drive.

That night, we were staying at Sunbakers Hostel – the first hostel we'd stayed in since getting the car. We started joking that we were officially vacationers rather than travellers, as the last few days of living in relative luxury had made us incredibly spoilt. Despite having spent weeks living the hostel lifestyle, it still took some adjustment to get used to it again.

That being said, it was good to be social again and have the opportunity to meet new people. When we checked in, we were recommended a very secluded beach that required you to rappel down using a rope. It sounded slightly terrifying, but apparently the difficulty of getting there meant the beach was much quieter than the others around Himarë. The only downside was that there was absolutely no shade, meaning we had to spend most of our time in the water to avoid getting burnt. It was worth it, though. The beach was beautiful, the water was the perfect temperature, and it was easily one of the nicest beaches I'd been to in Europe so far.

Afterwards, we walked along some of the main beaches in Himarë, which made us even happier we'd gone to the secluded one. The other beaches were busy and relatively small, although they were still nice if you could manage to find a spot. Unfortunately, the nightlife in Himarë was also pretty lacking, so we ended up spending the afternoon at the hostel drinking and playing cards. Eventually, we were treated to one of the nicest sunsets I'd seen in a while.

The three of us grabbed a pizza and a beer and parked ourselves at the hostel to watch the sunset. It was a great way to finish the afternoon and transition into the night. This was also the second time I'd managed to get hold of some bag while travelling, the first being in Split. At this hostel, it was apparently available over the counter, so we bought a couple between us and continued the night. Unfortunately, Erin ended up having too much and spent the early hours of the morning wigging out on the stairs. I stayed with her and helped calm her down until she was feeling more like herself again.

We ended up drinking pretty heavily again, and it was well into the early hours before we finally headed to bed. And, because we were heading south again the next day, we'd once again been given a checkout deadline.Read more