Koh Lanta

We had researched Koh Lanta quite a bit before arriving and had a day-by-day plan which soon fell to pieces when we decided we actually wanted to rest. So, a lot of our time in Koh Lanta was spent reading books on the hammock, chilling by the pool and the beach and hopping from cafe to cafe, so we will just call out the best bits!

The Beach

Koh Lanta is known for it's chilled atmosphere and the aptly named 'Long Beach' which is where our hotel was based. We spent a few evenings sat watching the sun set and walking to one end and back.

Koh Phi Phi

We decided not to stay on Phi Phi because we had heard mixed opinions on the quality of hotels and by the time we were booking, they were quite expensive. We also had seen some poor reviews on the day trip so decided to do it ourselves with the first ferry there from Koh Lanta and the last ferry back, which in the end, was a grand day out.

We were collected from our hotel at 7am to get the ferry to the island. When we arrived we soon realised why everyone raved about the island so much. It was very beautiful and an equally busy tourist hotspot. Hungry having only a small bowl of granola for breakfast, we popped in a 7-eleven for a ready meal each (surprisingly good) and some water for the day.

We had read online that you could hire kayaks from Loh Dalum beach (a 5 minute walk from the pier) and kayak for 30 minutes to monkey beach. We spoke to a lovely man and spent £6 on a double kayak for 2 hours!

Next was a walk to the viewpoint. There were three different viewpoints and we had time for two. It was a little difficult a few days after the almighty Tiger Cave Temple climb but manageable. We would also later realise that we should've put more suncream on.

We had a wander around the town, looked in a few touristy shops and got something to eat, before getting the ferry back to Koh Lanta. A very successful day trip!

Time for Lime Cooking Lesson

This is up there as potentially our favourite day so far! It consisted of: dogs, cooking, cocktails and a pool - it was Time for Lime! Time for Lime is a (pescatarian) cooking class which helps fund an animal welfare charity in Koh Lanta. They take in injured cats and dogs with injuries, provide them with treatment and get them ready for adoption.

After breakfast in the hotel, we were picked up from the end of our road at 10:50am. We were given our aprons and given a briefing before sitting down too learn how to make three cocktails with PJ (sadly no Duncan): lemongrass margarita, chilli margarita and gin mist. For the margaritas, these involved bashing the lemongrass/chilli with a pestle to release the flavours, then adding 50ml tequila, 25ml orange triple sec, 25ml homemade brown sugar syrup and 25ml lime juice and ice in a shaker. For the gin mist, 15 or so leaves of Thai mint (no bashing), 50ml gin, 25ml homemade brown sugar syrup and 25ml lime juice with ice in a shaker and then add tonic water. We then made one ourselves to get us in the mood for cooking! We were given a break to enjoy our drinks, with our feet in the pool and stroke some puppies when we were finished!

Next we learned the fundamentals of Thai cooking from Noi. We were asked to taste a concoction of wild pepper leaf with peanut, dried shrimp, coconut, lime, ginger, red onion, chilli and sugar syrup - it tasted incredible and a real explosion of flavours. We were talked through what we should always put together (like lime juice and fish sauce/soy sauce); when Thais prefer to use palm sugar aka coconut sugar rather than refined sugar and how to chop the various ingredients in an ‘eat me’ way or a ‘don’t eat me’ way. We then moved on to learn how to make a red curry paste using lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, kaffir lime skin, galangal, garlic, onion, coriander root, dried hot chillis (spicy) and dried big chillis (less spicy but more colour and flavour), coriander seeds, cumin seeds, black peppercorns, shrimp paste and salt, all which was ground down in a pestle and mortar for 40 minutes. It was very different than the bought curry pastes which we have used at home. Noi also told us how you can make a big batch of the curry paste, put it in ice cube trays and then a ziplock bag and freeze it for up to a year. 

After another break we moved on to learning how to make papaya salad and Pad Thai. This was similar to how we had seen before but our pad thais at home never tasted like those at Simply Thai as it was missing pickled white radish (sweet kind)! We were also happy to hear that Time for Lime would send us all the recipes we cooked after the class, as well as the brands of ingredients which they would recommend using! After sitting with everyone to enjoy our delicious dishes, we had another break in the pool and a couple of beers.

