19/2/25
We had two fans on all night. One was mounted above the bed and the other was on a pedestal by our feet. They worked really well and we got a good sleep. Perhaps air conditioning wasn’t necessary after all.
We ate some watermelon and pineapple for breakfast. And drank some of our hosts coffee. It’s supposed to be instant but some of the granules don’t dissolve so it goes in a cafetière. We aren’t sure if that’s the Thai style or if coffee is just old.
There wasn’t actually anything to do on the island of Koh Lanta. Well obviously there was but it involved boat tours, going to the beach or going to the national park. The latter seems appealing, until you learn there is only one ‘nature trail’ and you have to pay over £7 to get in. Pass.
So we strolled towards the beach. All along the western coast are sprawling golden sands. After a short walk we reached the main road, it was busy with the usual scooters and taxis. There isn’t much of a pavement and there aren’t many people walking anywhere. We went to a shop called Lotus. It used to be owned by Tesco, but the original owners bought it back in 2020.
Just next to the supermarket was a fruit shop. The woman wasn’t friendly and didn’t say hello. When we asked how much some of the fruit was she gave us insane prices. Three times the usual tourist price. As we left we saw one of the guys in the shop laughing. We understand their potential objections to tourists given their locale.
The best thing about the supermarket was that there were set prices. We bought a litre of coconut milk, some tofu and some salacca fruit. It’s small, red and rough on the outside. A big stone inside. We didn’t buy anything else just yet because it would get too hot. They were low on tofu so we bought that now.
It was very hot outside already. Walking along the road was brutal. There is no shade. A few trees wouldn’t go amiss. The beach was equally exposed. So we went to find some respite. A couple of hundred metres away were some rocks where we could hide and eat our salacca. We had a short dip in the ocean. It didn’t seem as clean as the island.
We went back to the supermarket to buy mushrooms and cabbage. Also a spice pack that contained galangal, lemongrass, chillies and some ‘green leaves’ to add flavour. They came in a little pack. It was intensely hot outside now. We had a new strategy: we would eat now and have plenty of time to digest so we weren’t too hot before bed.
When Jonathan went to start cooking Khem came straight in to assist. She was keen to show him how to prepare the food and Jonathan was more than happy to be instructed. She suggested slicing the lemongrass and galangal thinly, so it can be easily eaten. Thai food is very fragrant and only lightly cooked. There is very little simmering. Once everything was cut it only took ten minutes. Khem claimed that the spores of mushrooms caused cancer. We weren’t sure what to make of that.
We had piles of tofu and mushroom tom ka. And also a big pot of rice. More than we could eat. We still ate twice as much as we normally would in a restaurant. While sat in an open sided, bamboo constructed hut, surrounded by jungle. It would be completely and utterly idyllic, if a good 5 degrees cooler. To escape the heat we sat in our cabin with a fan blowing directly at us.
There was always the option of a shower to cool off with fortunately. To while away the afternoon we played chess. Frankie had never played before so was learning afresh. Jonathan couldn’t remember which way round the king and queen went, or which colour square goes in the right hand corner. We ended up watching some television, White Lotus, after playing one game. The heat didn’t lend itself to mental focus.
We felt a little funny about staring at a screen with the jungle all around us. We did spend some time staring into the greenery. There were large lizards which lacked any finesse. Occasionally a monkey would be moving around in the trees. There were even small lizards climbing on the walls inside. We still ended up watching the screen for a bit. It was hard to stay awake though.
After dark we made mango sticky rice with the weird plug in wok type thing that had been left in our kitchen. The whole litre of coconut milk was almost gone now. For the rest of the evening we nibbled some fruit and nuts, watched an episode of the apprentice (we are just being honest!) and listened to the sounds of the jungle. We even saw a cockroach run across the room.
Surly They Won't Make It 