We then on to making the fish with red curry sauce and holy basil stir fry with prawns. We were shown sweet Thai basil and holy basil which tasted very different and think we may need to start growing at home. We also were taught how to make a thicker red curry sauce, which is an alternative to making the full soupy version. Making dishes look pretty is also very important in Thai cuisine, so we were taught techniques on how to fold and cut banana leaves to make our dishes look as good as they tasted (well, we tried to) - supply of banana leaves in Buxton/Liverpool may need some creativity if we try to replicate this at home though. Again, we then sat around with the group to enjoy our dishes and an espresso martini (but with a Thai twist of coconut milk) to wash it down with. 

The day had gone so quickly and ended with a quick talk on how the charity was formed, where our cooking class money was going and how we could help further if we wanted to. Many of the animals they re-home are going to families abroad, so they were even looking for volunteer chaperones to help take the dogs and cats on their flights - not even something we had considered as being a difficulty in re-homing the pets.

This day was so enjoyable and well worth doing. We both came away saying we would love to do a Vietnamese or Balinese cooking class too so we could compare what we had learned - plus we are probably less familiar with these cuisines as there isn’t a Simply Vietnam or Simply Bali in Buxton ;).

Lanta Animal Welfare Tour

We were so impressed with the cooking class we had the previous day that we decided to book on to the tour of the welfare charity to see how else they worked.

We decided to save some pennies on a tuktuk by walking the 45 minutes, stopping for breakfast on the way at a fab cafe with a small menu.

We arrived for the tour and first stop was Kitty City where we were encouraged to pet the cats (bar one who was a bit of a scratcher). We expected the pets here to be a little standoffish given the circumstances some of them were subjected to but every cat was more than happy for you to play with them. We know you shouldn't have favourites but New Year was probably our favourite. His story was, he had fishing wire tied tightly around his neck which was obviously causing him immense pain as when he arrived at the centre and was described as 'feral' . Once they removed the wire, he was like a different cat, so loving and affectionate and we can vouch that he loved a scratch under the chin.

We then were sat down and explained how a Norwegian woman visiting Koh Lanta in 2001, was appalled at the condition of the dogs and cats on the island, sold her home in the US to live on Koh Lanta and set up the charity. The cooking school was then set up to fund part of the charity and they struggled during Covid, having to change their premises to afford the rent to stay open. The volunteer also explained the various outreach programs they operate on other islands, helping to neuter animals to control populations whilst providing necessary treatment to poorly pets. She explained how the Muslim community on Koh Lanta and other islands are less favourable towards dogs, and unfortunately human abuse is a cause of some of the suffering the animals in their care have faced; they have put in place outreach programmes in schools, aiming to change the opinions of youngsters, to avoid future occurrences.

Our tour then continued where we were showed the operating theatre, x-ray machine and dog kitchen, with the two resident dogs who would rather be in the kitchen than the kennels (who wouldn't?). Each dog had a meal plan as to whether they preferred fish, chicken or rice with their kibble - they are spoilt. The lady explained how these street dogs were used to Thai curry and rice so when they get given a bowl of the dry stuff, they aren't too pleased! We were also showed the kennels where the dogs are kept, which was rather loud with lots of the dogs wanting to say hello!

The final stop was the most upsetting part of the tour where we were both desperately trying to swallow the lump in our throats. Here the tour guide explained some of the worst cases they had seen in the centre. These ranged from animal abuse to cases of TVT (similar to cancer) where there were varying results of success. TVT is very common on these islands and spreads very quickly but thankfully, once it is treated with chemotherapy, the animal will not get it again. As we walked through the treatment area, most of the dogs were very unhappy, almost like zombies due to the effects of the chemotherapy, except Penelope who came bounding to the gate at the sound of footsteps - again we wanted to keep her too! One of the most interesting cases was a cat who was burned with boiling water after she got too close to a fishmonger. The vets saw how Australians were using fish skin to help animals injured in forest fires and tried this technique on here with great success! She now lives in the US, wears t-shirts in the summer and jumpers in the winter and goes on walks with her owner (only when it's not raining as she hates the rain)! The volunteer explained that despite the very sad stories, these happy endings are what keeps the staff and volunteers motivated.

Fooooood!

It wouldn't be a Dan and Lauryn blog without more pictures of food so here are some of the best bits!

Finally, these are the petrol stations on Koh Lanta.

We really loved Koh Lanta, with a great relaxed atmosphere and some really great day activities! We hope we will be back one day!